Tag Archives: grand sport

T26 Grand Sport Coupe

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1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport Coupe

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

Photo – Bonhams

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.

Veyron Grand Sport

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2009 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Paris, France | February 1, 2023

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Grand Sport was sort of the convertible model of Bugatti’s Veyron. It launched in 2009 and was sold alongside the coupe model for two years before the coupe was discontinued. Grand Sport production continued through 2015, with 150 built.

It’s powered by the same quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 that made 987 horsepower. Okay, so it’s not a true convertible. It’s more of a targa. Top speed was limited because of this – to a paltry 229 mph with the roof off.

This car was originally finished in black blue metallic but was refinished by the factory in black and red. Just shows you how Bugatti customers are. Can’t find the color you like? Pay the manufacturer to essentially re-do the more-or-less brand new used car you just bought. Seven figures here we come. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

C4 Grand Sport Corvettes

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The C4 Grand Sport

Offered by Mecum | Jefferson, North Carolina | June 6, 2020

1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Coupe

Photo – Mecum

My two favorite C4 Corvettes are as follows: 1. the ZR-1. 2. the Grand Sport. This sale has what has to be the best examples of the latter. The Grand Sport was built to celebrate the end of C4 production and was only offered in 1996. The name was taken from the Grand Sport race cars of the 1960s.

Power is from a 330 horsepower, 5.7-liter V8. They were only offered in Admiral Blue with white stripes and red hash marks. This is one of 810 coupes built, and it shows just 177 miles. It’s selling at no reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $74,250.

1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Convertible

Photo – Mecum

Doubletake? The only difference between this car and the other Grand Sport is that it is a convertible. Admiral Blue paint with white stripes and red hash marks – meet a white soft top. This car also uses a 5.7-liter V8 making 330 horsepower.

The convertible Grand Sport was much rarer than the coupe, with just 190 built. It’s only covered 162 miles since new, which makes it essentially, well, new. You can read more about it here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $68,750.

C4 Grand Sport

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1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Coupe

Offered by Mecum | Jefferson, North Carolina | June 6, 2020

Photo – Mecum

My two favorite C4 Corvettes are as follows: 1. the ZR-1. 2. the Grand Sport. This sale has what has to be the best examples of the latter. The Grand Sport was built to celebrate the end of C4 production and was only offered in 1996. The name was taken from the Grand Sport race cars of the 1960s.

Power is from a 330 horsepower, 5.7-liter V8. They were only offered in Admiral Blue with white stripes and red hash marks. This is one of 810 coupes built, and it shows just 177 miles. It’s selling at no reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $74,250.

C4 Grand Sport Convertible

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1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Convertible

Offered by Mecum | Jefferson, North Carolina | June 6, 2020

Photo – Mecum

Doubletake? The only difference between this car and the other Grand Sport is that it is a convertible. Admiral Blue paint with white stripes and red hash marks – meet a white soft top. This car also uses a 5.7-liter V8 making 330 horsepower.

The convertible Grand Sport was much rarer than the coupe, with just 190 built. It’s only covered 162 miles since new, which makes it essentially, well, new. You can read more about it here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $68,750.

Chenard et Walcker Y7 Grand Sport

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1929 Chenard et Walcker 1500 Type Y7 Grand Sport Torpedo

Offered by Osenat | Chassieu, France | November 11, 2018

Photo – Osenat

Cars built by the company founded by Ernest Chenard and Henri Walcker always appear to be quite heavy, as if carved from a single block of lead. Or maybe I just get that impression because of their association with the so-called Tanks they built.

The company has some racing heritage, winning the first 24 Hours of Le Mans. So there is some sporting pedigree, adding a degree of legitimacy to calling this Torpedo-bodied automobile a sports car. It’s no lightweight French cyclecar. This thing was meant to move. Power is from a 1.5-liter straight-four and top speed is about 83 mph.

This example has known history back to the 1960s and was on museum duty until the early-1990s. It was restored in the last five years and is thought to be one of three known Torpedo-bodied examples. It should sell for between $115,000-$150,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

Saoutchik-bodied Talbot-Lago

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1951 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport Coupe by Saoutchik

Offered by Barrett-Jackson | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 13-21, 2018

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

It’s kind of crazy to think this car is from 1951, especially if you consider the golden age of coachbuilding to be in the 1930s. This was pretty late in the game to get a custom-bodied car from a major coachbuilder as luxury cars pretty much standardized themselves not too long after this car was built.

But it helped that there was such a luxurious manufacturer like Talbot-Lago still operating at this point. The T26 Grand Sport was new for 1948 and Talbot-Lago sent all of the road cars to coachbuilders (there were race cars bodied in-house). This one was bodied by the legendary Jacques Saoutchik and it’s pure art.

