Owned a Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, best car ever
Talbot Sunbeam Lotus
The Sunbeam Lotus project was conceived and directed by Des O'Dell who
was Head of Motor Sport for Chrysler Europe. It was his aim to replace
the Avenger (sold as the Plymouth Cricket in the USA) with a car that could
beat the Ford RS Escorts and Vauxhall HS Chevettes in international rallying.
O'Dell was confident that the Sunbeam had the chassis to do so but he did
not have the engine. This was where an old connection was to prove useful.
Wynne Mitchell, O'Dell's assistant, had been at college in Coventry
with Mike Kimberley, now the Managing Director at Lotus Cars in Norfolk.
Lotus had been supplying their own 2 litre DOHC engine in quantity for
the Jensen Healey sports car, but as Jensen Motors had ceased trading in
1976 Lotus were actively attempting to sell their engine. Lotus readily
agreed to supply a basic 2 litre type 907 engine (as used in the Elite
and Eclat) plus a rally tuned engine for competition use. This subsequently
turned into a 2.2 litre unit designated type 911 of the following specification:
-
4 cylinder
-
2172cc
-
twin overhead camshafts
-
twin 45mm Dellorto carburettors
-
16 valve cylinder head - all alloy
-
155bhp for road use
-
9.4:1 compression ratio
The competition engine was uprated to 234bhp and featured 48mm carburettors
and a compression ratio of 11:1. To enable these to compete, however, 400
cars had to be produced to satisfy homologation rules. In fact, Chrysler's
marketing department decided that they could do much better than that and
the deal signed with Lotus mentioned no fewer than 4500 engines.
Lotus were fully involved in the development and production, not only
designing and manufacturing the engine but developing the suspension and
exhaust systems as well. As a result, the rolling chassis built alongside
all other Sunbeams at Linwood near Glasgow were delivered by transporter
to Lotus in Norfolk. Here they were fitted with the engine mated to a 5-speed
ZF gearbox. The work included modifications to the bodyshell, fitting a
larger radiator and alloy road wheels, and so a satellite operation was
mounted at Ludham airfield some 20 miles from the Hethel base. 16 employees
were drafted here by Lotus and work began at the end of 1978 to build the
first pre-production cars. Once assembly was completed the cars were transported
to Chrysler in Coventry for final checking before delivery to the dealers.
This method of production continued at a considerable rate until the Summer
of 1981.
The Chrysler Sunbeam Lotus was launched at the Geneva Motor Show in
March 1979, but deliveries did not start until summer of that year. By
this time, Chrysler UK had been sold to the French Peugeot concern who
changed the name to the Talbot Motor Company. With the exception of the
very first pre-production models, all road cars were officially known as
Talbots.
Originally the cars were only available in Embassy black with broad
silver side stripes and grey interior, and the very early cars also boasted
twin exit exhaust pipes. For the 1981 model year, however, a black and
grey "Piccadilly" trim was introduced and these new Series 2 cars were
further distinguished by larger headlamps, a new corporate grille, new
door mirrors and engine modifications which produced a small increase in
power and torque figures. The following year, with a number of cars still
in stock and sales slow, moonstone blue paintwork became the only available
colour, although customers were offered a choice of silver or black stripes.
Even so, some cars remained unsold through the winter of 1982/3, and
a batch of 150 were reserved for Avon Coachworks of Warwick to produce
a limited edition "Avon" model. These were to be retrimmed internally with
a change of exterior colour scheme and the addition of original green &
yellow Lotus badges on the flanks, plus each was to be registered within
the series DDU 1Y to DDU 150Y with a limited edition serial number corresponding
to the registration. In total, though, only 58 cars were converted, and
some of these missed out on the DDU number plate although they were still
numbered sporadically up to no.150.
The final batch of cars, including the balance of the 150 originally
destined for Avon Coachworks, were sold through a single dealer in Nuneaton
at reduced prices. Again, these cars were all registered in sequence bearing
the marks DAC 2Y to approximately DAC 150Y. A handful of cars did still
remain unsold at dealers until the "A" prefix was introduced in August
1983, and at least one car even went unsold until the "B" arrived.
Overall, Lotus claim to have built 2298 cars (1150 right-hand-drive)
while Talbot claim a total of 2308. This discrepancy may be due to the
building of several pre-production cars by Chrysler themselves at Coventry
in early
Squirrley, loose, expensive car didn't like to drive it above 100. 
if you are that weak you shouldnt ride
hope you've been ok.
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