Beschreibung:

The ex-Tommy Lee, Brooks Stevens 1937 TALBOT LAGO T150 C SS TEARDROP COUPÉ COACHWORK BY FIGONI ET FALASCHI Chassis No. 90105 Engine No. 85019 Body No. 655 Red with red leather and fawn cloth interior Engine: straight six, twin high camshafts, twin carburetors, 3,996cc, 140bhp at 4,100rpm; Gearbox: four-speed pre-selector; Suspension: independent front by top wishbone and lower transverse semi-elliptic leaf spring; Brakes: four wheel hydraulic. Right hand drive. Known simply as the Goutte d'Eau or Teardrop this is an example of one of the greatest series of automobiles ever constructed, a perfect marriage of two companies at the top of their game, Talbot-Lago and Figoni et Falaschi. The story of the running gear originates when the Sunbeam Talbot Darracq combine collapsed in the mid-1930s. While the Rootes brothers took over the British operations, wisely the receivers were content to let Anthony Lago continue to run the French operation at Suresnes near Paris, and the energetic and capable Lago breathed new life into the business setting out to build a notable range of fast sports and touring automobiles. Under his direction, the French Talbot organization performed a major role on the automobile scene. By the end of the decade not only was the marque very active in racing, both in Grand Prix and in Endurance, it also produced high performance road cars, their technology being closely related to the competition cars. The most major strategic move that Lago made shortly after he took ownership of French Talbot, was to instruct the chief engineer Walter Beccia to design a new range of cars working on applying pushrod overhead valve technology to the existing range of engines, the 15CV 2.7 litre, 17CV 3 litre and 23CV 4 litre. The latter unit now in the overhead valve form produced over 160bhp and was designated T150C, the 'C' standing for 'course' or competition. Lago combined this with the inherited chassis with independent front suspension by transverse leaf springs and Wilson pre-select gearchange that Lago himself had been instrumental in the development of. Talbot called their 4 litre sports cars 'Lago-Specials'. The cars began their chassis sequence at 90001 in 1936. It is estimated that some 63 chassis were supplied between 1936 and 1939. Recognising the enormous racing potential of the car, Lago quickly exploited this and in the winter of 1936/37, Lago built his a 'SS' or Super Sport model, for which he took the T150C chassis and shortened it to 2.65m. The definitive sports version of the chassis, it weighed in at some 130 kilos less than a standard T150C. Chassis numbers for Super Sport chassis had a '1' as the middle digit, starting with 90101. The introduction of the sports T150 C-SS coincided nicely with the revolt of Delahaye, Bugatti and other French manufacturers against the German domination of the Grands Prix and their instigation of a Sports Car only Grand Prix de L'ACF. Although not completing their first race the 3 hours of Marseille, the results quickly began to improve and their persistence produced a 1-2-3 and 5th place finish in 1937 at the French GP. For the other half of the equation one looks no further than the same country and to one of the most legendary 'carrossiers' of their day, Figoni et Falaschi. Never was the phrase 'Rolling Sculpture' more apt than when describing the legendary coachwork penned by Joseph Figoni. From the mid-1930s, he was backed by wealthy Italian businessman Ovidio Falaschi, whose passion for flamboyant coachwork funded and inspired Figoni's continued development of increasingly aerodynamic and avant garde body styles on the luxury chassis of the day. They were to comment in period "We really were true couturiers of automotive coachwork, dressing and undressing a chassis one, two, three times and even more before arriving at the definitive line that we wanted to give to a specific chassis-coachwork ensemble". When influenced by artist Geo Ham this produced the 'swee