Talbot-Lago T150-C Coupe 1939, França

Talbot-Lago T150-C Coupe 1939, França
Fotografia

HIGHLIGHTS

CCCA Full Classic

Purported to be one of the last T150-Cs produced

Factory Talbot-Lago coachwork

Comprehensive restoration

3,996cc OHV inline 6-cylinder engine

Rated at 148 HP

Triple Zenith Stromberg EX32 carburetors

4-speed Wilson Pre-select transmission

4-wheel hydraulic drum brakes

Refreshed in French Blue

Crimson leather interior

Wood interior accents throughout

Chrome wire wheels with spinners

In 1935, the Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq company went bankrupt, but its managing director, Antonio Lago, assumed the French assets and manufacturing facilities to form a new company: Talbot-Lago. From the outset, Talbot-Lago set out to build exemplary automobiles noted for their high performance and elegant styling. In 1936, Talbot-Lago Chief Designer Walter Becchia laid down the design for a new, narrower chassis that would receive a redesigned version of the company’s existing 3.0L OHV inline 6-cylinder “Baby Sport” engine. This updated engine would be enlarged to 3996cc by way of a 90mm bore and 76mm stroke, and it would benefit from hemispherical-shaped combustion chambers that breathed through three Zenith Stromberg EX32 carburetors to produce 148 BHP at 5,250 RPM. Designated the T150-C, this new chassis would hold sufficient promise to entice renowned racer Rene Dreyfus away from the Enzo Ferrari-led Alfa Romeo team to join Talbot-Lago as both a driver and its competition director. Interestingly, Dreyfus brought with him a young Luigi Chinetti as chief mechanic, who would go on to become legendary in the Ferrari world.

While the new T150-C would go on to enjoy great success on the international racing scene—including winning the 1937 French Grand Prix and a third place overall at the 1938 24 Hours of Le Mans—Lago also sent this potent chassis to some of the greatest French coachworks of the Art Deco period to create stunning bespoke road cars for the well-to-do. At the 1937 Paris Motor Show, a Figoni et Falaschi-bodied T150-C would debut with a heart-stopping “Goutte d’Eau,” or teardrop body, which has gone on to become one of the most iconic and desirable automobiles of the prewar period.

Offered in a variety of chassis lengths, with custom coachwork from a number of carrozzeria including Figoni et Falaschi and Portout, the T150-C would continue production up until 1939, when the onset of World War II would bring French car production to a standstill. The 1939 Talbot-Lago T150-C on offer is believed to be one of the very last examples constructed before World War II intervened. Interestingly, rather than being sent out to one of the French coachworks for its body, this T150-C (Chassis No. 90060) was graced with a body designed and built by Talbot-Lago, in house, on a long-wheelbase version of the T150-C chassis. With teardrop-shaped front fenders and an overall look reminiscent of the Alfa Romeo 8Cs of the period, this T150-C finished in French Blue features a luxurious Crimson leather-trimmed interior with fine wood accents, a 4-speed Wilson preselector gearbox, 4-wheel hydraulic drum brakes and center-lock chrome wire wheels.

Originally sold to a French doctor in 1939, the car was hidden away from the Germans during the war, only to reappear in Santa Barbara, California, in the 1950s. Then, in the mid-1970s, the T150-C was purchased by famed restorer and exotic car customizer Richard Straman, who would undertake an extensive and painstaking restoration of the Talbot-Lago. 

This motorcar represents a rare opportunity to acquire an example of one of the truly great French automobiles of the Art Deco period at the height of its powers.