The ribs of Saoutchik

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It was impossible to visit every car displayed at Rétromobile in Paris, but we were excited to stumble across a car that transported us back 12 months to this same place when the famous Baillon collection of cars was sold.  As we looked closer at the superb craftsmanship in the ash body frame sitting on a large imposing rolling chassis, we recognised the 1949 Talbot Lago T26 Record Fastback by Saoutchik ( which sold for €417,200).
As we tried to understand the prices paid, we wondered how many cars would have  the same amount spent again to restore them to their former glory. Well, the answer was sitting in front of us. The roofline of Pierre Saoutchik's one-off creation follows an unbroken delicate curve from the edge of the windscreen all the way to the rear bumper and today's  craftsmen have re-created it faithfully. 
No pictures survive of chassis 100239 but the magnum opus on Carrosserie Saoutchik by Peter Larsen and Ben Erickson ( now sold out) includes a factory drawing which illustrates Saoutchik's plans for the T26 Record chassis and this drawing shows how his design evolved for the six T26 GS Coupes - all of which survive - and this picture of chassis 110109 is the nearest we can find to 100239, although it has front door hinges whereas the Baillon car has suicide doors.
Sadly, we do not have Peter Larsen & Ben Erikson's book on Talbot Lago or we would down tools and sit and devour every word .  Their passion spills out onto every page, "The Talbot-Lago Grand Sport was an automobile destined for the grand cru sportsman and chic Parisian society in equal measure. It was a grand gesture, and the final flowering in France of the great tradition of the truly custom motorcar. The chassis was built to carry coachwork that was the last expression anywhere in the world of grand style and luxury. The Grand Sport was outrageously exclusive and something for the very few. Not just because of its price, which was stratospheric, or its limited practicality, which was irrelevant: this was a car that was chic, ritzy, aristocratic and sharp as a knife all at once. "
It is our earnest hope that the other two T26 Grand Sport rusty wrecks from the Baillon collection ( here and here)  are also receiving the lavish re-birth they so richly deserve.

Text Robin Batchelor, pictures courtesy Peter Larsen & author.

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