Talbot Lago · 1955–1959
Talbot-Lago T14
The Talbot-Lago Sport is a coupé-bodied sports car introduced by the manufacturer in May 1955 that was Talbot-Lago's last production model. About 71 examples were built. After a couple of years the Talbot-designed engine was replaced with a BMW unit and the car was rebranded as the Talbot-Lago America; the final cars used Simca's flathead V8 of pre-war Ford origins. The car's launch was delayed by the company's parlous financial condition, which continued to undermine its fortunes until the last cars were made, probably in 1959.
Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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History
=== T 14 LS === At the 1954 Paris Motor Show, Talbot-Lago presented their last new engine: the new four-cylinder still had the typical twin laterally mounted camshafts, although it was upgraded to five main bearings. The new 120 PS (88 kW) 2,491 cc engine was called the T14 LS, but it did not have a car to go in until May 1955 when the Talbot-Lago 2500 Coupé T14 LS (for "Lago Sport") was finally presented. In addition to its intended use for a road going car, the engine's size, precisely conforming to the racing engine category of 2.5-litre engines without compressors, hint at Antonio Lago’s other ambitions for the new power unit. The first car had all-aluminium bodywork, executed by Carlo Delaisse (stylist for coachbuilders Letourneur & Marchand as well as Chapron), a smaller version of the design used on the preceding T 26 GSL. Later cars used more steel in their construction. 54 of these coupés were built, but they proved hard to sell - the stylish bodywork couldn't quite hide the thirties' underpinnings. T14 America. The engine developed for the car by Talbot proved unacceptably fragile. Lacking the resources to engineer the necessary improvements, for 1957 Talbot-Lago had to resort to buying in an engine. They chose BMW's 2580 cc, light-metal OHV V8 unit, albeit with the bore diameter slightly reduced, to 72.5 mm, which gave rise to a 2476 cc engine displacement – positioning the car (just) within the 14CV car tax band. Claimed power climbed to 138 PS (101 kW), considerably higher than BMW's own numbers. Reflecting the company's export plans, Talbot now rebranded the car as the "Talbot Lago America" and (finally) came into line with other French automakers by placing the driver on the left side of the car. Market response remained lukewarm, however, and only about
Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.
Specifications
- name
- Talbot-Lago Sport
- aka
- Talbot-Lago T14 LS, Talbot-Lago 2500 Coupé T14 LS, Talbot-Lago America
- Manufacturer
- Automobiles Talbot-Darracq S.A.
- Production
- 1955–1959
- Assembly
- Suresnes
- Class
- sports car
- Layout
- FR layout
- Body style
- 2-seat coupé
- Engine
- 2491 cc T14 LS I4, 2476 cc BMW M502 V8, 2351 cc Aquilon sv V8
- Transmission
- 4-speed manual all-synchromesh
- Wheelbase
- 2500 mm
- Length
- 4200 mm
- Height
- 1320 mm
- Width
- 1640 mm
Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Measured facts from Wikidata (CC0). Check the linked sources for citations.
Sources
- Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3980357CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
- Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talbot_Lago_SportCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1311222560 · retrieved 2026-10-01
- Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Talbot-Lago_T14_LS.jpgCC BY-SA 2.0 · Photo: Rex GrayFaces blurred by Mr.choppers · retrieved 2026-10-01
- Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.