$17,500 Sports Car (Mar, 1950)
$17,500 Sports Car
Le GRAND SPORT (The Big Sport) is I the name for the lush, cream-blue-and-chrome sports car on Mi’s cover. Louis Ritter, New York furrier and hotelman, bought the 170-hp French Talbot chassis for $4500, paid $13,000 more to have the super-streamlined steel body built by hand in Paris by the celebrated designer Saoutchik. Luxuriously soft inner-spring upholstery, interlined convertible top, special push-button doors, leather-padded steering wheel and instrument panel, all helped up the car’s cost. But despite its high price and high-speed (115 mph) performance, the Talbot yields 18 miles per gallon under ordinary driving conditions. Comfortable, too, says MI Editor Bill Parker, above.
Ya know, with a different color scheme (*cough* red), and some modern amenities, I wouldn’t mind owning one of these. Now, the price tag would be a bit higher. In 2011 dollars, it would be worth $158,000. And you know, that’s about right. Sad that it’s a one of a kind design.
The styling is almost identical to the Jaguar XK-120 which was less expensive, and at the time, the world’s fastest production vehicle.
If the Talbot is french then why is it right hand drive?
LightningRose: I htink that the key here is that Jag was “cheaper”
The Jag was a fastest, when it was introduced. Talbot-Lago Grand Sport T26 was a bit faster, when it was introduced depending of the body. However, I wonder, why the article says that the engine produces 170 hp, instead of a 190hp, that the Grand Sport’s engine ought to have.
Talbots history is really convoluted. Last Talbot made was a Talbot Express, a van…. sad end for a once great luxury/sports car manufacturer.