Talbot is an
automobile
brand, whose history is one of the industry's most complex.
Inception of the British Talbot
Talbot was originally the British
brand name used to sell imported French Clément-Bayard cars. Founded in
1903, this business venture was financed by
Charles
Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury, who lent his name to
the firm.
Starting in 1905, the company branded its
imported cars as Clément-Talbot
and began assembling French made parts at a new factory in North
Kensington
, London,
selling them under the name Talbot. Locally
designed cars followed from 1906 and by 1910 50 to 60 cars a month
were being made. A Talbot was the first car to cover 100 miles (160
kilometres) in an hour in 1913.
Parallel Talbots in Britain and France
A 1923 Talbot 8-18
Talbot 105 1933
Talbot 105 1934
During
World War I, the firm
manufactured ambulances. French and British operations continued in
separate, parallel production and marketing processes until 1919,
when British-owned but Paris-based
Darracq
took over the company; Darracq-made Talbots were marketed as
Talbot-Darracqs. The following year,
Darracq was reorganised as part of the
Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq (STD)
conglomerate.
In 1916, Swiss native
Georges Roesch
became chief engineer, and in the 1920s, Talbot built a number of
successful models, including the
14/45 hp, or
Talbot
105, which was first built in 1926. In the 1930s,
Roesch-designed Talbots enjoyed success in racing with the Fox
& Nicholl team, with drivers including the Hon. Brian Lewis,
Johnny Hindmarsh, and
John Cobb (better known for his
land speed record attempts). They
were also highly successful in the Alpine Trial.
Talbot Ten Tourer 1936
Talbot T150
The Rootes era
In 1935 STD combine collapsed and the
Rootes Group took over Clément-Talbot. For
Rootes, profits were more important than engineering - the existing
models were simply rebadged. The French factory was bought by
Anthony Lago who used
Talbot-Lago as a
brand afterwards.
In Britain,
Sunbeam and Talbot
marques were combined in 1938 to form
Sunbeam-Talbot. Production of Sunbeam
Talbot automobiles ceased during
World War
II and resumed again in 1946, and the Talbot name was dropped
in 1955. The Sunbeam name continued under the Rootes management
(Rapier, Alpine and Tiger) until 1967 when control was taken over
by Chrysler.
The Chrysler era
After the war, only the French Talbot-Lago continued until 1960.
The brand was bought by
Simca in 1958.
In 1967,
Chrysler took over Rootes and
merged it with
Simca to form
Chrysler Europe. The Talbot name was not
used in this era, although the Chrysler "Pentastar" logo and name
(used as the marque) gradually replaced the Rootes brands as the
1970s progressed.
Chrysler
had just developed with Simca new Horizon/Omni line, and the Talbot
Horizon was produced in Finland
at Uusikaupunki
factory. Other Chrysler-based Talbots were
also made there,
Talbot 1510 and
Talbot Solara. The top-of-the line
model was called Talbot Solara VIP.
The Peugeot era
Talbot Samba
At the end of 1978,
Peugeot took over
Chrysler Europe and resurrected the
Talbot name — using it to re-badge the former Simca and Rootes
models. The Peugeot takeover saw the end of
Chrysler Hunter production, but the
Chrysler-designed 1510 (
Alpine in
UK), and
Horizon remained in
production.
All former Chrysler products registered in Britain after
1 August 1979 bore the Talbot
badge.
The last remaining car produced by the Rootes group, the Chrysler
(previously
Hillman)
Avenger, remained in production as a Talbot
until the end of 1981. 1981 also saw the end of production of the
Avenger-derived
Talbot Sunbeam. The
entry-level model in the Talbot range from 1982 onwards would be
the
Talbot Samba, a three-door
hatchback based on the Peugeot 104.
In 1981, Peugeot began producing the
Talbot Tagora, a boxy four-door saloon
marketed as a
Ford Granada rival. But
it was not popular in either Britain or France and production
ceased in 1983.
