My grandfather, the Talbot enthusiast, was “Ted” (Edward Charles) Davis, 1906-1978. He worked at the Westminster Bank in Whiteladies Road, Bristol, and did not become a car owner until after the war, when the family moved out of Bristol to nearby Winterbourne. His first car was a 1931 Rover 10 bought in 1949 for £ 25. That was overhauled by his brother-in-law who ran the Evans Motor Garage in St Marks Road, Easton, Bristol. Ted learned lots about working on cars from Eric Evans. The Rover 10 was followed by a 1936 Vauxhall, for £ 85 and that in turn by a 1937 Austin Sherborne which was sold in 1954.
Having admired Talbots since his youth, he finally bought one in early 1956 - that was the grey BA75 registered as BXV 342, bought for £ 100. While putting things right on this car, Ted got to know John Bland, a Talbot spares supplier, who told Ted about the Sunbeam Talbot Darracq register, which he subsequently joined.
The second car was ALC 58, a dark maroon AW75, bought for £ 27 in 1960, and driven back from Macduff in Scotland.
Working on the cars was a hobby for Ted and they were used for camping tours around Britain in the holidays; the longest trip was 2000 miles in ten days. They were also driven to some of the S.T.D. rallies - both cars attended the Wolverhampton Rally in 1963 - Jim “British” Iles drove the second one there.
Both cars were kept for a while when the family moved back to Bristol but were eventually sold; BXV 342 went in 1966 to somebody in Holcombe in the Mendips, Somerset. The other Talbot, ALC 58, now a brighter shade of red, was sold in 1967 to a man from Stoke Bishop for £ 125. He sold it on very soon after. I believe that ALC 58 later spent some time in the USA before being brought back to the UK.
Here are some photos of Ted with BXV 342, and working on ALC 58 at Winterbourne.
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