By Peter M. Larsen
From the VeloceToday Archives, January, 2015
There are barnfinds. And then there are barnfinds. Imagine the reaction when the corrugated siding of the lean-to next to the secluded château in the west of France came down and a long-lost Talbot-Lago T26 Record chassis came to light. And more: this T26 chassis # 100239 was not just fitted with a factory body, but with a unique and rakish fastback coupé design built by the Carrosserie Jacques Saoutchik in the rue Jacques Dulud in Neuilly-sur-Seine!
This incredibly rare and outstanding automobile was one of three such Saoutchik barnfinds in the 60 cars of the collection of the late Jacques Baillon. All three are superb examples of the swoopy and extravagant styles designed by Pierre Saoutchik after the Second World War. In truth, one can call the Baillon collection the barnfind of the century. As Pierre Novikoff of the Artcurial auction house remarked: “Never again, anywhere in the world, will such a treasure be unearthed.”
Here is the first of three articles about the three extraordinary Saoutchik cars found in the Baillon collection.