Seemingly rare, even in its country of origin, the Barbier Besson lathe was manufactured in the city of Toulouse. Virtually nothing is known of the lathe, save that it appears to have been an entirely conventional backgeared and screwcutting type that, fitted with a neat, built-on countershaft unit, would probably have been built in the 1930s.
With an estimated centre height of 175 mm (7 inches) and a capacity between centres of around 1400 mm (55 inches) and a huge cap in the bed, the Barbier Besson was equipped with a Norton patent quick-change tumbler-type screwcutting gearbox with a powershaft taking the drive to the power sliding and surfacing feeds equipped apron. However, as the "maker's" name is cast into the usual place - an easily-changed door on the front face of the headstock-end plinth - it may be that is yet another badge-engineered special.