Page 6 - Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport 110102

TALBOT-LAGO GRAND SPORT
Earliest known picture of 110102 from the Paris Salon issue of l'Équipement Automobile, October 1949. The car was mistakenly called a Grand Sport on a Lago Record chassis. Even then, those not in the know had difficulty identifying the models correctly. Note the bumpers and chrome side strips, which have since been lost. The top car is a Delahaye 135, of which Dubos manufactured a small series. See Volume 1, pages 138 and 139. (l'Équipement Automobile)
The Dubos coupé has traditionally been regarded as the factory body style on the 265 cm Grand Sport chassis. Three were built to this design: 110102, 110108 and 110115. Although labelled "factory", the bodies were built by Dubos in their shops and the style was less well-known and outnumbered by the six Saoutchik fastback coupés. As with the Saoutchik coupé, there was also a low-roof and a high- roof version of the coupé by Dubos. The first Dubos coupé, 110108, a low-roof version, was delivered on October 23, 1948. Next came 110115, delivered on May 19, 1949. The last Dubos coupé was 110102, delivered on September 27, 1949. 110115 and 110102 were both high- roof cars. In the 1948 Talbot factory brochure, the Grand Sport model was depicted in a somewhat imaginative drawing by Piet Olyslager as the low-roof Dubos coupé built on chassis 110108. 110102 and 110115 were a modification of the initial body style. The brochure picture is reproduced in the chapter concerning 110108, where there is also a discussion of the aesthetics of the Dubos body and the question of where the bodies were manufactured.
Over the years, there has been some confusion as to whether 110102 was the same car as 110108, which was displayed at the 1948 Paris Salon, or perhaps 110115. Several have thought that Dubos may have modified the greenhouse on 110108, while the factory subsequently renumbered the chassis to 110102. Since 110108 was delivered 11 months prior to 110102, this would in theory be perfectly possible. In addition, since 110115 was also delivered after 110108, but before
110102, and now carries a barquette body reputedly by Chapron, some sources have advanced the supposition that the Dubos body on 110115 may have been removed from that chassis and transplanted to 110102. To further complicate things, this body could then either have been a second body or the body from 110108 rebuilt. As a result, there has been some debate over the years as to whether one, two or three Dubos coupé bodies were manufactured.
From the beltline down, 110108, 110115 and 110102 are virtually identical. This includes the wheel arches, grille, headlamps and the overall front and rear fender shapes. Close comparison of the shutlines on 110108 and 110102 reveals that they were subtly different, as was the down-curve of the trunk. 110108 had an outside filler cap, whereas 110102 like most Grand Sports had access to the filler pipe by opening the trunk lid. Trim pieces such as bumpers and door handles were indistinguishable on the two cars. The fact that 110102 carries no bumpers today and the larger headlamps now on that car have no bearing on the identification, as they are later modifications. The greenhouses, however, were quite different on 110108 and 110102 and 110115: whereas 110108 had a toit surprofilé or low-roofline and sliding side windows as per the 1948 Talbot brochure, 110102 and 110115 had a higher rounded greenhouse with roll-down side windows and a vent window to the rear of the door in the manner of the later Maserati 3500 GT and 5000 GT Allemano. Finally, 110102 (and perhaps 110115) had a sliding sunroof, a patented Dubos specialty, which is visible on a
256