Talbot-Lago T23 from Malaga Museum, Spain. Made in France in 1938, V6, 115 hp, 4000 cc.
Talbot-Lago was a French automobile manufacturer based in Suresnes, Hauts de Seine, outside Paris. The company was owned and managed by Antonio Lago, an Italian engineer that acquired rights to the Talbot brand name after the demise of Darracq London’s subsidiary Automobiles Talbot France in 1936.
Under Lago’s managing, the company produced a range of automobiles that included sport and racing cars, in some cases designed by coachbuild company Figoni et Falaschi until the Talbot-Lago demise in 1959, when company’s financial problems forced Lago to sell it to Simca.
T23
The T23 was a car produced between 1936 and 1939 by Talbot-Lago. The T23 is one of the most well-known Talbot-Lago models because of its very fluid lines created by coachbuilders. Produced in the second half of the thirties the T23 was built as a convertible, coupe, sedan or a limo. As for the size, the cars ranged in size from one to another because the chassis and coachbuilt bodies were often custom. The chassis was available in three different sizes, the smallest was 2.95 m, the intermediate was 3.20m while the largest was 3.45m long. The shorter wheelbase chassis was used for the coupe and convertible, while the other two were used respectively for the sedans and limousines.
The T23 was available with two engines and three levels of maximum power. Starting at the bottom of the lineup we find a 6-cylinder 3001cc engine capable of developing 90bhp giving the T23 a top speed of 130 km/h (81mph). The top-line engine was derived from the previous being a 6-cylinder engine but with a displacement of 3996cc. The maximum power levels varied depending on whether the engine was fed by a carburettor or not. This meant that the engine was capable of producing between 105hp and 115hp. This gave the T23 a top speed of 150 km/h (93mph), depending on the level of tune.
