6 cyl. ohv. 2276cc. 7.5:1 compression. Coil ignition. Twin SU down-draft carburettors. 4 speed ‘silent third’ gearbox. 9’ 6” wheelbase. ‘De Luxe Sports Tourer’ three door fabric body by Darracq. Top speed 90 mph. Price new £675.
Model History
So impressed was he with the 1930 2.3 litre Talbot model ‘70’ that Arthur Fox, a principal of the car dealership and engineering firm Fox and Nichol Ltd, convinced the Talbot company directors to provide him with three cars specially developed into sports-racing machines capable of footing it in the 3 litre class.
Talbot design chief Georges Roesch set about upping the performance of the 2.3 litre engine, lifting the output from 60 bhp to 93 bhp on 10:1 compression. The resultant vehicle was designated the ‘90’, which went on to perform with distinction at Brooklands, the Irish Grand Prix, the RAC Tourist Trophy and Le Mans.
IU6037
First sold to Geo. Griffith & Co, delivered 30 April 1931, registered 1 May 1931 with the Kent County Council as KJ 591.
Apart from a photograph of it taken in the 1930’s there is no other record of this car until 1956 when it was purchased in poor condition for £22 by Jerome Smithson.
He came across it semi derelict in a remote corner of Filton Airfield, South Gloucestershire, with a rod through the block and accident damage to the off-side rear quarter.
Extensive repair and refurbishment was undertaken by Jerome following his purchase and the car was registered in his name on 17 July 1956, with engine number AS935.
Jerome brought the car to New Zealand in 1973 where it was first registered as GM 2529, this subsequently changed by its second N.Z. owner, Alistair Robinson, to IU6037.
Bought by its current owner on 20 August 1984, who has enjoyed campaigning it spiritedly for upwards of 100,000 miles… and counting.
|