Talbot Talbot-Lago T150 History
History
After Anglo-Italian engineer Antonio Lago bought the French Talbot operation out of the STD Motors receivership in 1936, he repositioned Talbot-Lago at the top of the market with fast, beautifully engineered Grand Tourers. The T150C chassis, introduced at the 1936 Paris Salon, used a 4.0-litre overhead-valve straight-six with hemispherical combustion chambers producing around 140 bhp.
Two principal forms were offered: the short-wheelbase 'SS' (Super Sport) linked to the racing programme, and the longer 'Lago Spéciale'. Roughly 51 T150C chassis were built. Many of the most celebrated wore coachwork by Figoni et Falaschi, whose flowing aerodynamic coupé — unveiled in 1937 and nicknamed the 'goutte d'eau' (teardrop) — is widely regarded as a high-water mark of French pre-war automotive design.
These were also genuine competition cars: a showroom-stock Teardrop finished third overall at the 1938 24 Hours of Le Mans. Production ended in 1939 when war halted the European motor industry.
Body styles
- Coupé
- Cabriolet
- Roadster
Notable special editions & performance variants
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T150C SS 'Teardrop'
Figoni et Falaschi aerodynamic coupé on the short-wheelbase SS chassis; approximately a dozen 'New York'-style coupes were built and rank among the most valuable pre-war cars in existence.
Related models