1922 Talbot 8/18hp Tourer with Dickey

Registration no. XK 8147 Chassis no. AP12330

Footnotes

Formed in 1903 to import French Clément cars into the UK, the British-owned Clément-Talbot concern quickly dropped the Clément name and by 1905 was assembling partly British-made Talbots at its new factory in London. A wide variety of French-built models continued to be imported, but by 1906 the first all-British Talbot had arrived. Talbot merged with Sunbeam in 1919 and the following year combined with the French Darracq concern to form the Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq (STD) conglomeration. Confusingly, the products of the Suresnes factory were badged as Talbots in France and Darracq elsewhere, and the former should not be confused with the British-made Talbots designed by Georges Roesch.

In the early 1920s Talbot's first offering in the light car market was the 970cc Darracq, which was given a Talbot radiator and sold in the UK as the 8/18hp. The latter's four-cylinder overhead-valve engine endowed it with a level of performance superior to many of its direct competitors, though to keep costs in check the gearbox had but three speeds and there was no differential. The 8/18 was best suited to lightweight open two-seater bodywork, but customers demanded weightier coachwork so Roesch stretched the engine to 1,074cc for the 10/23 model. Both of these small Talbots were produced up to 1926.

The early history of 'XK 8147' is not known, but there is a list on file of nine owners from August 1951 onwards, commencing with the wonderfully named John Mollart Rogerson Rolyat of Hampshire. In 1956, Edward Wheeler carried out extensive work on the car, including fitting a Ford (Dellow) rear axle and converting the engine to improve its performance. In July 1988, Brian Waddington bought the Talbot from dealer Andrew Booth and took it to the Isle of Man with him a few years later.

The Talbot was purchased by the current vendor in May 1997, since when the engine and gearbox have been overhauled by Bill Barrott, and the radiator rebuilt. While in the present ownership, 'XK 8147' has been used for STD rallies, etc and in 2011 led the Talbot Owners' Club's cavalcade up Kop Hill in Buckinghamshire. Accompanying documentation includes a copy instruction manual and Book of the Talbot, and old style buff logbook, some early photographs of the car, and a V5 Registration Certificate.