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The “Talbot-Lago Grand Sport” arrived in a very heavy box,
and like a Russian matryoshka doll, this was opened to find a luxurious 14.5 x
9.5 x 3.5 inch carrying case with handle, profusely illustrated with the cover
material printed in full color. That in turn opened to reveal an even more
luxurious 13 x 9 x 3 inch slipcover, which in turn harbored a slick, high
quality two-volume set of the “Talbot-Lago Grand Sport”. Standard volumes are
$350, with a limited number (600) of copies. Leather bound editions are $650
and only 100 copies.
We are sure most of our readers are aware of this line of
Talbot-Lago cars, called Grand Sports. They can be seen occasionally at
auctions, major concours, in select museums, and at important retro events. But
such sightings are rare, fleeting, scattered throughout time and space, never
allowing one to grasp the meaning, numbers or depth of the species. Most
knowledgeable enthusiasts could probably not put forth a useful definition of
the Talbot-Lago Grand Sport, much less recite how many were built,
coachbuilders, where they are today and what they look like. Even co-author
Peter Larsen, in the introduction, had to explain that the book was
specifically about the Talbot-Lago Grand Sport, a rare model which did not
include the more famous pre-war Figoni et Falaschi teardrop coupes based on the
T150SS chassis.
MYSTERY CARS
The amount of information available about the Talbot-Lago Grand Sport (TLGS) is
truly meager and as scattered as the appearance of the cars themselves. The
Grand Sport model was not acknowledged in the original Georgano Encyclopedia,
completely overlooked in William Stobb’s “Les Grandes Routieres”, mentioned
only briefly in an excellent article on the automobiles of Tony Lago in
“Automobile Quarterly’s” V23 No 4. An Internet search will reveal images and
videos of several of the cars, some good information from our friends at
Coachbuild.com and some auction company information, but all scattered and
incomplete. Wiki is notably short on the Grand Sport. The bibliography in the
“Grand Sport” book lists six books – most in French – that pertain directly to
Talbot-Lago, and that’s probably pushing it. In short, there is not much out
there.
That’s precisely what makes the Peter Larsen/ Ben Erickson “The Talbot-Lago
Grand Sport” so interesting, valuable, entertaining, informative, necessary,
compelling, and a thrill to read. For the first time, the Talbot-Lago Grand
Sports have been tracked down, gathered, defined, explained, photographed and
detailed, chassis by chassis. It is overwhelmingly new and fresh information.
Many of the cars have not been seen in years; a few are in private collections
unknown even to the authors; some – though very few – have just disappeared,
and most are now and have been kept in Europe.
WHAT IS A GRAND SPORT
The Grand Sports were Tony Lagos’ supercars, the top of a very expensive line.
Based on the pre-war Grand Prix chassis (with a 2.65 meter wheelbase and later
2.80 meter) they were given coachwork by Figoni, Saoutchik, Dubos, Franay,
Graber. The T26 was virtually the same 4.5 liter Marchetti-designed hemi-head
used in the Grand Prix Talbots of the era, minus the aluminum block, dry sump
oil system and with different carburation, most using 3 Zenith carbs. This
resulted in the most powerful French road car built at the time, with at least
190 horsepower on tap. The Wilson preselector gearbox was the same unit as used
in the race cars as well. The chassis consisted of massive steel girders,
independent front suspension via transverse leaf spring, and a live rear axle
under the frame located by leaf springs. It was archaic but light. A huge 120
liter fuel tank meant long periods without stops but little space left for
luggage. In a very real sense, a road-going GP car. Larsen figures that from
1947 to about 1950, between 29 and 35 Grand Sports were built on both 2.65 and
2.80 meter wheelbases.
With coachwork more art than automotive, the Grand Sport, as the book’s PR
would have it, was “chic, ritzy, aristocratic with a superb pedigree that gave
it instant admission to the elite gatherings at races and concours, no questions
asked”. The coachwork that graced the Grand Sport chassis ranges from the
bizarre and odd, to beautiful and advanced, from lithe racing barchettas to
svelte coupes. Each is unique, most are stunning.
LAGO RECORD VS GRAND SPORT
Allow us to digress for the benefit of our very astute readers who may wonder
about the difference between the Grand Sport and the more common Lago Record:
In the post-war era, the Talbot-Lago line consisted of the 6 cylinder T26
Record and Grand Sport, and the 4 cylinder Talbot-Lago “Baby”. The normal T26
Record used the same engine as the Grand Sport but produced 170 hp, using only
two Zeniths. The Record chassis was much longer at 3.12 meters; the weight was
1280 Kg. As a post-war design, the Record feature coil spring independent front
suspension. However, Lago’s goal for the Grand Sport model was to use whatever
resources at hand to quickly create a lightweight high-performance chassis at
low cost, hence the use of the pre-war GP chassis. It was 47 cm shorter and 430
Kg lighter than the new Lago Record. That the GP chassis made use of a
transverse-spring front suspension was perhaps a necessary compromise. While it
was seemingly a retrograde step, it made sense and Lago figured he could market
it as a “perfected road car chassis, which has much of the power, road holding
and strength of my Grand Prix racing machines.”
