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Featured is one of the first T26 Grand Sports, which was sold new to Belgian racer Claude Nias. He had the car bodied by Van den Plas in Brussels with a not particular beautiful, but very practical coupe body. Nias famously raced the car in the gruelling Liege - Rome - Liege rally in 1951. A year later the car appeared on the Brussels Salon with a brand new and very light aluminium body by local coachbuilder Martial Oblin. In this shape he raced the car against formidable opposition in the 1953 Spa 24 Hours race. Nias ran as high as fourth, but after eight hours he was forced to retire with a broken shock absorber. The final competitive appearance was in the 1953 Liege - Rome - Liege rally. The Talbot Lago was running among the leaders once more, until Nias lost it on the descent of Col de l'Izoard in the French Alps.
Fortunately the car was repaired and was subsequently purchased by a Talbot Lago enthusiast, who greatly enjoyed driving the Oblin bodied machine. In remarkable original condition, the car is pictured above during the 2004 European Concours d'Elegance in Dusseldorf Germany.
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