The ex-Fox and Nicholl Team, 1932 Alpine Trial Coupe des Alpes Winning, 1932 Talbot AV105 coachwork by Vanden Plas
Registration number: PJ 7363
Chassis number: 31084
"Of all the cars I ever drove, from Frazer-Nash to Monoposto Alfa Romeo and Type 59 Bugatti - the 105s were the nicest to push to the limit, and only the Monza Alfa would go round corners quicker" (Brian Lewis, Lord Essendon)
Arthur Fox of the Tolworth-based dealer and race preparation specialist Fox & Nicholl sought a new marque partner for the 1930 racing season. The resultant trio of Works Talbot '90' cars proceeded to dominate the 3 Litre class at such prestigious events as the Le Mans 24-hour race, Irish Grand Prix, Tourist Trophy and Brooklands '500'.
Understandably keen to make preparations for the 1931 season, Arthur Fox began badgering Talbot and more particularly its chief engineer, Georges Roesch, for a full 3-Litre capacity sports tourer in October 1930. His persistence was rewarded some two months later when the factory not only agreed to continue its provision of Works cars but also published a catalogue listing details of a new 2969cc '105' model priced at £835. Based around a 9ft 6in wheelbase, the newcomer's sturdy ladder frame chassis was equipped with all-round leaf-sprung suspension (semi-elliptic front / quarter-elliptic rear), various cross braces and massive four-wheel drum brakes (just under 16in in diameter). True to Roesch's ethos that even Talbot competition cars should contain a high percentage of production car DNA, the first four Fox & Nicholl '105' cars (road registered as 'GO 51', 'GO 52', 'GO 53' and 'GO 54') also featured Luvax hydraulic dampers, thermostatically controlled radiator shutters and a single Zenith 48mm downdraught carburettor.
Among the most technologically sophisticated powerplants of the 1930s, the straight-six engine fitted to the '105' boasted a seven-bearing crankshaft, nickel chrome Swedish steel con-rods, four-bearing chrome-plated camshaft, vertically staggered inlet / exhaust tracts and diagonally opposed combustion chambers (the latter facilitating the use of 'oversize' 44mm inlet and 40mm exhaust valves). Shorter, lighter and more rigid than most of its contemporaries, race-tuned versions of the pushrod overhead-valve unit developed 119bhp @ 4,800rpm in 1931 and 132bhp @ 4,800rpm a year later (but were reputedly safe to over 5,000rpm). Further benefiting from a close-ratio four-speed 'crash' gearbox, ultra-direct steering and torque tube drive, the quartet's distinctive light Green livery was reputedly inspired by Georges Roesch's fiancée who was a buyer for Debenham & Freebody's.
The 'GO' cars enjoyed considerable success during the 1931 season at events as challenging as the Brooklands 'Double Twelve' (1st, 2nd and 3rd in class), Le Mans 24-hours (3rd overall, 1st un-supercharged car), International Tourist Trophy (4th overall, 2nd in class) and Brooklands '500' (6th overall, 2nd in class). A ‘GO’ car was entered for the 1931 International Alpine Trial. Notable as the first Works Talbot to tackle the gruelling rally, Entrusted to Humfrey Symons/Norman Garrad. This car managed to get through this hugely gruelling event without the loss of a single mark. Winning one of just six Glacier Cups awarded that year (the highest honour achievable by a single entry) the Talbot had the further distinction of being the third fastest car up the legendary 9,042ft Stelvio Pass.
As part of the ongoing relationship between Clement Talbot Ltd and Fox & Nicholl, ‘GO 51’ 'GO 52', 'GO 53' and 'GO 54' were comprehensively re-engineered and rebuilt for the 1932 season. Boasting new chassis, engines, gearboxes and running gear, the reworked '105' Team Cars proved as competitive as ever with 'GO 53' running as high as 4th overall on the Mille Miglia and 'GO 54' finishing 3rd overall at the Le Mans 24-hours.
Although, he contemplated entering a team of three 'GO' cars for late July's International Alpine Trial and mid August's International Tourist Trophy, Arthur Fox soon realised that the estimated time window between the trio returning from the Continent on August 7th and leaving for Ireland on August 15th was just too tight. Forced to choose between the two events, he plumped for the latter but not before Barlby Road had helpfully made three new '105' engines numbered AV 33, AV 34 and AV 36 (the same as the racing units in 'GO 54', 'GO 51' and 'GO 53') so as to alleviate any difficulties with registration logbooks / carnets abroad. While, the Works were happy to supply Fox & Nicholl with mechanical consumables, budgetary constraints meant that they were unwilling to make any more complete cars available for competition purposes.
