Talbot Sunbeam Lotus | PH Private Area
Remember the good old days?
Even four decades since the last one was registered, the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus seems a wonderfully daft idea. Time has done nothing to dull the cult appeal. Lotus has done plenty of consultancy and engineering work since the early 1980s, yet the dowdy Talbot with the fizzy twin cam - and some Hethel handling help - really does stand out.
In the late 1970s, Chrysler UK was in a bit of a mess (to put it mildly). Its new Sunbeam supermini needed an image boost, and how would a car company go about that back then? A rally car, of course. The old rear-drive Escorts were facing some proper competition, at last, from the Vauxhall Chevette HS, with its big power and agile handling. So the decision was made to make a Chevette of a Sunbeam (sort of), notch up rally success and create a homologation hero to help shift some stock. It was Lotus who would provide the rorty twin carb’d engine, quite closely related to the four-cylinder found in the Esprit of the time, and soon the Sunbeam was taking shape.
Well, sort of. As Chrysler UK (indeed the entire European operation) was on the brink, it decided to sell up to PSA. What was a Sunbeam Lotus would eventually become a Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, as Peugeot resurrected the brand, but there are also early cars like this one that kept Chrysler badges for a while. It was all very confusing (still is, really), and can’t have helped the Sunbeam’s modest sales; a 20mpg hot hatch was always going to struggle in fuel-starved times, and a mismatched identity was yet another problem.
But the finished article was well received by the press, recorded some rally success - including an RAC triumph - and soon forged a reputation for itself as the wild child hot hatch. As the Europeans were investing in front-drive architecture and fuel injection, the Lotus Sunbeam was a hit of old-school entertainment. Which, by the standards of the time, must have made it pretty raw indeed.
Coming across one today really is a rare find, so prone are the Sunbeams to rusting and, er, oversteering into stuff. But this one is a real treat, with a huge amount of time and effort invested in maintaining a brilliant example. It’s a Series 1 car (note the smaller headlamps and Chrysler badge) that’s only covered 63,000 miles, and is said to be rust-free - pretty much unheard of for these cars.
It comes with loads of history, some recent engine work and a proper time machine-spec interior. For a car of such age and relatively humble beginnings, it’s a glorious survivor. The wheels have been restored, there’s a new exhaust fitted and a recent rolling road session has put the engine at exactly the horsepower it was meant to make in 1981. Sometimes ‘labour of love’ appears in an advert where it doesn’t really belong, but here that claim feels more than believable.
The asking price is £35k, and apparently it’s only going because of a house sale. Again, it’s easy to feel every word of ‘very reluctant sale’ in this instance. Appropriately enough, that’s the same money as was asked for a similarly smart Chevette HS last year - rivals still to this day. And a heck of a lot less than most Fords with Lotus engines, too…
Gloriously tail slidey. I once drove it in the snow up an unmade lane to prove to my sister she didn’t need an SUV. It was tricky, but fun.
I fell in love with them at 17 when a friend of my fathers had a new one an asked me to drive it, urging me to boot it in every corner.
He still has it and it’s mint.
How this is rust free I cannot imagine, my Ti was only 3 years old when I bought it, the wings and behind the rear wheels was already bubbling up.
Was great fun with only 100 bhp, so I could only imagine how the Lotus must have performed with 50% more power!!
Mine had the Skip Brown Roadspeed upgrade; 180 bhp, bilstiens, vented discs and an lsd. Basically, the car it should been out of the factory.
But, what a car! Amazingly well balanced, with oversteer on demand, and a rorty intake sound on twin 45 dellortos. Quick for the day, too.
Definitely the one I shouldn’t have sold.
Edit: front spotlights are wrong on the car for sale. Should be Sev Marchal.
Made me smile when I thought most of the fast road cars my friends and I started off on were not far off or around that weight…….. just a bit short of the power that was in that modded retro 911.
Fun thing to drive - friend made the trip to Skip Browns a few times in his ( 35 mins on a good day ) and got his up to over 200bhp ish - very quick back then
Prefer the S1 like this with the small lights, somebody has already pointed out that the spotlights should be Marchal, also the wheels should be all silver, the black has been added, and the tyres should be Pirelli CN36 which you can now buy again in the correct size. The dash and interior looks all present and correct.
Looks a nice car that you could use and maintain and improve. If there really is no rot then it’s a great starting place.
OP has skimmed over the rallying history, this is a WRC world championship winner (manufacturers, 1981).
Incidentally the green car shown above has been for sale recently at a similar price. I think only 2 were made in that colour. Still black for me though.
My mate didn't keep it long, swapped it for a RS1600i the fool!
You have some fabulous toys Wistec, with this and your Grinnall - chapeau!
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