How a pre-war car became a post-war star...

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What better way to start the year than with a visit to a classic car show held in all the comfort and warmth of a nicely decorated hall in an equally lovely place, the Dutch city of Maastricht, just a few miles from the Belgian and German borders?

InterClassics kicks off the show season from 12-15th January with this year’s special attraction being Dutch Grand Prix Classics. They must have noticed the Dutch are slowly but surely taking over the Formula One scene! But with no official racing circuit in the Netherlands before the First World War, pre-war racing was somewhat limited there.

One car that will be on display in Maastricht is worthy of our interest regardless. It’s the Talbot-Lago T26C, which raced in the second Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort in 1949. According to the motoring press at the time, it was an old-fashioned racer with its roots going back to the 1930s. Its chassis and pre-selector gearbox were derived from Antonio Lago’s pre-war racers and, while the straight-six engine was updated and much-improved, the essential platform was still the same.

France's Ferrari-beater

Despite its age, it had its advantages. Compared to the competition from Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati with their supercharged monsters producing in excess of 300bhp, the Talbot-Lagos seemed outdated and relatively underpowered. However, their advantage was that the Italian engines were thirsty and needed at least one pit stop to refuel and fit new tyres. The reliable and relatively economical T26Cs could complete the race with no stops, and so scored a remarkable number of major Grand Prix victories that year.

They lasted quite a bit longer than today’s Grand Prix racers, too. Talbot-Lago works racer Louis Rosier, seen here at the nicely laid out Zandvoort track, won first prize in both 1950 and 1951 on a T26C, and as a matter of fact the Australian Grands Prix of 1952 and 1953 were won by T26Cs. Not bad for a dated design. It made us think of a novel from our childhood in which the 24 Hours of Le Mans was won in the 1950s by a couple of chaps who entered a Blower Bentley! We can’t find that book, but someone here may remember it…

(Words Jeroen Booij, Picture InterClassics)
 

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