At the end of 1984, the Alpine hatchback and its related Solara
saloon were rebadged Minx and Rapier depending upon specification
rather than body shape. The new names were inherited from the
Rootes Group; Rootes had previously produced the
Hillman Minx and
Sunbeam Rapier. These cars were produced
until 1986. Rootes names still crop up occasionally; there was a
Peugeot 605 "Sceptre" model, the right
to that name being inherited from the
Humber Sceptre.
At the end of 1985, Peugeot replaced the Talbot Horizon with the
Peugeot 309. Peugeot had originally
planned to sell the car as the Talbot Arizona but had now changed
its plans and was now intent on phasing out the Talbot marque.
Production
of the Horizon continued in Spain
and Finland until
1987.
During 1986 all passenger cars were discontinued, although the
Talbot Express panel van continued in
production until 1992 when the entire Talbot brand was axed.
Resurrection
As of 2008, PSA is considering re-introducing Talbot to the market,
targeting low-budget buyers, as Renault did with its
Dacia Logan. Initial cars could be models
produced in China such as Talbot versions of the
Citroën Elysée and of the
Peugeot 206.
Cars built by Talbot (1979-1986)
Motorsport
Formula One
Talbot had two brief spells in Formula One. The 4.5-litre,
six-cylinder Talbot-Lago T26 was eligible for F1 competition
post-war, and many examples, both factory and private, appeared in
the first two years of the F1 World Championship, 1950 and 1951.
Talbots came fourth and fifth in the inaugural World Championship
race, the
1950 British Grand
Prix, piloted by
Yves
Giraud-Cabantous and
Louis Rosier
respectively. The move to two-litre F2 regulations for 1952
effectively ended Talbot's F1 spell as a manufacturer.
There was a brief participation in Formula One in 1981-1982 by
associating with
Ligier and using its
Matra connection to secure a Matra engine for them, and although
the cars were known as Ligier-Matras the team was using the Talbot
brand and sponsorship. This lasted two years and was moderately
successful,
Jacques Laffite coming
fourth in the 1981 championship with two wins.
World Rally Championship
The Talbot factory team for the
World Rally Championship was
founded in 1979, after Peugeot had taken over
Chrysler Europe and resurrected the Talbot
name. In the team's
inaugural season in the
series,
Tony Pond drove the
Talbot Sunbeam Lotus to an impressive
fourth place at the 1979
Rallye
Sanremo. More success followed in the
1980 season;
Guy Fréquelin brought Talbot the team's
first podium by finishing third at the 1980
Rally Portugal, and then
Henri Toivonen won the
RAC Rally, becoming the youngest-ever driver to
win a world rally. The rally was a big success for Talbot as the
team also took the third and fourth places, driven by Fréquelin and
Russell Brookes, respectively. This
was also the last time that a two-wheel-drive car won the RAC. In
the
manufacturers'
world championship, Talbot placed sixth.
In the
1981
season, Talbot continued with Fréquelin and Toivonen. Although
the team's only win came at the
Rally
Argentina, driven by Fréquelin, consistent podiums and
points-scoring finishes saw Talbot take the manufacturers' title.
Fréquelin narrowly lost the
drivers'
title to Ford's
Ari Vatanen. The
1982 season saw
the series dominated by the four-wheel-drive
Audi Quattro, and with
Group
B regulations coming up, Talbot withdrew from the WRC. However,
the Talbot name continued in the championship, as
Jean Todt founded the
Peugeot Talbot Sport in 1981. This
Peugeot factory team debuted in
1984 and won the
drivers' and manufacturers' titles in
1985 and
1986.
Other Definitions
A talbot was an early innovation resembling a screw or nail.
Origins of the talbot were used in early carpentry, cottage
industry, and appliance manufacturing.
Sponsorship
Talbot was the main sponsor of
Coventry City football club from 1981 to
1983, and at one stage the club's chairman
Jimmy Hill was planning to change the club's name
to
Coventry Talbot. However, these plans were
vetoed by the
Football League and by
the summer of 1983 Talbot had ended its association with the club.
[72444]
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