Design, not decoration
The bullet shape wasn’t retro.
It wasn’t nostalgic.
It was aerodynamic thinking — translated into something visible.
Low drag. Minimal surface. Clean form.
Whether buyers cared about drag coefficients back then doesn’t matter.
They saw speed.
And that was enough.
Where it started
Before the Talbot 300, there was the “Gooseneck” mirror.
Elegant — but problematic.
Too exposed.
Too easy to damage.
Too easy to steal.
By the mid-1950s, regulations required cars to have proper exterior mirrors.
Mercedes needed a solution for the 300 SL Roadster.
Talbot delivered it.
The Talbot 300 was born.
And it worked.
Immediately.
The design that spread everywhere
Once the first cars hit the road, other manufacturers noticed.
Quickly.
What started as a solution for Mercedes became a universal upgrade:
Porsche drivers added them.
BMW followed.
Jaguar too.
Not because they had to.
Because it looked right.
Variations — where things get confusing
At first glance, they all look the same.
They’re not.
Size
- Senior — 100 mm (most common)
- Junior — 90 mm (slightly sharper shape)
Shapes
- Round
- Talboval (oval)
- Talbosquare (square-ish)
Finishes
- Chrome
- Anodized
- Matte black
Glass
- Flat
- Convex
- Slight blue tint (the one everyone wants)
Same mirror.
Different details.
And that’s where most people get it wrong.
The Porsche connection
Porsche didn’t invent the mirror.
But Porsche made it stick.
356 owners started mounting Talbot mirrors early on.
Not factory — just better.
Eventually, Porsche added them as official options:
- 9131 — left
- 9132 — right
Back then? Around 21.50 DM.
As a Porsche option? Roughly double.
Nothing changed.
Except the price.
