Talbot – Driven To Write

The Nearly Car (Part Two)

Concluding our recollection of the Chrysler / Talbot Alpine and its saloon sibling, the Solara.

Renowned automotive writer Leonard (LJK) Setright took his monocle to the newly launched Simca 1307/8 in the December 1975 issue of Car Magazine. Setright observed that the engineering teams in both Whitley and Poissy seemed keen to take the lion’s share of credit for the new car. This was understandable, as the Alpine was “really rather a good machine, restoring Chrysler to a competitive place in what has been described as the ‘upper middle-class market’ in Europe.”

One could, however, sense a ‘but’ coming, and it duly arrived with regard to the engine, which Setright identified as the car’s “only major shortcoming”. This was mainly due to the volume of engine noise that permeated the cabin. The problem was exacerbated by unusually low levels of wind and road noise, thanks to the aerodynamic body design and the car’s separate front and rear rubber-mounted subframes. The latter helped achieve “fundamentally a very comfortable and absorbent ride.” Continue reading “The Nearly Car (Part Two)”

Three’s Company (Part Two)

We recall the Talbot-Matra Murena, successor to the successful Matra-Simca Bagheera, and chart Matra’s departure from the automotive business.

1981 Talbot-Matra Murena. Image: secret-classics.com

1978 saw the departure from Europe of Chrysler, the US automotive giant that was in considerable financial distress at that time. It offloaded its European assets (and very considerable debts) to the PSA Group⁽¹⁾ for a nominal US $1. In the preceding years, Chrysler had replaced the individual European marque names it had acquired with its own, which meant that PSA now had to find a new name for its acquisition.

It might have resurrected the recently deceased Simca and/or Hillman names but chose instead to dig deeper into its past and found Talbot. This marque name, which had been retired in 1958, had the advantage of being perceived as British in the UK and French in continental Europe, and so was revived in August 1979.

In its last year of production, the Matra-Simca Bagheera was rebranded Talbot-Matra. A replacement was in the final stages of development under the project code numbers M551 and M552⁽²⁾ and would Continue reading “Three’s Company (Part Two)”

Can’t Beat Visa, but Mauls R5

Following previous DTW incursions into Peugeot’s 104 series, we take a look at the T15 (or Samba, as it became better known).

Talbot Samba LS in gorgeous condition (Source: Car and Classic)

I was sorting through a pile of old motoring magazines I found on a shelf in our box room the other day, when I came across an article in the w/e 24^th October 1981 issue of Autocar which was the launch piece for “Talbot’s new T15 small car, called Samba in Europe”. I had purchased that magazine (and the others in the pile) on ebay over eight years ago while researching a series on the Triumph Acclaim which appeared on this site some time ago.

The article holds a particular interest for me because a Samba was the first car I ever bought (I was 19). I’ll Continue reading “Can’t Beat Visa, but Mauls R5”

Classic Road Test: 1979 Talbot Horizon 1.3 GLS

“Some recent changes to Talbot’s Horizon means we have to take another look at this old stager,” wrote Archie Vicar in Today’s Driver Magazine, apparently.

This appears to be a verbatim transcript of a period road test from the regionally distributed Today’s Driver Magazine, December 1979 (the Vale of Arden-area). Dougl Asland-Windermere (sic) contributed the original photography. Due to fading of the images, stock photos have been used.

On sale since 1978, the Talbot Horizon is a said to be what they supposedly call a “world car”, one designed in England to boot (something the car lacks!). In line with modern expectations, the Horizon is a front-wheel drive hatchback somewhat in the style of the dreary VW “Golf” and odd-ball Fiat Strada but it looks more acceptable than either. Why are we writing about this car, you might very well ask. I didn´t like it very much when I first drove it. But recent revisions to what is by now an old-stager in the fast-moving medium-sized family car market mean we are simply obliged to Continue reading “Classic Road Test: 1979 Talbot Horizon 1.3 GLS”

A Concept for Sunday – A Break With a Backstory

The 1986 Eole was an exploration of what would happen if one truly applied aerodynamic theory to a Citroën CX Estate. The results were somewhat mixed.

Truly aerodynamic vehicles tend to be fairly uncompromising looking devices for the most part. Citroën’s Eole concept from 1986 certainly wasn’t conventionally handsome, but it contained a lot of thinking that would become more widely adopted. The work of UK car designer, Geoffrey Matthews at the PSA/Talbot facility at Whitley, Eole was sanctioned ostensibly to give Citroën something new to show at that year’s Geneva motor show; the AX model (also styled by Matthews) not being due to Continue reading “A Concept for Sunday – A Break With a Backstory”

Norfolk Broad

With perhaps the shortest gestation of any production car, 1977’s Chrysler/Talbot Sunbeam personified the term, ‘rush job’ – and it showed. But one variant burned brightly, courtesy of Lotus.

Image: copie-petites-observations-automobile

In 1977, the TV ad-breaks were awash with the mellifluous tones of Petula Clark, exhorting us all to put a Chrysler Sunbeam in our lives. I was around 11 at the time, so there wasn’t much I could do to obey the Surrey songstress’ siren call but since we did have an Avenger parked outside, my level of interest in Linwood’s newest offering was perhaps keener that it might have otherwise have been.

The Sunbeam was the result a neat piece of industrial blackmail on the part of Chrysler UK, the failing former Rootes car business, which under US management had merged with Simca but was struggling with a dated range of cars and a loss making production facility in Scotland making fewer of them than was economical. Faced with the plant’s closure, the UK government agreed to Continue reading “Norfolk Broad”

About Really Nice Cars and Boring Ones Too

Today I’ll ask why the 164 is ace and why the 2017 Mazda Vision Coupe is like a naked lady.

An article and a comment by our colleagues on the Alfa Romeo 164 constitute the launch position of this particular rocket aimed into Inquiry Space. The article can be found here for your review but I will cite part of S.V.Robinson’s follow-up comment as it suggests the direction of this piece today: “I remember one commentator stating that the 164’s styling had that same balance and immediate sense of effortlessness as the Supermarine Spitfire and, oddly, it stayed with me as a very left field but accurate point if view…. I see a beautiful red 164 V6 regularly and it still Continue reading “About Really Nice Cars and Boring Ones Too”