1981 Talbot Tagora – Driven To Write

History Lesson

Failing to learn from experience only condemns you to repeat your errors.

By the mid-1970’s it was abundantly clear that the Chrysler 160/180/2-Litre was a flop. Launched in 1970 under a marque name with no resonance in Europe, the big Avenger was regarded with indifference by the market and sales were disappointing to the point of embarrassment. However, the large saloon segment in which the car sold was growing healthily, with cars like the Ford Granada, Audi 100 and Rover SD1 selling profitably in good numbers. Chrysler wanted a slice of the action, so plans for a successor were initiated.

The new model was developed under the C9 project code name. Like its predecessor, the C9 would be styled in Coventry and engineered and built in Poissy. Early sketches for the design showed a large, three-box saloon with smooth, unadorned flanks, a deep six-light glasshouse and low waistline. Some fashionable aero elements were incorporated, such as partly enclosed rear wheels and a faired-in front end, with the number plate and headlamps covered by a Perspex panel, not unlike the Citroën SM. These details were intended to give the car the distinctive character that was lacking in its bland predecessor.

Chrysler’s US executives thought the initial design too radical for a conservative market sector (notwithstanding the Rover SD1’s popularity) and ordered it to Continue reading “History Lesson”

Tailoring the Tagora

The other day I posted an article about blandness in which the Talbot Tagora had another drubbing.

1981 Talbot Tagora adjusted: based on a Wikipedia image.

Above is a very roughly revised version. What I learned in making it look a bit better (I believe) was that a) it a had a slightly over-tall glass house b) the front axle-to-scuttle distance needed to be longer c) the boot needed to be longer and d) the c-pillar is too far back. In executing these rough changes I noticed how much parallelism is deployed.

There are substantial areas of the car that seem to Continue reading “Tailoring the Tagora”

DTW Summer Re-Issue: “Let’s Sort This Out, Shall We?”

Recently we have been discussing the origins of the Citroën XM.

_{[First posted Nov 28, 2016, but well worth a second read as it’s a first rate bit of research.]}

Here are as many of the influences I can find, not counting the aspects of the car that draw on Citroen’s own general heritage. The roll call is long and not exclusive. However, it begins with the 1974 Lotus Eclat which has a similar dropped window line, one of the XM’s signature features. Deschamp’s drawing looks like a saloon Eclat, if you Continue reading “DTW Summer Re-Issue: “Let’s Sort This Out, Shall We?””

Let’s Sort This Out, Shall We?

Recently we have been discussing the origins of the Citroën XM.

DTW Summer Reissue: Unforgetting the Talbot Tagora

If you’ve ever wondered about this famously forgotten car, this is the place to find out why it has become a footnote in automotive history. [First published July 16, 2014]

1980 Talbot Tagora a car show — Image: Alfaowner

The Tagora doesn’t have much of an afterlife. It’s been out of production since 1983 and if anyone remembers it, they aren’t saying much about it. But what was the view of the car at the time of launch? Did it look like it was going to be the flop it turned out to be? I bought a copy of Autocar from 1981 to find out how this car was viewed by contemporary writers. Other magazines followed in the post. This (below) is how I digested the information for Wikipedia. Alas, it was removed shortly after it was published on the grounds that it was “not balanced”. I later revised the text with more “balance”and it seems to have survived. Here is what I wrote first: Continue reading “DTW Summer Reissue: Unforgetting the Talbot Tagora”

Oh No, Not Again

Everyone else is doing it so why can’t we? That was the plaintive question asked by Irish folk-rock-pop balladeers the Cranberries in 1993.

The Cranberry question applies to Ford’s Lincoln division who must be squirming in their corporate seats. The Genesis G90 saloon will be sold with a V8 as we well know and it looks the part. The other day Car & Driver revealed more details of the V8 Cadillac will be fitting to their CT6 which also looks the part. Considering that Genesis is a newish entrant in the upscale V8 market and that Cadillac is selling fewer cars than they were a decade ago (and so short of cash), Ford’s unwillingness to Continue reading “Oh No, Not Again”

Three Years Late to Market

The new Ford Mondeo will finally be on sale in 2015, just three long, long years after the launch of the car it was based on.

Above we see the 2000 Ford Mondeo, styled under the reign of Claude Lobo and Chris Bird. Then we have the 2006 version credited to Martin Smith but which is probably mostly a Chris Bird car. And finally, we have the 2015 car which I gather was designed in the US and has been sold as the Ford Fusion. The photos speak for themselves. Continue reading “Three Years Late to Market”

Unforgetting : 1980 Talbot Tagora

If you’ve ever wondered about this famously forgotten car, this is the place to find out why it has become a footnote in automotive history.

I bought a copy of Autocar from 1981 to find out how this car was viewed by contemporary writers. Other magazines followed in the post. This (below) is how I Continue reading “Unforgetting : 1980 Talbot Tagora”