funny thread...I met an older guy in 1977 when i moved back to Sweden....I had a co worker who boughtan 56 Talbot Lago , in peces, (somebody took it apart) and he wasnt sure how it went together or how it was supposed to look, and he had found out there was a guy in western Sweden who 'had one'...asked me to go take pictures for him and send back to Texas..
I met with a very nice older man , mechanical engineer...he had TWO Talbots, 56s...he lived on an old farm and the entire house and farmhouse were full of parts, we went thru and looked everywhere , he had cranks in the pantry, bumpers under the master BR bed etc...but in the garage were two almost identical cars , both black...one was 100% restored to original, the other he had "fixed" to the way he thought the factory should have built them , with many imoprovements , souped engine etc.

this guy I found out was famous in Talbot circles...he was THE transmission guy...he was paid to fly over to YUS ,to England etc and re-buildpeoples Talbots transmissions , rebuild engines and soup them up...