London Talbot on film in the 1930s 22nd Oct 2022

A visit to the TOC Facebook site provided an unexpected delight – a film entitled ‘A Day in London 1930s in color with sound added’. And, particularly exciting, a Talbot 90 glides past!

The 8 ½ minute film shows various settings in 1930s London, including Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and Waterloo Station. It has been treated so that the typical jerkiness of pre-war film has been smoothed out and the film ‘colorised’  (it’s an American production!) and sound has been added. The effect is beautiful and quite magical.

London appears so recognisable, yet so different. Pedestrians and traffic mingle at slow and considerate speeds and, of course, there is far less traffic. Who would want to drive round those locations now? The clothes fashions are so much more formal; the pedestrians look much smarter and more elegant.

It’s almost a dream world where people are going about their daily lives with no inkling of the horrors to come in a few years’ time.

At 2 mins 13 secs, a black and white Talbot 90, registered GN 4873, passes in front of the camera. It is on the TOC Database of Cars and Club Historian, James Fack, has identified it as one of the two Offord-bodied 1931 Motor Show cars. He remembered that it was featured in the Autocar of that year.

One of the two models was called the ‘Dinard’, the other – this car – the ‘San Sebastian’; the cutting alongside details the differences and the photograph above is the Autocar illustration of, in all likelihood, this very car.

There's no known survivor of the San Sebastian, so it’s wonderful to see it now on film. What a find!

With thanks to Glyn Lloyd for creating the stills on the front cover and centre spread.

The film can be viewed through the TOC website; www.facebook.com/talbotownersclub