A star is reborn

This recently revived coachbuilt beauty made the final four at the Pebble Beach concours in August

- Peter M Larsen

The 35th Salon de l'Automobile opened its doors in the centre of Paris on 7 October 1948. The location was the Grand Palais, close to the Place de la Concorde and sandwiched between the Champs-Élysées and the river Seine. With its grandiose illumination, the venue was a beacon of light in a world of post-war austerity. Yet despite the widespread hardship, the great coachbuilders were out in force: Figoni et Falaschi, Pourtout, Franay, Chapron and others showed exquisite machinery that all wanted, but hardly any could afford.

Prominently displayed on the stand of the Carrosserie de Luxe Jacques Saoutchik was the undisputed star of the Salon: Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport no. 110101, the first GS chassis made. The voluptuous Saoutchik body it wore was a first showing, a world premiere of its design. It was a dazzling fastback coupé that would become the 'signature' body style for the Grand Sport chassis. A total of six of these coupés were built, no two completely alike.

The story begins in late 1942. Paris was occupied by the Wehrmacht, and the Talbot-Lago factory had been commandeered to manufacture for the Nazi war machine. With German defeat a small but growing hope on the horizon, Anthony Lago and his chief engineer Carlo Marchetti surreptitiously set about developing a new powerful six-cylinder engine for the post-war market. Reliability and power were assured by a seven-main-bearing crank, wet sump, an iron block and a capacity of 4482cc. This equated to 26CV, or fiscal horsepower, hence the T26 model designation.