1937 Talbot-Lago T150C SS Cabriolet

This Talbot-Lago T150C-SS was built by the French coachbuilder Figoni & Falasci in 1938. It is the first of two cabriolet bodies that the company built on the T150C-SS chassis, and the only complete survivor. The 'C' in the model name stood for competition, while the 'SS' was for super-sport (denoting the high-performance configuration). This was the shortest and lightest T150 chassis and the basis for Talbot-Lago's enormously successful racing efforts of the 1930s. This ultra-light, super-short chassis, coupled with Figoni's inspired coachwork, was the lynchpin for Talbot-Lago's racing success.

This Talbot-Lago was first registered to Michael Dassonville in Paris (a wool merchant), who, after World War II, abandoned the auto there when escaping to Brazil under mysterious circumstances. The auto was eventually sold by the French authorities in 1952. It then changed hands several times before being sold in the mid-1950s to Vojta Mashek of Chicago. Mashek drove the car in Vintage Sports Car Club of America events, winning many races, and it remained in his family until 2008, when it was sold to Jim Patterson of Louisville, Kentucky. It was bought by the current owners in 2015 and has now been restored to look as it was in 1938.