Like other premium French luxury marques such as Bugatti, Delahaye, and Delage, Talbot-Lago became one of the interwar period’s most impressive continental manufacturers, winning races while producing some of the most beautiful bespoke grand touring machines ever built.

Unlike some of its competitors, however, the company made its greatest strides despite the lack of an established racing pedigree. Prior to the arrival of Anthony Lago in 1934, the Talbot company was best known for building solid but unspectacular touring sedans, despite being the successor to the competition-leaning Darracq. When Lago was dispatched by the company’s British ownership group to oversee the French division’s flagging financial state, he quickly realized that transitioning Talbot to a sporting identity would be key to the marque’s resuscitation. By the mid-1930s the onetime engineer—who had designed the Wilson preselector gearbox—obtained complete control of the company, and the glory days of Talbot-Lago quickly ensued. Models like the T150 SS made epic strides at European racing circuits and concours d’elegance, epitomized by the legendary “Teardrop” Coupe and its breathtaking Figoni et Falaschi coachwork.

When production came to a halt during World War II, Lago set about designing a new engine to the most recent racing formula, culminating in a 4.5-liter inline six-cylinder motor that was actuated by dual camshafts inside the block and fed by a hemispherical head with Zenith-Stromberg carburetors. In standard tune the new engine developed as much as 170 horsepower, and in racing tune the motor was capable of over 200, soon to power the company’s great post-war competition cars.

This engine became the driving force behind Talbot-Lago’s first post-war model, the T26 Record, which debuted at the Paris Salon in October 1946. With an advanced chassis featuring front independent suspension with coil springs, as well as the Wilson gearbox, the Record was generally clothed in restrained factory coachwork, available in both closed and open body styles. A much smaller percentage of the cars were available as rolling chassis to be clothed by the owner’s carrosserie of choice—with the most exotic being produced by the revered Figoni et Falaschi itself.

CHASSIS NUMBER 100109: SIDNEY’S SHOWPIECE

According to Figoni archival records, chassis number 100109 was ordered in 1947 by a Mr. Ritter, likely the flamboyant American furrier, socialite, and custom automobile enthusiast Louis Ritter, specified in pastel blue over a red leather interior. Designed with Figoni’s characteristic flamboyance, the striking coachwork stretched a two-door cabriolet over the T26 Record’s long-wheelbase chassis, with sweeping “aviation-type” front fenders that billowed and flowed over the wheels, a chromed grille in an ornate geometric shape that reaches back towards the wheels, Art Deco-themed bright trim, concentric-ringed disc wheels, full rear fender “skirts,” and a finned rear decklid for an effect of opulent streamlined elegance.

The T26 Record was eventually acquired by George Sidney, a onetime child actor of the 1920s who went on to tremendous success as a director in particular of high-budget musicals, helming Anchors Aweigh, Showboat, Bye Bye Birdie, and Viva Las Vegas, among others. During Mr. Sidney’s ownership the Talbot-Lago was refinished in red and the original drivetrain swapped out for a Cadillac V-8 and Hydramatic transmission, for ease of regular use. He proudly displayed the car at the Los Angeles Autorama in 1954, winning the top award.

Later the car was acquired by Lorin Tryon, well-remembered as the longtime co-chairman of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and was preserved in his personal collection for years—fortuitously, with the original engine still accompanying “loose.”

In the late 1990s the Talbot-Lago was purchased by software entrepreneur Frank Pritt, who sold it in January 2001 to respected collector and three-time Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Best of Show-winner, James Patterson. Mr. Patterson brought the car to RM Auto Restoration for a comprehensive refurbishment, addressing every structural, mechanical, and cosmetic aspect. In addition to complete rebuilds of every system and component, the car’s original dual-carbureted T26 engine was rebuilt and reinstalled, and the arresting coachwork was refinished in the current two-tone scheme of metallic sky blue over a deep midnight blue. The cabriolet top was rebuilt with new material, and the interior was sumptuously reupholstered with cream leather offset with blue piping and dark blue carpeting. As reflected by invoices on file, the painstaking refurbishment cost in excess of $389,000 for labor expenses alone.

The strength of the T26’s restoration was confirmed with a class win and the Elegance in Motion Trophy at the 2003 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and Best Postwar European Car at the 2004 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. After receiving further attention from RM Auto Restoration in 2012, including a gearbox upgrade to a Cotal preselector, the T26 was awarded Best of Show at both Classic Sports Sunday at Mar-a-Lago and the Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance in 2013.

Acquired by Ray and Bonnie Kinney from Mr. Patterson in August of 2022, this rare Talbot-Lago subsequently was awarded Best of Show at the 2023 Arizona Concours d’Elegance. Today it offers a subtle variation on the justly celebrated “teardrop” design cues of Figoni et Falaschi, as well as a refined version of the famous T26 engine and drivetrain that won many races in the early post-war period. Ideal for exhibition at major concours d’elegance and driving enjoyment during vintage touring events, it should appeal to any enthusiast of the interwar French Curve design movement. It is a spectacular automobile.