Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport (1948)

By motoring writer – Daniel Matthews

1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport Cabriolet by Saoutchik

The history of Talbot-Lago dates back to the late 1800s. Automobiles Darracq France was established in Suresnes, near Paris, in 1896, by Alexander Darracq, and pioneered chassis manufacture from pressed steel and the use of machinery instead of hand labour. Alexander Darracq had no interest in cars, so the brand was solely for capital gain, and by 1904, Darracq was producing over ten percent of all of France’s automobiles.

The entire assets of the French business were transferred in 1916 to Société Anonyme Automobiles Darracq, a new business started solely for this – the British assets were transferred to a company known as Darracq Motor Engineering Company Ltd. Alexander Darracq was now no more than a shareholder. Following the inclusion of Clément-Talbot into the S T D Group, cars built in Suresnes were badged ‘Talbot-Darracq’, with the Darracq moniker dropped in 1922.

Amidst the Great Depression, Antonio Lago was appointed managing director in hope to revive Automobiles Talbot’s business, which unfortunately, ended in the company entering receivership in 1934. Two years later, Lago managed to complete a management buy-out from the receiver, and started to introduce a new range of cars, mostly designed by Walter Becchia, and using transverse leaf-sprung independent suspension.

This particular car is chassis 110110, one of 29 short-wheelbase T26 Grand Sports built, and one of 26 surviving examples. As was typical of many cars of the day, Grand Sports were only available in chassis form, and required external coachbuilding to complete the car. #110110 was bodied by Saoutchik, in one of the most flamboyant cabriolet styles the world has ever seen. In striking two-tone blue and cream paintwork, the car was shown at the 1949 Geneva Motor Show, where it was spotted by New York-based furrier Louis Ritter. Ritter fell in love with the car, and bought it there and then. He already had a Saoutchik-bodied Cadillac on order, and him and his wife collected both cars in New York and drove them in convoy cross-country to California. As noted to be typical of his character, Ritter enjoyed the cars for mere months in Beverly Hills, before trading them back to the dealer for those newer.

The dealer in question was Roger Barlow, a skilled promoter who succeeded in getting #110110 onto the cover of the March 1950 issue of Mechanix Illustrated, in which it was noted to have cost $17,500 – around $185,000 in today’s money, but an unbelievable amount for the period. Over the next three years, Barlow sold the car three times: first to radio tycoon Louis Wasmer; then to retired businessman Harold McLean, who also owned the ex-Ritter Cadillac; and finally to bus fleet operator Walter Burghard of Mansfield, Ohio. In 1953, Burghard had the Saoutchik bodied removed and fitted onto a Mercury chassis with a Lincoln V8 engine. (That ‘special’ was last seen in 1970, but seems to have vanished). Meanwhile, the original chassis remained with the mechanic who undertook the removal, Earl Wiener.

In February 1975, following her husband’s passing, Mrs. Wiener advertised the chassis in Hemmings Motor News, from where it was purchased by Jerry Sherman of Malvern, Pennsylvania (who competed locally in his Talbot-Lago). Sherman collaborated with Talbot-Lago expert Tony Carroll, and the pair decided to design a body atypical of an amateur racer of the period. The car was completed in 1987 and was campaigned and raced actively in VSCCA events for the following years. Unfortunately, a farm fire caused damage and #110110 was laid up until Mr Sherman’s passing in 1991. From there, Carroll soldiered on alone and decided to start a fresh restoration, which, using a replica body made by Eno DePasquale, took ten years to finish.

Failing health caused Carroll to have to sell the car a couple of years after its completion, and it was acquired by a French enthusiast, who then passed it to the private owner that displayed it in the picture. He decided to have the original Saoutchik coachwork recreated by Patrick Delage of Auto Classique Touraine, and 10,000 man hours later, here it is. Hate it or love it, it’s definitely eye-catching!