TALBOT

1934 Talbot 105

Talbot was originally the British brand name used to sell imported French Clement-Bayard cars. Founded in 1903, this business venture was financed by Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clement. Starting in 1905, the company branded its imported cars as Clement-Talbot and began assembling French-made parts at a new factory located in Barlby Road, Ladbroke Grove, North Kensington, London, selling them under the name Talbot. Domestically-designed cars followed from 1906; by 1910, 50 to 60 cars a month were being made. A Talbot was the first car to cover 100 miles (160 kilometres) an hour, in 1913.

1923 Talbot 8-18

During World War 1, the firm manufactured ambulances. French and British operations continued in separate, parallel production and marketing processes until 1919, when British-owned but Paris-based Darracq took over the company; Darracq-made Talbots were marketed as Talbot – Darracqs. The following year, Darracq was reorganised as part of the Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq (STD) conglomerate.

In 1916, Swiss native Georges Roesch became chief engineer, and in the 1920s, Talbot built a number of successful models, including the 14/45hp or Talbot 105, which was first built in 1926. In the 1930s, Roesch-designed Talbots enjoyed success in racing with the Fox & Nicholl team, their drivers including the Hon. Brian Lewis, Johnny Hindmarsh and John Cobb (better known for his land speed record attempts). They were also highly successful in the Alpine Trial.

1936 Talbot 10 Cruiser

In 1935 STD combine collapsed and the Rootes Group took over Clément-Talbot. For Rootes, profits were more important than engineering – the existing models were simply rebadged. The French factory was bought by Anthony Lago who used Talbot- Lago as a brand afterwards.

In Britain, Sunbeam and Talbot marques were combined in 1938 to form Sunbeam-Talbot. Production of Sunbeam Talbot automobiles ceased during World War 11 and resumed again in 1946, and the Talbot name was dropped in 1955. The Sunbeam name continued under the Rootes management (Rapier, Alpine and Tiger) until 1967 when control was taken over by Chrysler.