In the 50s and 60s, European car manufacturers eager to expand into the booming American market came up with models aimed at Yankee tastes. Sometimes they even named these cars after their target market. Examples include the '52 Porsche America Roadster (not a huge success, but 20 of 21 built went to the USA), a whole series of Ferrari Americas* (also produced in small numbers, but finally with the "big engine" importer Luigi Chinetti had requested), and as the 60s faded into the 70s, the Austin America with automatic transmission and cushy "hydrolastic" suspension. One old-line French manufacturer, frozen out of the French market by high taxes on their big six cylinder cars, belatedly saw the potential of the American market in 1957. Anthony Lago* substituted a BMW V-8 for the disappointingly fragile Talbot-Lago* 2.5 liter four which had appeared in the sleek new Type 14 LS coupe in '55, and finally moved the steering wheel to the left side while substituting wind-up windows for the racing-type sliders, making the new cars available through Los Angeles importer Otto Zipper. A Motor Trend test from 1959 praised the car's style and handling, but their comparison test was with a Plymouth Sport Fury, which had twice the power for half the money. Lago had erred in choosing to downsize the V-8 to meet French tax limits; for the US market the 3.2 liter V8 from the 503 and 507 would have been a better value-for-money proposition. The car was pretty, elegantly modern with tidy curves and balanced proportions, still with a hint of tradition in the grille and interior details which led many to think of something English like an Aston. The early 4 cylinder coupes were even more frequently taken for Brits, as they had right-hand drive and overlapped production of the English Sunbeam Talbots, completely different cars which were made by a separate company. Neither Talbot-Lagos nor Sunbeam Talbots did especially well in the American market, and at a lofty $7,000 tag only a dozen or so of the Lago Americas found homes. After Tony Lago sold out to Simca in 1959, another 10 cars were outfitted with Simca V8 engines (a version of the outdated flathead Ford) to use up leftover chassis, and these cars joined the original 54 Type 14 coupes and the too-little, too-late America as artifacts of a fine old company trying to find its way in a changing market.
Talbot Type 14 LS coupe, 1955-56
Shown below is one of the late, high-roof Lago America coupes built just before the end. Note the left-hand drive. The Lago America was the first Talbot-Lago with this as a standard feature...
Talbot Lago America, 1957-59
1952 Porsche America
*Footnote: Ferrari has released a new America series, but it's already sold out at $2.5 million a copy. You may have better luck finding an Austin America in the $250 to $2,500 range. The Porsche America provided only a few sales for importer Max Hoffman (see "Max Hoffman: An Eye for Cars, and the Studebaker Porsche" posted here on May 1, 2016) but paved the way for the wildly successful Speedster.
*Postscript: We got around to posting a retrospective on Talbot-Lago cars, including the big six cylinder cars and the racers, a few years after this post in "Talbot-Lago: Darracq by Another Name" on May 22, 2020, and posted many of the legendary "teardrop" Talbot-Lagos (and a couple Delahayes) bodied by Figoni & Falaschi in "The French Line Part 5: Figoni & Falaschi", on June 7, 2020.
Photo Credits:
All photos Wikimedia except that classic Austin America, which is from British Leyland.
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