Page 20 - 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport -- Chassis 110101

JACQUES SAOUTCHIK:MAëTRE CARROSSIER
business in New York where he had caused a stir with a chic Talbot convertible he owned. After the War he went west and founded International Motors where he imported, bought and sold truly bespoke, expensive and rare European automobiles—machinery that ranged from custom-bodied Fiats to Bristols, several Talbots including GS chassis 110110, as well as eight-cylinder Alfa Romeos and other choice chassis that went to the notorious playboy Tommy Lee who was a major client of Barlow’s.
The Road and Track feature included an image of chassis 110102, the sole surviving Dubos coupé. This car had definitely made the Atlantic crossing and was in California by late 1949 or early 1950, as Roger Barlow’s wife Louise Barlow was pictured behind the wheel. 110102 remained in the United States and soon passed into the hands of Otto Zipper, a famed mechanic, racing driver and Porsche importer, also in California. The image of 110101 was, however, the image taken at the Longchamp track in the winter of 1948 – 1949. Whether Barlow was attempting to sell 110101 on behalf of Jean-Louis Bogey, was hoping to clinch a deal for one of the other Saoutchik fastback coupés or perhaps find a client to finance the build of a new one is not known.
In the end, it may well have been Barlow who brought 110101
Stateside sometime in the late 1950s. It certainly could have been on his to-do list, as the car managed to remain in the public eye. In a bizarre twist, a ten-cent pulp magazine called HOT ROD COMICS published a drawing of the car in its February 7, 1953 issue. 110101 was five years old, but the spectacular lines still stood up well enough to grab the imagination of adolescent readers. The technical specifications and the small story line that accompanied the sketch
ABOVE: 110101 on the Talbot stand at the Brussels Motor Show in January 1950, on loan from Monsieur Bogey. The car was now fitted with blackwall tires and chromed wire wheels. (Christophe Pund)
OPPOSITE: In the April 1950 issue of Road and Track, 110101 shared a page with 110102, the Dubos coupé Roger Barlow had imported to the States. The caption misrepresented 110102
as ...styled in the modern manner by Figoni and Falaschi. Maybe Dubos was an unknown entity to the journalist or perhaps namedropping Figoni was a ploy by Barlow to entice a buyer. The car went to Otto Zipper. Louise Barlow was at the wheel, so the Dubos had definitely crossed the Atlantic, but 110101 had not. The picture of the Saoutchik had not been snapped
by Barlow, but was the image of the car taken a year earlier at the Longchamp racetrack. Furthermore, the car was still in the ownership of Jean-Louis Bogey. (Road and Track)
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