1l7CcRC

Undeniably a Talbot Lago in all but name, this Darracq was built inParis and sold new to a diplomat in Sweden. Because The RootesGroup in England owned the rights to the name Talbot in Swedenand throughout the rest of Europe, excluding France, the car wasbadged as a Darracq but in all respects was identical to the TalbotLago T120 Majors alongside which it left the Suresnes productionline. The three-litre T120 and four-litre T150 Talbot Lagos wereamong the sensations of the Paris Auto Salon of 1934. Tony Lagofitted the Walter Becchia-designed three-litre, pushrod operatedoverhead valve engine in the lowered chassis of the T110. Thedesignation ‘Major’ denotes the more comfortable 3.2m wheelbaseof this late model. This cast iron, in line ‘six’ engine, with fourbearingcrankshaft, transmitted power through a four-speed Wilsonpre-selector gearbox and would form the mainstay of Talbot Lagoproduction right through to WWII.First registered in July 1939, this car spent most of its early life inSweden and Denmark and from 1960 to 1987 was owned and rebuiltby Bengt Makeprang, President of the Veteran Car Club of Denmark.Some ten years ago it was bought at ‘Retromobile’ in Paris by awell-known and seriously successful British historic rally competitorwho recognised its long distance touring qualities. Shortly afterwardsit was bought by the present owner, a former British HillclimbChampion, who had seen and admired the car at ‘Retromobile’.Its demanding new owner was to set up XAS 892 for reliable longdistance touring, much of the work being entrusted to Talbot Lagospecialist Bill Barrott, including work on the cylinder head, clutch,prop shaft and rear brakes, resurfacing the flywheel and fitting anew air silencer. The gearbox rebuild was entrusted to pre-selectorgearbox specialist Cecil Schumacher.Other work, and readily reversible modifications, completed to ensurebullet-proof Continental touring, included fitting of new wheels andhub caps, reconditioning of four dampers, fitting a new stainlesssteel petrol tank, together with new facet pumps, filter and regulatorand a new silencer. As recently as 2013 all brake shoes were relined,new front brake cables were fitted along with a new moderndistributor and a new WOSP lightweight, high torque, gear reductionstarter motor. Importantly the original mechanical fuel pump, startermotor and distributor have been retained and are offered with thecar should the new owner wish to revert to original specification.During its UK ownership the car has covered in excess of 22,000kmsand has successfully completed tours in Scotland, France, Austria,Slovenia and more recently a tour to The Pyrenees and Picos, as wellas much motoring in England and Wales.The supremely elegant four seater coachwork with its three positionhood - which the vendor advises is water-tight and moves in secondsto its alternative positions – is smartly presented in maroon livery withcream leather upholstery and is notable for its many quintessentiallyFrench art deco features, notably door furniture, luggage trunk lockfittings, coachwork swage lines and Marchal lighting.XAS 892 combines supreme elegance with sporting performance.It has proven tour reliability and the present owner reports that thisfine thoroughbred cruises without stress at 65mph and generallyreturns 18mpg. It comes with current UK registration papers, roadfund licence and MOT certificate to December 2014 as well as a fileof relevant paperwork including invoices for much of the meticulousmaintenance and design refinements carried out.£70,000 - 80,000€86,000 - 99,000Motor Cars | 107