At large in a Lago

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With its homely curves and upright radiator, the Talbot-Lago T26 Record doesn't look much like a Grand Prix racer. But under the skin, this modest saloon shares its DNA with the fearsome T26C single-seaters that scored victories in the French and Belgian Grands Prix of 1949, and in two-seat sports-racing form won the 1950 Le Mans 24 Hours.

At the heart of those cars, and the T26 Record saloon, is the six-cylinder, 4482cc crossflow engine, developed surreptitiously by Tony Lago and chief engineer Carlo Marchetti during the dark days of the German occupation of France. When the clouds of war had passed, their creation emerged fully-formed and took the post-war motor sport world by storm.

Things looked bright for the firm, but the economic and political climate was at odds with the large, powerful and thirsty cars that had been the mainstay of the French motor industry before the war and sales dwindled. By the end of the 1950s Talbot had been taken over by Simca.

In the latest issue of The Automobile, Douglas Blain drives the car pictured here, and is surprised by its sporting character and excellent performance. He explains its virtues, and reminisces about his experience behind the wheel of a single-seat T26C.

 Photographs by Mykel Nicolaou

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