Chrysler Horizon – Driven To Write

Short Story (Part One)

Brevity is an art.

Image: The Author/ Encyclautomobile fr/ Wouter Huisman

Although a much less common course of action compared to stretching a pre-existing vehicle, several car manufacturers have at times explored this avenue nevertheless. There can be several reasons for this; the main ones being motorsports competition requirements, creating a smaller and cheaper entry level variant, responding to customer requests or complaints, and unique geographical market circumstances.

The just for fun variants are left out of the equation here, those (however amusing in some cases), for the most part being one-off amateur concoctions and mobile billboards. Continue reading “Short Story (Part One)”

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”

Anniversary Waltz 1978 – This Year’s Model

Driven to Write forces down some Texas tea.

A year which appeared to consist of little but tit-for-tat nuclear weapons tests by opposing cold war powers, that uniquely played host to three different Catholic pontiffs, where the Red Brigades kidnapped and murdered former Italian Prime Minister, Aldo Moro, and where Spain finally renounced the last vestiges of dictatorship by declaring a democracy, 1978 experienced its share of geopolitical turmoil.

Distraction was the order of business, with cinema-goers enjoying the top-grossing musical, Grease, while the music charts remained dominated by disco’s glitterball. The Bee Gees’ soundtrack to 1977’s Saturday Night Fever held the number spot in the American billboard chart for a death-gripping 21 weeks, with Night Fever the year’s top-selling single. In the UK, it was German (open inverted commas) recording artists (close inverted commas) Boney M, with Rivers of Babylon, which kidnapped the affections of the mainstream UK record buying public.

But not all. While Elvis Costello and the Attractions’ 1978 release attempted to Continue reading “Anniversary Waltz 1978 – This Year’s Model”

Theme : Simca – Going the Distance

The transverse-engined, hatchback 1100 is undeservedly overshadowed by other trailblazers. But not only did it get there very early, its influence travelled surprisingly far.

Introduced in 1967 and available as 3 and 5 door hatchbacks, a neat estate as well as van and pickup versions, the Simca 1100 had a sizeable niche of the French market available to itself for years. Renault didn’t fill the hatchback gap between the 4/5/6 and the 16 until the 14 of 1976, the same year that conservative Peugeot put a fifth door into the 104.

Structurally zealous or just snobbish, Citroen previously allowed a hatchback only on the Dyane until the Visa of 1978 and the GSA of 1979. Despite this, and its 18 year life, the Simca is another of those cars, like the Autobianchi Primula with which it shares conceptual roots, that seems to have been excluded from the condensed history of the evolution of the motor car. Continue reading “Theme : Simca – Going the Distance”