1935 Clément-Talbot 105 Airline Saloon

An interesting British 1930s body type was the Airline.  Typically, these were coupés with normal, production front ends with their rear profiles rounded down, giving the design an aerodynamic appearance.  Those front ends with items such as fenders and headlights detached from the main car body along with vertical or nearly-vertical grilles and windshields were not aerodynamically efficient at all, so the rear-end refinement was essentially functionally worthless.

That said, Airline style cars could be sportily attractive if they were long enough; stubby Airline cars usually weren't beautiful.

The subject of this post is a 1935 Talbot 105 Airline Saloon - a four-door car.   Clément-Talbot 105s for 1935 had a 120-inch (3048 mm) wheelbase, so were long enough to create an attractive Airline profile.   This car was one of 39 built, being sold in December 1935, nearly a year after Clément-Talbot was purchased by the Rootes Group.

I wrote about another fine Airline-style car here.  It was a retro- Triumph Gloria Airline Coupé.  Retro, in that no original ones exist, and this one was a new, carefully-researched, duplicate body placed on an available Triumph chassis.

Today's subject is a very attractive Airline, remarkable because it's a saloon and not a coupé -- saloons usually being inherently less sporting than coupés due to their need for rear-seat headroom and the added length required for rear-seat doors.

Images below are of a car listed for sale by The Classic Motor Hub in England.

Gallery

The front is classic 1930s British.

Airline style begins just forward of the cowling.

Doors are hinged on a slightly raked-back B-pillar.  The windshield slope is strong for 1935 and provides a dab of aerodynamic efficiency.  Note the fadeaway character line running across the doors.

The rear fender side fold is slightly concave, contrasting with the slightly convex trunk curve, a nice juxtaposition also seen on other English cars.

The backlight window is nice and large, though two panes were required in those non-curved car window glass days.

Spatted rear wheel openings were popular "streamlining" detail in the 1930s.  They are avoided here, and might have made the design seem heavier.

The beltline curves downward to the rear, a fairly common 1930s styling fashion, especially in France, but also in England.  Note the shape of the rear door -- cramped by the fastback roof and rear fender.

An exciting, sporty design, especially for a four-door car.

The cockpit has plenty of English wood and leather.  Instruments are in the center to make right or left steering wheel placement easier.