Chassis #110109 as found in the Baillon Collection. (Artcurial Motorcars)
By Peter M. Larsen
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This is the third amazing Saoutchik-bodied barnfind in the Baillon collection. The chassis was delivered on November 5, 1949 to the Carrosserie Saoutchik at no. 46 rue Jacques Dulud in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Only 32 short wheelbase (265 cm) race-derived Grand Sport chassis were constructed by Talbot between 1948 and 1952. T26GS #110109 is one of these very rare and extremely desirable chassis.
1949 TALBOT-LAGO T26 GRAND SPORT SAOUTCHIK #110109
Read Part 1 chassis #100239.
Read Part 2 chassis #100272
On the Talbot production card, which is reproduced in the book Talbot-Lago Grand Sport – The Car from Paris by Peter M. Larsen and Ben Erickson, “Saoutchik” is written into both the carrosserie and the client fields. This indicates that Saoutchik ordered chassis #110109 directly from the Talbot-Lago factory to be bodied at his own expense for show purposes. Saoutchik fitted chassis #110109 with an exquisite fastback coupé design which had first been shown at the 1948 Paris Salon. A total of six Grand Sport chassis received this swoopy body. The first two had a low roofline. When it was discovered that the car was difficult to drive for anyone much more than five feet tall, a new version was developed with a slightly higher roofline. Four of these “high-roof” coupés were built, and #110109 is one of these four cars.
Grand Sport #110109 in the Bois de Boulogne, February 1950. (Collection Peter Larsen)
A masterpiece of French coachbuilding. (Collection Peter Larsen)