Sunbeam, Talbot and Darracq in a sense encapsulate the history of the automobile in Great Britain in the first four decades of the 20th century as domestic manufacturers teamed up with French designers to take advantage of the innovations and refinements flowing from France, then the leader in automobile design and performance.

Over time, however, the British developed their own talents, but the names persisted.

Sunbeam-Talbot's name first appeared on a car - the 10hp Sports Saloon - in 1938.

The latter had been first introduced as the Talbot Ten at the 1935 London Motor Show and was based on a lengthened version of the Hillman Aero Minx's under-slung chassis.

Hailed by its makers as 'Britain's Most Exclusive Light Car', the new Sunbeam-Talbot Ten had been re-engineered by Chief Designer Georges Roesch, whose brief had been to extract more power from the engine and provide sufficient room for four passengers, objectives achieved by moving the engine and gearbox forward by 3½" and e...