Under the hood you’ll find the 4.5-liter straight-six that pumps out 190 horsepower. This body is one-of-one and is from one of the most sought-after coachbuilders of the post-WWII era. Few T26 Grand Sports were built and even fewer remain. You’ll need at least a million to top the reserve, but in the meantime, check out more about this one here and see more from Barrett-Jackson’s ever-expanding Scottsdale lineup here.

Update: Not sold.

Veyrons.

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2008 Bugatti Veyron 16.4

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 16-19, 2017

Photo – Mecum

Mecum is hitting a supercar home run this year in Monterey. To wit: they have not one but two Bugatti Veyrons in their catalog (and from what I can tell, that catalog has not yet been finalized). When the Veyron went on sale in 2005, it ushered in a whole new era of the hypercar.

It’s basically just a rocket sled you are allowed to drive on the streets: super fast, fairly heavy, not so nimble. The engine is an 8.0-liter, quad-turbocharged W-16 that makes 987 horsepower. That’s enough to power this all-wheel drive machine to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds on the way to a top speed of 253 mph – which was faster than anything else when introduced. There have been some other pretenders to the World’s Fastest Car throne, but this one is an actual production car, with 450 built between the coupes and convertibles.

This is one of the 300 original coupes the company built between 2005 and 2011, when Coupe production ended (some of those 300 were the “Super Sport” model with more power). Price when new on these was well over $1 million, which is where the price is pretty much guaranteed to remain. See more about this car here and more from Mecum here.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $900,000.

2015 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 16-19, 2017

Photo – Mecum

This is a slightly sexier Veyron than the base model. Actually, this was sort of the magnum opus of the entire Veyron line. Basically, Bugatti built the base Veyron from 2005-2011, and the Veyron Grand Sport (the convertible) from 2009-2015. They offered a hopped-up coupe (the Super Sport) from 2010-2011 and this, the Grand Sport Vitesse (a convertible with the more powerful Super Sport engine) from 2011-2015. This is one of the last Grand Sport Vitesses brought to the U.S. They also built a bunch of special editions and one-offs as part of these models.

The engine is the same: an 8.0-liter quad-turbocharged W-16, but in Super Sport (or Vitesse) trim, it makes 1,184 horsepower. While the Super Sport could hit 258 mph, you have to settle for 254 in this open-top version. Toupee or not, that kind of wind will suck your hair right off (to be fair, once you remove the top the car is electronically limited to a downright wimpy 229 mph).

Only 150 Grand Sports were built of all types. This one has an awesome color combo of matte black and orange. It’ll bring big bucks – more than the base coupe. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Mecum’s lineup.

Update: Sold $2,350,000.

Talbot-Lago T26 by Franay

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1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport Cabriolet by Franay

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Villa Erba, Italy | May 27, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Post-war Talbot-Lagos have always been desirable and appreciated cars. This car was shown at concours shows when it was brand new. The fact that it sports body work from one of the most sought-after coachbuilders only strengthens its case.

The T26 Grand Sport went on sale at the end of 1947 and it was a short-wheelbase version of the T26, which was introduced a year earlier. They were the sporty car in Talbot-Lagos catalog and could be had as a race car. Road cars were also constructed, with bodies from Europe’s top coachbuilders. The T26 Grand Sport is powered by a 190 horsepower version of the T26s 4.5-liter straight-six.

Only 29 cars were built on the short wheelbase and only 26 still exist. This chassis was shown at the 1949 Paris Auto Salon. Franay painted it black in 1950 and had its grille updated in 1951. The car sold in 1960 for $800 and wasn’t restored until 2010, a few owners later. This one-off T26 GS will bring slightly more this year than it did in 1960; it has an estimate of $1,300,000-$1,650,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

S/N# 110121.

Update: Sold $1,252,608.

T26 Grand Sport by Dubos

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1951 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport by Dubos

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 5, 2016

Photo - Artcurial

Photo – Artcurial

The Talbot-Lago T26 Record was a car introduced by Talbot-Lago in 1946. In late 1947, a Grand Sport version was introduced, which included a more powerful 4.5-liter straight-six making 190 horsepower (in this form). Grand Sport cars (that weren’t race cars) were all sent out to coachbuilders to have some of the best designs of the period attached to them.

This one went to Carrossier Louis Dubos near Paris for this elegant cabriolet that, while originally black, looks glorious in white. Never completely restored, mechanical bits have been redone as needed. This is one of three T26s bodied by Dubos and the only Grand Sport to wear one of their bodies. It should sell for between $260,000-$350,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $293,834.