Besides which Arthur Fox had made it clear he was targeting the International Alpine Trial's most coveted prize, the Alpine Cup (Coupe des Alpes). Only granted to the highest scoring team of three cars in each class, entry for the award automatically precluded competitors from qualifying for individual Glacier Cups should one or more of their team mates fail. Despite, Talbot blanching at the prospect of such a 'death or glory' endeavour, Fox persuaded leading London Talbot dealers Warwick Wright Ltd - to finance the building of three bespoke Team Cars with which he could mount an Alpine Cup challenge.
However, the Warwick Wright backing came perilously late and the project was not green lit until June 29th; a scant three weeks before the new cars would need to leave for the Continent. Unlike their 'GO' car siblings, the 'Alpine' trio were to be bodied by Vanden Plas with full four-seater coachwork and elegant flowing wings. Their appearance would thus be far more marketable and any success achieved more likely to result in sales (an important consideration given that Warwick Wright Ltd had committed some £2,000 to the venture). With much of the chassis fitting-out process being completed at Vanden Plas' Hendon premises in an attempt to save time, Blight described how: "Knee deep in carpenters and wood shavings, Saunders and his men nevertheless contrived during the next fortnight to make the few permitted alterations suggested by Roesch and Day. The back axle ratio was left untouched at 4.36:1 . . . The instrument panels virtually duplicated those used on the racing cars, resplendent in appearance with the outsize revolution counter and oil gauge, but boasting a brace of clocks for the Trial; at the back of the car, a double carrier was made up to hold a pair of spare wheels where one normally sufficed, requiring a special out-swept bumper bar to clear them". As with the ‘GO’ cars to save weight they were fitted with Elektron (Magnesium) sumps, gearbox casings and other smaller parts.
Hurriedly stamped with 'A' suffixes, the duplicate engines originally put aside for the 'GO' cars were allied to 'silent third' gearboxes and fitted to chassis numbers 31082, 31083 and 31084. Road registered as 'PJ 7361', 'PJ 7362' and 'PJ 7363' respectively, the Fox & Nicholl 'Alpine' trio were still being run-in on their way to the event's start line. Ahead lay the toughest International Alpine Trial yet with, in Blight's words, "a full six days of motoring, the running of one complete section in darkness, and the addition of a second speed hillclimb. The route now embraced the entire Alpine chain from the start at Munich to the finish at San Remo on the Italian Riviera, plunging from one country to another about twice every day". While, the Mille Miglia spanned the 1,000 miles its name suggested, the Alpine Trial asked competitors to endure 1,625 miles on some of the most challenging roads Europe could offer. Warwick Wright Ltd's gamble was not quite as foolhardy as it first appeared for Swiss Georges Roesch frequently holidayed in the Alps and knew better than most the challenges they provided.
Crewed by Brian Lewis/Arthur Fox ('PJ 7361', Car Number '7'), Tim Rose Richards/Don Wilcockson ('PJ 7362', Car Number '8') and Norman Garrad (later head of the Rootes Competition Department)/Jack Playford ('PJ 7363', Car Number '9', the car offered here), the three Fox & Nicholl Team Cars sought to stick together and run as quickly as possible so as to minimise the effect of any mishap or mechanical malady. The Talbot trio were the fastest team entry on the Trial and among the very swiftest competitors. Indeed, their performance advantage was such that they not only caused the Ford V8 team leader to retire with head gasket failure (after he had tried to dice with Brain Lewis) but also finished most stages with plenty of time to spare.
At the end of six days' competition, 'PJ 7361', 'PJ 7362' and 'PJ 7363' had suffered broken front silencer mounts and a mysterious oil loss from their back axles but not incurred a single penalty; the first time such a team performance had been recorded on the Alpine Trial.
Finding time for a roadside wash and polish prior to crossing the finishing line, the Talbot 105 Fox & Nicholl Team Cars became the first entry by a British manufacturer to win a Coupe des Alpes since Rolls-Royce achieved a similar feat some two decades earlier. News of the Talbots' victory spread quickly and Warwick Wright Ltd's leap of faith was handsomely rewarded with "a marked upsurge in interest in the '105', culminating in enquiries from Buckingham Palace itself". Put on display at Warwick Wright Ltd and later at Fox & Nicholl, the Alpine cars were soon sold into private hands.
