1956 Talbot-Lago T14LS
French taxation policies targeting large-displacement engines forced Anthony Lago to introduce a smaller alternative in the mid-1950s, moving away from the big six-cylinder models that had brought racing glory at Le Mans.
Carlo Delaisse of Letourneur et Marchand designed the bodywork for this final attempt to save the struggling marque, creating elegant proportions around a roughly 99-inch (2,500 mm) wheelbase tubular chassis. The coachwork combined traditional French grand touring character with restrained postwar styling that emphasized flowing lines over ornamental excess.
Power came from a sophisticated 2.5-liter four-cylinder featuring two lateral camshafts mounted in the block operating overhead valves via pushrods, a hemispherical alloy cylinder head, five main bearings, and dual Zenith carburetors, producing about 120 horsepower at 5,000 rpm.
The engine drove through a Pont-à-Mousson four-speed gearbox with full synchromesh, an advanced specification for the period. Independent front suspension with coil springs and shock absorbers contrasted with a conventional live rear axle on semi-elliptic leaf springs.
Just 54 T14LS examples were completed between 1955 and 1958, before Lago sold the company to Simca in 1959, making these final Talbot-Lagos particularly scarce survivors of a marque that experienced both notable racing success and persistent financial hardship.
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