1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport Coupe

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 2, 2023

The Grand Sport was the short wheelbase sports car version of Talbot-Lago’s T26, which was their first car introduced after WWII in 1946. The T26 hung around through 1953. This particular Grand Sport, one of just 36 built, was ordered new as a bare chassis by racing driver Andre Chambas.

Chambas designed the body himself in clay and supposedly had it built locally by Contamin, a company that actually built cabins for cranes. Power is from a 4.5-liter inline-six that made around 170 horsepower. Chambas took this car racing, including:

• 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans – 17th, DNF (with Andre Chambas and Andre Morel)
• 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans – 13th (with Chambas and Morel)
• 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans – 17th (with Chambas and Morel)
• 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans – 9th (with Chambas and Morel)
• 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans – 52nd, DNF (with Chambas and Charles de Cortanze)

The original coupe body was removed after Le Mans in 1950 and replaced with an open style. This remained on the car until after Le Mans in 1953 (during which the car spun out, and the gearbox was subsequently ruined). The original coupe body was reinstalled at this time.

The car has had quite a few owners in quite a few countries since Chambas sold it in the mid 1950s. It’s a pretty fantastic looking car with a pretty remarkable (all privateer) racing history. Actually, this Talbot has more starts at Le Mans than any other. Pre-sale estimate? $2,150,000-$2,650,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $2,424,585.