Talbot-Lago Grand Sport, The Car from Paris
By Peter Larsen with Ben Erikson
From 1948 to 1953, The Talbot-Lago Grand Sport was the star on the stands of the famous carrossiers at the Paris Salons and the shows in Geneva, Brussels and London. They were entered by their wealthy owners in post-war concours d’elegance in France and abroad, and they often won the grand prize for their elegance.
The Talbot-Lago Grand Sport was an automobile destined for the grand cru sportsman and chic Parisian society in equal measure. 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.
In this stunning, two-volume magnum opus, authors Larsen and Erickson tell the story of how the Grand Sport was born in France’s bleak post-war years. The post-war history of the marque is dealt with in great detail, along with an in-depth discussion of the chassis and its components. Much of the first volume is devoted to histories of all the carrossier that clothed the Grand Sport chassis in such remarkable sheet metal.
The second volume of this impressive work is devoted to a detailed chassis-by-chassis history of every single Grand Sport ever laid down by the factory. Encompassing 648-pages with over 1,400 photographs and illustrations, this limited edition of 600 regular editions and 100 leather-bound editions will almost surely become instant collectibles.
$350 (£225) Regular edition / $650 (£395) / Leather bound / www.daltonwatson.com
