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Talbot-Lago Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" - provincial beauty

Name: Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport Coupé Chambas 1948
Brand: Talbot-Lago

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Created on January 26, 2023

Text:

Paul Krüger

Photos:

Bonhams

Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - had been re-bodied to Tunesi-Barchetta in the meantime

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - the large air intake cools the engine, the two small ones the brakes

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - short, knobbly rear end

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - the Frenchman André Chambas competed with it five times in the 24 Hours of Le Mans

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - with a streamlined body designed by the driver himself

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - the Talbot with the most Le Mans participations

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - steep, rounded rear end with very low-positioned windshield

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - a racing car of great elegance

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - emblem on the radiator grille and radiator cap with snap lock

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - an intricate interplay of curves at the front

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - ensemble consisting of main headlamp, driving lamp and ventilation grille, behind which the blinker is located today

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - one of two tiny rear lights

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - fuel filler cap with quick-release fastener somewhere between sculpture and pragmatism

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - Jaguar-like radiator grille with painted starting number

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - high ground clearance

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - large drum brakes behind the wire-spoke wheels

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - wound lead weights on the spokes for balancing the wheels

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - Sugar spoons embedded in the bodywork as door openers

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - Plaque in recognition of the performance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1950

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - The only storage space in the car. There is no separate trunk

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - All-metal handbrake lever

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - brake and clutch pedal proudly bear the "T"

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - Shift lever of the Wilson pre-selector gearbox on the steering wheel

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - Lever for headlight flasher ("Code") and signal horn ("Avert")

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - speedometer up to 200 km/h. At full throttle, the Naldel goes "round" once

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - Switch for the windshield wiper with two speed settings

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - sporty bucket seats for more lateral support on the racetrack

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - dashboard. The frameless rear-view mirror is a nice detail

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - plain door panel with map pocket and chrome-plated fittings

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - richly equipped dashboard with (from left) speedometer, oil thermometer, timer, charge control, rev counter, oil pressure gauge, fuel gauge and water thermometer

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - Spring-spoke steering wheel with four spokes and beautifully simple, chrome-plated steering column

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - elegant interior in light brown and dark blue. Right-hand drive was typical of French luxury cars of the time

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - The most important things in view; rev counter and oil pressure gauge centered behind the steering wheel

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - Two camshafts, three carburetors and six cylinders

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - 4.5-liter six-cylinder engine with 195 hp

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - A cross-flow head was highly fashionable at the end of the 1940s

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - Three Zenith carburetors enthroned on the right-hand side of the engine

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - Beautiful valve covers with embossed lettering

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) -

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) - A leather strap secures the closed hood

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport Coupé Chambas (1948) - body shell

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport Coupé Chambas (1948) - at the 1949 Rallye International d'Evian

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport Coupé Chambas (1948) - at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1950

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport Coupé Chambas (1948) - start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1950

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport Coupé Chambas (1948) - The Talbot works team at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1950

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport Barquette Tunesi (1948) - at Le Mans, probably 1952

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport Barquette Tunesi (1948) - at the 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans. To the left, the Jowett Jupiter R1 of Marcel Becquart and Gordon Wilkins

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport Barquette Tunesi (1948) - Refueling in the pits at Le Mans 1952

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport Barquette Tunesi (1948) - before the start of the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport Barquette Tunesi (1948) - at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, probably 1953

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport Barquette Tunesi (1948) - at Le Mans, probably 1953

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport Coupé Chambas (1948) - in the backyard of a workshop, presumably with the new owner Monsieur Rollin in Lyon

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport Coupé Chambas (1948) - already with the new license plate issued in the Département Rhône at the beginning of 1957

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport Coupé Chambas (1948) - mid-eighties in Belgium

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport Coupé Chambas (1948) - The original clay model by André Chambas

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Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) – kurzes, knubbeliges Heck

Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) – fünfmal trat der Franzose André Chambas mit ihm bei den 24 Stunden von Le Mans an

Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) – mit einer vom Fahrer persönlich entworfenen Stromlinienkarosserie

Talbot-Lago T 26 Grand Sport "Coupé Chambas" (1948) – der Talbot mit den meisten Le-Mans-Teilnahmen

Summary

This black streamlined coupé is probably the most famous of all 36 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport cars ever built. Chassis number 110105 was designed by its first owner and took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times with two different bodies, finishing four times. This article tells the story of the Chambas coupé, which has been known in full since it was delivered, and shows it in current still photos as well as in historic racing use.

This article contains the following chapters

Bodywork built by the village blacksmith
Three and a half finishes
24 laps of Le Mans

Estimated reading time: 6min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Just one year after the end of the war, Antonio Lago was able to start building cars again under the strict conditions of the Pons Plan. The new Talbot-Lago Record was available as a coach, limousine or convertible and, thanks to its 176 hp 4.5-liter six-cylinder engine, could reach speeds of around 170 km/h. Although this already made it one of the fastest cars on European roads, Lago presented the next higher configuration level at the 1947 Paris Motor Show: the Record Supersport, which offered a clear view of the most important innovation as an unbodied chassis. Talbot engineer Carlo Marchetti had fitted the DOHC six-cylinder engine of the Record with a new light alloy cylinder head and increased the compression ratio from 6.8 to 7.9:1. Together with a third Stromberg carburetor, the engine now produced 195 hp at 4200 rpm, making a top speed of almost 200 km/h feasible with the right bodywork.

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