Art Deco Airline

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The evolution of the Georges Roesch Talbots is a fine demonstration of how a design could be refined over 10 years, from being extremely competitive to being difficult to surpass. The 14/45 of 1926, with its 1665cc ohv six and Vintage traits such a thermosiphon cooling and a crash gearbox, revived Talbot’s flagging fortunes but got even better as it was developed into the 18/70 and 90, before the 105 succeeded it in 1931.

Talbot

With a 2969cc engine and refinements including pre-selector gear-change, the Bentley-beating 105 was very much a PVT, a world apart from even the highest-quality cars of the 1920s. Like the 14/45, the 105 slotted into the space in the market which comprised large, four/five-seater sporting cars, but it also had to contend with the onslaught of smaller but equally well-made Continental products such as Alfa Romeos.

As it happened, with Roesch’s sophisticated engineering, the 105 more than held its own against the competition, and it also had an advantage in the style stakes. This was never more apparent than with the handful which were built with the beautiful Airline body, a well-proportioned and subtly detailed design believed also to have originated in the mind of Roesch.

Scott Barrett falls for a meticulously restored example in the August issue of The Automobile, available now.

Words by Zack Stiling. Photographs by Reverendpixel.

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