1980 Talbot Lotus Sunbeam. Photos courtesy Silverstone Auctions.
In the late 1970s, American manufacturers were oddly locked in a battle for World Rally Championship supremacy in Europe, and Chrysler’s answer to the dominant Ford Escort RS was a Lotus-tuned Talbot Sunbeam, visually similar to (but significantly different from) the American Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon. Last weekend, a 1980 Talbot Lotus Sunbeam with less than 200 miles on the odometer shattered its pre-auction estimate of £28,000 ($44,000), selling for a fee-inclusive price of £50,625 ($79,414) at Silverstone Auction’s NEC Classic Motor Show Sale in England.
To be fair, the Talbot Sunbeam resembled its American second cousins in appearance only. The Talbot featured a front-engine, rear-drive layout (a cost concession that allowed the car to use British mechanicals), as opposed to the front-wheel drive setup adopted for its Simca-derived American relatives. With a Lotus-supplied, double-overhead-camshaft, 16-valve, twin-carburetor four-cylinder engine beneath its bonnet, the Talbot Lotus Sunbeam sent 150 horsepower to its ZF five-speed transmission, and that was in street trim. In competition tune, the Talbot Lotus Sunbeam produced an estimated 250 horsepower, which proved sufficient for the car to deliver Talbot a WRC manufacturer’s championship in 1981.
Built from the shell of a Talbot Sunbeam GLS, the Lotus-assembled version received a firmer suspension and larger anti-roll bars, yet (oddly) soldiered on with the stock car’s rear drum and front disc brakes. Even the wheels were undersized (grossly so by today’s performance standards), measuring 13 inches in diameter and six inches in width in both front and rear.
The Talbot Lotus Sunbeam was built to satisfy homologation requirements, and not specifically to give the automaker a distinctive hot hatch offering. Though targeted to buyers unable to afford other automobiles wearing a Lotus badge (which was prominently displayed on the Sunbeam’s front fenders), the Talbot was considerably more expensive than performance versions of the Vauxhall Chevette and the Ford Escort, which ultimately impacted sales. Talbot had planned to build 4,500 units, but when the car’s two-year production ended in 1981, Lotus had assembled just 2,298 examples.
Chassis T4DCYAL330837 was built in 1980, and delivered, unregistered, to a customer in Italy. As part of a collection, the car remained unregistered and unused for 34 years, until surfacing early this year. Prior to the sale, the car received a service that included new belts, fluids and filters, but is said to otherwise be in an “as-delivered” state. Described by Silverstone Auctions as, “the only unregistered and lowest-mileage Talbot Lotus Sunbeam in existence,” the black with silver-stripe hatchback caught the eye of several bidders, who helped it achieve its impressive selling price.
For complete results from the NEC Classic Motor Show Sale, visit SilverstoneAuctions.com.
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