The Talbot 105 was a high powered sports car developed by

Talbot Talbot was an automobile marque introduced in 1902 by English-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talbot ...

designer Georges Roesch. It was famously fast, described by one authority as the fastest four-seater ever to race at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfie ...

. The car made its first appearance at the

London Motor Show London Motor Show, formerly the London Motorfair, is a motor show in England. It was held biannually at Earls Court Exhibition Centre, from 1977 to 1999. When the event won the support of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and P&O ...

in 1926. At this stage it was formally named according to its fiscal and actual horsepower as the Talbot 14–45. The six-cylinder engine displaced a volume of 1,666 cc and was the basis for all Talbot engines until the Rootes takeover in 1935. The engine was repeatedly bored out further, giving rise to a succession of performance improvements. Throughout these developments, the exterior dimensions of the original 14-45 engine block remained the same although the 18-70 had an updated block with equally spaced bores. The later 105 had a different block again. The 1930

saw the debut of the 18-70 model, bore and stroke both being increased to give an engine capacity increased to 2,276 cc. In this form the car was later called simply the Talbot 70 or 75. Higher compression ratios and a bigger Zenith carburettor resulted in an increase in power and the birth of the 90. Talbot's AO90s were highly successful in GP racing, coming third only to Speed 6 Bentleys in the 1931 Brooklands 500. An increase in the engine capacity, still without any change to the exterior dimensions of the engine block, yielded a cylinder displacement of 2,969 cc for the iconic Talbot 105 model. In 1931 four 105s were tuned to provide a reported 119 bhp, at 4,800 rpm. In "Brooklands trim" further tuning and in increased compression ratio of 10:1 gave rise to a claimed 125 bhp. Talbot 105 Works 'Brooklands'

The Talbot acquired its fame on the racing circuits, featuring prominently at

on the south-western fringes of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. In 1932 Talbot pulled out of racing, but a major Talbot dealer named Warwick Wright successfully ran a team of three 105s that year, and other teams operated by dealers and enthusiasts continued to race the cars at least till 1938.

References

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105 105 may refer to: *105 (number), the number *AD 105, a year in the 2nd century AD *105 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 105 (telephone number) * 105 (MBTA bus) * 105 (Northumberland) Construction Regiment, Royal Engineers, an English military unit ...

Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Cars introduced in 1926 1920s cars 1930s cars Sports cars