Soon after the Trial, 'PJ 7363' was sold into private hands and nothing is known of its history until 1953. The Talbot was bought by Don Nicholas of Rugby in April 1953, who sold it to Sandy Murray the next year. Sandy Murray raced the car in the mid-fifties. Murray relinquished the car in 1957 to The Hon Raymond Hervey Joliffe, later the fifth Baron Hylton. About that time, Sandy Murray bought ERA R1A, so it looks as though the Talbot had to go to make space. The car was then owned by Brian Silvester from 1958 until 1964, when it passed into the hands of McEwen and Bell's Garage in Bakewell who sold it to Jeremy Wallington in July 1964. Brian Grigg purchased 'PJ 7363' during early 1965 and began a long project of restoration, reported by Anthony Blight in his records on the history of the car. Brian Grigg refurbished a lot of the '105' to the standards of the time (see correspondence, photos and invoices on file), but by 1996 the task was still unfinished, and he sold it to Talbot and Sunbeam specialist Bill Barrott in Sheffield (see photos on file showing car as purchased). Bill took great care in ensuring that all the original 'PJ 7363' bits were with the car when well-known Talbot aficionado and ultra-keen pre-War rally man David Thomson bought the complete car, in pieces, from Bill in 1997.
It did not take long to reach the conclusion that while much work had been done to the standards of the 1960s, everything needed to be checked or redone to bring it up to current standards. And so David gave the car to our sister company renowned marque specialist I.S. Polson to embark on an extensive sensitive restoration of the car in 1997 - 1998. Both the then owner and I.S. Polson were very keen to ensure that the originality of this exceptionally original competition car was maintained, and this was achieved with one or two permissible exceptions, such as the inclusion of a full-flow oil filter, flashing indicators and H4 headlight.
The Vanden Plas body, panelling and wings are original to the car. When 'PJ 7363' was restored in 1997, the aluminium panels were removed to carry out some minor repairs to the ash frame. The original panels were then refitted and the whole of the coachwork reassembled. The running boards were replaced at that time, with the pattern carefully copied from detailed 1932 photographs. The twin spare wheel assembly and rear bumper, built specially for the three Alpine Trial cars, is exactly as in 1932.
As purchased in 1997, PJ had been painted dark green over the original Talbot green. At the time of the restoration, the complete body was stripped back to bare metal, but not before three detailed original colour samples had been taken from parts of the car where daylight had not penetrated. These were carefully copied, and so we are as sure as we can be that the colour is the same as in 1932. The car is cellulose painted and has developed a delightful patina over the years.
The restoration in 1997 included an extensive engine overhaul. The cylinder block (number 'AV 34A') and gearbox are original to the car, engine and gearbox carry the same numbers ('AV 34A'), typically the only two numbers exactly matching on a Talbot 105. Gear ratios are standard for the 'silent third' gearbox.
When restored in 1997 as much of the original leather as possible was conserved. The front seats were retrimmed in matching leather. Many of the original Vanden Plas body numbers are visible on the components.
All major mechanical and body components are believed to be original to the car. The only known exception is the front axle beam, which is of the correct type but not original to this '105'.
A photographic record of the work done at this time remains with the car. When the restoration was completed David rallied and exhibited the car extensively. Events such as the Liege- Rome- Liege (7 occasions, normally winning silverware), twice exhibited at the Louis Vuitton Concours, the Mille Miglia retrospective was successfully complete in 2006 and 2008 in which year PJ finished as the highest British competitor and much enjoyable continental touring besides. In all of this, ‘PJ’ never failed to finish an event.
Purchased by the current owner in 2008, another great enthusiast of the Talbot marque, where it joined a hand-picked private collection of AV105s. During his ownership he has used ‘PJ’ very much in the spirit of the cars creators entering events such as the Flying Scotsman, together with numerous other Continental tours and rally’s.
During his custodianship the car has been maintained by his personal mechanic, whilst specialist work has been undertaken on various aspects of the car. This included an engine rebuild by Pace Products in 2017 to increase the power available and attention to the paintwork and body-frame. The rear seats and side trims have been sympathetically re-trimmed, since the original leather was deemed at this point beyond saving even by Northampton University leather conservation department, who were consulted before this was done.
'PJ 7363' is the most original survivor of the 1932 Alpine Team and is widely acknowledged as being one of the most original Talbot Fox & Nicholl Team Cars left in existence. It is also one of the most successful surviving British rally cars of the Inter-War period. Eligible for a host of prestigious historic events and as effective now on an Alpine Pass as it was in 1932, this truly historic British Pre War competition car would be a great addition to any car collection.