MODEL HISTORY
Designed by Swiss-born engineer Georges Roesch, the Talbot 14/45 had proved to be an immediate success when it was launched in 1926, to the extent that its sales helped to save the struggling marque.
Three years later, its six-cylinder engine was stretched to 2276cc for a run of larger and more powerful '18hp' models. The first of these was the 75, which was introduced in 1930 on the same basic chassis as the 14/45. Surrey-based dealer Fox & Nicholl soon recognised this car's sporting potential, so Roesch raised the compression ratio and carried out other engine modifications in order to boost power and create the 90 model, which achieved great success at Brooklands and Le Mans.
The chassis for these 18hp cars was produced in two different wheelbase options - 9ft 6in and 10ft - while bodywork was supplied by a number of different coachbuilders. The bare chassis was priced at £425, with catalogued bodies including the 2/3-seater 'double dickey' at £525 and the drophead saloon at £600.
These cars formed the mainstay of the Talbot range into the mid-1930s, with upgrades along the way including the replacement of the 'silent third' gearbox with a Wilson pre-selector unit. As the company's catalogue put it at the time: 'The Talbot has won a wide circle of firm friends in every section of the community to whom the superb fitness of this thoroughbred motor has special appeal'.
When parent company Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq got into financial difficulties in the mid-1930s, Talbot was taken over by the Rootes Group. As the decade progressed, the famous 'Roesch Talbots' would be increasingly diluted by the use of components from other Rootes marques and Roesch eventually left the automotive industry, his legacy secure thanks to the brilliant cars he left behind.
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