A friend of mine had a Sunbeam Lotus in the early 1980's. His elderly mother had a Sunbeam 1.3GL and could never understand why her son's car had cost so much more being "basically the same".
This brochure was put out right on the cusp of Chrysler ownership changing to Peugeot with the Talbot brand, the car on the grill still has the Chrysler pentagram and the address still being under Chrysler sales even though the Sunbeam range had transferred to Peugeor by this time. Yes I remember these as my grandad had a Chrysler Sunbeam 1.3LS. I do remember the Lotus version too and always wanted one so its nice to see the brochure here for one.
I remember these and the later moonstone blue cars with flush headlamps. They were very rare but very quick for the time. The Vauxhall Chevette HS and later HSR 2300 was a similar rally homologation special in late 1970s also being 3 dr hatch rear wheel drive.
Looked at the same car in the early nineties ,i had just sold my black mk2 rs2ooo and was after a series1 turbo i looked at a few all over the place then i found one in london through the rs owners club so i arranged to see it and when i got there he had 3 cars in his garage the first one was a lotus sunbeam same as the one in the video i new what is was and how quick they were and started started looking at it, he also had a black rs2000 and the rs turbo in the same garge i must admit i was in awe at the cars he had,i didn't buy the sunbeam but i did buy his rs turbo it was a near mint example and kept it for 6 year's
Is the gearbox what is defined as a "dog leg" one: with 1st, 3rd and 5th gear at the bottom? The Vauxhall VX 4/90 had a similar pattern. I remember seeing used examples of the Sunbeam Lotus being advertised in the local classified adverts in the 1980s and 1990s. They were a lot more expensive than the 1600 Ti. Would be great to see some brochures of other Chrysler and Talbot models. 😃
Talbot's efforts at a hot hatchback. Had some rather gung ho handling when it was wet, but in the dry it was reassuring and grippy. Reliability issues weren't uncommon to these, you really had to keep on top of the service schedules, and use decent motor oil / filters / brake shoes etc, because cheap parts and inattentive attitudes to servicing will plummet the reliability to the ground. Also rust is a big issue with Chrysler/Talbot Sunbeams, and you'll pay handsomely for an absolute minter or well restored Sunbeam, and mere pennies for a rotted basketcase with rust galore, which you should ideally walk away from
yes i remember these, so so long since i heard that name thank you
A decent little hot hatch bet that gear box caught a few people out though.
A friend of mine had a Sunbeam Lotus in the early 1980's. His elderly mother had a Sunbeam 1.3GL and could never understand why her son's car had cost so much more being "basically the same".
This brochure was put out right on the cusp of Chrysler ownership changing to Peugeot with the Talbot brand, the car on the grill still has the Chrysler pentagram and the address still being under Chrysler sales even though the Sunbeam range had transferred to Peugeor by this time. Yes I remember these as my grandad had a Chrysler Sunbeam 1.3LS. I do remember the Lotus version too and always wanted one so its nice to see the brochure here for one.
Certainly an interesting vehicle
I remember these and the later moonstone blue cars with flush headlamps. They were very rare but very quick for the time. The Vauxhall Chevette HS and later HSR 2300 was a similar rally homologation special in late 1970s also being 3 dr hatch rear wheel drive.
Looked at the same car in the early nineties ,i had just sold my black mk2 rs2ooo and was after a series1 turbo i looked at a few all over the place then i found one in london through the rs owners club so i arranged to see it and when i got there he had 3 cars in his garage the first one was a lotus sunbeam same as the one in the video i new what is was and how quick they were and started started looking at it, he also had a black rs2000 and the rs turbo in the same garge i must admit i was in awe at the cars he had,i didn't buy the sunbeam but i did buy his rs turbo it was a near mint example and kept it for 6 year's
Is the gearbox what is defined as a "dog leg" one: with 1st, 3rd and 5th gear at the bottom? The Vauxhall VX 4/90 had a similar pattern.
I remember seeing used examples of the Sunbeam Lotus being advertised in the local classified adverts in the 1980s and 1990s. They were a lot more expensive than the 1600 Ti.
Would be great to see some brochures of other Chrysler and Talbot models. 😃
I guess they would have been sold as road cars for homologation for rallying.
Not really a hot hatch. This would have destroyed a contemporary Ferrari 308 at the time.
Talbot's efforts at a hot hatchback. Had some rather gung ho handling when it was wet, but in the dry it was reassuring and grippy. Reliability issues weren't uncommon to these, you really had to keep on top of the service schedules, and use decent motor oil / filters / brake shoes etc, because cheap parts and inattentive attitudes to servicing will plummet the reliability to the ground. Also rust is a big issue with Chrysler/Talbot Sunbeams, and you'll pay handsomely for an absolute minter or well restored Sunbeam, and mere pennies for a rotted basketcase with rust galore, which you should ideally walk away from