A NECESSARY OPUS
In the realm of French and Italian cars, we can only compare this new work to
Christian Huet’s book on Gordini (in French only) and Simon Moore’s Alfa Romeo
2.9 and 2.3 volumes. In many respects, though it covers fewer individual
chassis, the TLGS does it better, making use of more outstanding color
photography as well as historical black and white images, complemented by
outstanding layout and presentation. Like Moore and Huet, Larsen and Erickson
are relentless detectives, tracing each car as far as possible from its birth
to the present day. In most cases, where and whenever possible, the authors
consult with the current owners and provide photos of the cars as they appear
at time of publication. This with a considerable amount of historic images in
both color and black and white, leaving little left to wonder.
Like Moore, they are not professional writers per say and at
times the text can annoy. But any such annoyances are readily tossed aside as
the full impact of the material presented simply blows one away. Perhaps
unfairly, but in light of the overall magnificence, we care less if a rare word
(“bespoke”) is over-used, or if certain peculiarities are repeated (on six
different occasions calling Coatalen to task for spending too much on racing).
Written off is a mistake attributing Rocco Motta as the coachbuilder for the
Renault/Marquis (read story). Tony Lago was perhaps a bit less than the authors
admit. More information about the post-war Talbot line and less about the Pons
plan would have been nice. This ain’t Shakespeare, but it is a breathtaking
revelation of the most hidden, most outlandish, most artistic, and often the
most beautiful cars on earth.
VOLUME 1
While Moore dealt with a very well-known subject matter, the team of
Larsen/Erickson knew that they would have to set the scene for the actual
serial number saga. Volume 1 includes a fairly in depth history of the S-T-D
year but focuses on the story of Tony Lago, his triumphs and repeated problems
trying to keep his firm alive and solvent while he upheld the honor of France
on the race tracks and the Paris salons. The authors have done their research
here, bringing in new facts about the life and death of Talbot, the
heartbreaking bankruptcies, the mistakes and the competition, but alas, no one
yet knows much about the private life of Tony Lago.
Technically, there is a chapter on the history and workings of the Wilson
pre-selector gearbox, the chassis, and yet another about engines that would
power the fabled Grand Sports. They are not in great depth, but enough to
garner a good understanding of the components. The chapter on the Wilson
gearbox was most welcome.
Much to our delight, Volume 1 also contains fairly substantial histories of the
coachbuilders that clothed the Grand Sports. How much do you know about Dubos,
Antem, Besset, Pennock, and Contamin? Altogether the authors found eighteen
different coachbuilders and/or designers responsible for the Grand Sport
bodies. Each one is given a chapter. Only Farina, Saoutchik, Graber and Motto
were familiar to this reviewer in any depth.
Alas, nowhere in Volume 1 is there good photos of any of the 35 plus cars that
are described in Volume 2! The authors wanted to save the subject shots for the
second volume. At first this was rather annoying, as there were plenty of
references to the Grand Sport series. Then I (egad, pardon my first person
here!) decided to go with the flow. I carefully digested Volume 1’s 238 pages,
while absolutely refusing to even open the cover of the larger, heavier 407
page Volume 2, which I knew consisted of all the chassis numbers. Something
told me I’d be into something good.
THE TREASURES IN VOLUME 2
Admittedly, not jumping into Volume 2 takes some self-discipline, but it was
worth it. For every night I would discover a new and interesting if not bizarre
car which I had never before or rarely seen. Or seen only in grainy Road
& Track photographs, or in photos take in the poor light of museums or
obstructed by asses and elbows of the concours field. But here they all were in
both color and historic images, almost large that life, with details and
histories. Each chapter was to be saved and savored, each one a treasure, even
to one who is admittedly pretty jaded in terms of automobilia by now.
This leads to a problem; one can be devastated when the last of the 648 pages
are turned, the last car unveiled, the last morsel tasted.
This is a huge book, an important book, and a superb effort, well worth the
money. The price of entry is mitigated by the high probability that it is an
investment which will grow in value.
In the next few weeks, we’ll give you further insights and previews of a few of
the Talbot-Lago Grand Sports. Yeah, you too, can wait!
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