The new owners of the Earl’s old firm kept the Talbot brand for London-made cars and started using Talbot-Darracq for Paris-made cars. In short order, they bought Wolverhampton’s Sunbeam and put the lot under the unfortunately named umbrella of STD Motors.
Real excitement came in 1930 as Talbot ventured to Le Mans for the famous 24-hour race and upset the big players.
Bentley scored a one-two with its 6.6-litre monsters, but Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes and MG were all outclassed by Talbot’s 2.3-litre 90s – “really remarkable”, said Autocar. It then twice repeated this impressive feat in the following years with its enhanced 105s.
However, all was not well, as the Western world had plunged into a terrible economic depression and Sunbeam had long been unable to replicate Talbot’s prosperity, eventually dragging STD under.
Rootes, owner of Britain’s Hillman and Humber car brands, came to the rescue of Sunbeam and Talbot, leading Autocar to proclaim: “Under this energetic new management, there is no doubt that the Talbot name will continue to rank high in automobile circles.”
It looked as though the Talbot-Darracq business would vanish – until an unexpected buyout by its managing director, the “large and determined” Italian Antonio Lago.
