Real Road Test: Talbot Tagora - Dutch 2.2
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ส.ค. 2024
- Another hasty test drive from The Netherlands, this time aboard a 1981 Talbot Tagora 2.2 GLS, sold new in France, and now owned by a serial Talbot obsessive in The Netherlands.
What is this unloved luxurious barge like to drive?
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I remember when I first (last) time I saw a Tagora. I just went "wow". I'm probably the only one, but I think it looks amazing and I love the interior, especially the dash.
My reaction when Dad bought a new one. The Lagonda was around at this time with a resemblance.
When I was a kid, my dad had a Chrysler Horizon, which he loathed. It loved breakdowns and spare parts. As a result, we regularly visited Woodhead's Talbot in South Shore, Blackpool. In that very showroom, there was a Tagora. I adored it. I couldn't understand why dad didn't just get the Tagora instead, because at that tender age I had no concept of money.
Thanks for calling me a 'Talbot obsessive'. Could say it's true, but I do like the French cars in general must say. Off course I also own a Peugeot 505 Gti and Peugeot 605, so when I come at the Peugeot Club Nederland (Netherlands) the tell me that it's the Peugeot Club, but I tell them: Listen, Talbot was more than 5 Years part of it, it wa Peugeot / Talbot (hope we remember all the shared logo with the Lion and the proud ''T'' at the dealers! I actually own a Talbot Flag still. In general I do love French cars, my autocarriere started with a Renault 5, then after that a Renault 19. Also I like Jaguars / Daimlers / rare British Leyland cars. I drive this Tagora and Solara to have a different car then other people do have / own in general. Some time you have to accept that things do break down, and have to search hard , very hard, for replacement parts. Also, on the wrong moment, I went to France to Chaumont (for the radio and for interior parts mainly) and in France the exhaust pot at the end was hanging loose, we kind of repaired it temporarely with a steal thread, the guy where we picked up the parts from, happily gave us the steel thread to support the exhaust pot haha. But I did drive a Jaguar S-type 1,5 week ago, a 2.7 V6 diesel, now that was a surprisingly smooth car. It's owner did drive a Jaguar XJS V12 cabriolet during my drive. But I wasn't jealous, only honoured that the owner, a car enthousiastic himself, did let me drive in his Jaguar S-type.
Talbot Obsessive....Tappety Tap tap tap...;) X
I'm glad you remind the Peugeot Club about Talbot!!
gti505 Peugeot 604 one of my fav cars.
@@s_class7027 Absolutely. What a car. And THAT was the car Peugeot wanted to build instead of the Tagora. Yes, I can completely understand their decision. They were right, but its a shame the Taggy got pulled. I so wish HubNut or gti505 would drive one of those. Trouble is they wouldn't bring it back to the owner!
One of the most underrated cars ever made and still massively misunderstood. Whilst bearing a passing resemblance to an enlarged Solara it's running gear bar the engine was almost purely Peugeot 504. Massively comfortable, extremely tidy handling and very spacious. A very capable car built at the wrong time and stunted at birth by company politics. Unlike a lot of people on here I've actually owned a Tagora amongst a whole load of other cars of all makes and models and flack it takes is totally unjustified. There have been plenty of far far worse cars that are now revered by the masses than the Talbot Tagora.
Well, I drove in one once, and I think you are right.
@@ronaldderooij1774 No; the front end was lifted from the 604, the rear end is directly lifted from the 505, it is why the wheels sit inboard so much. The engine was the Simca unit that originated from the 160/180/2 Litre, the gearbox was from the 505.
@@grahamariss2111 Peugeot made some changes, from what I read on a French forum, the original front end was supposed to be a double wishbone one, and the rear end a transaxle.
@@07wmtc My understanding was they would use the torsion bar wishbone set up they had used on the Alpine, Horizon and I understood the back end would stay as a live axle with panard rod (may be run to a watts linjage like the SD1), sure I think Possey would like Whitley have done more but I think Chrysler would not have funded any investment for things like trans axles, twin cams etc that were proposed over the years, given they canned the proposals for an in house 5 speed fwd box that both Possey and Whitley had proposals for.
@@grahamariss2111 Yes the front end would use the same set up used on the Alpine, horizon, solara, an old engineer from Poissy told to a friend (Who is part from a french forum) , that originally the car would use a transaxle as a rear end, he also said that all the documents related to the Tagora and its development were destroyed by Peugeot.
I Must Admit! I've Always Been A Talbot Enthusiast In General. There Styling Always Appealed To Me, And The Tagora Is No Exception! I Remember When The Tagora Was Brand New In The Showroom Of My Local Talbot Dealer In 1982. I Picked Up A Rather Smart Sales Brochure For The New Range! Grey Embossed Cover On Front, Saying Talbot Tagora. Part Of My Thousands Of Sales Brochures Collected As A Kid! Those Were The Days! I Think Big French Cars Of That Era, Looked So Wonderfull In There Styling. Also Case In Point, The Gorgeous Peugeot 604! Thanks For A Brilliant Test Of The Tagora Ian!! A Really Good Car, With That Irresistible French Flair!!!!!
I worked at Peugeot Talbot when we were trying to sell this car. The main problem was that development cash ran out before the interior was finished so it had a very cheap, makeshift interior. We did have one car, a prototype, with what was intended to be the definitive interior and was much nicer, but it was never put into production. The 2.2 was quite economical for a very spacious car and people who bought them liked them. The V6 brought a new meaning to the words 'gas guzzler.' We once got 8 mph driving one between the two Talbot plants in Coventry. Also, the V6 was never available as an automatic, which it badly needed. Peugeot's 604, for all its flaws, was so much better in every way.
My Dad had a black 2.6 and it was a weapon (when compared to other cars at the time) . My Dad insured me in it at 17 and boy did I enjoy it! I spent whatever small amount of money I had on Petrol as it only did about 20 miles per gallon! It also did about 140 miles per hour! :)) I did get into a little bit of trouble in it by times, like that one time I brought 11 mates home from the disco - O great memories- thanks Ian - wish I still had it!!!
The reason the Tagora did not sell in the Netherlands was that it resembled the Simca 1307/1308. In the seventies these Simca's sold like hot cakes overhere. Untill their owners found out that the 130/1308 was so prone to rust and rot in the unforgiving Dutch wheather that you could call them ''biodegredable.'' I was so stupid to buy a six year second hand one in 1983 and throw away 2500 good old Dutch guilders on a DISASTER on wheels.
First the clutch plates failed. Then the ignition shortfused; allthough a costly repair the engine never ran right again. Then it was stolen, but unfortunately returned to me by the police.
And when it had to be MOT-ed (we call it APK) the mechanic showed me how he could stick a screwdriver through every part of the bottom and the chassis, which was only held together by the outside ''protective'' layer. This being the experience of nearly all Dutch owners of the 1307/1308 it's no wonder they avoided the Tagora like the bubonic plague.
Much the same story in the UK I fear. Perhaps why so few have survived...
First of all, the Simca 1307 was car of the year back in 1976. After that being in the news, big orders were placed to purchase new cars of this model. Then, Simca Chrysler couldn't keep up with the orders in numbers being built. The 'solution' to fullfill the big orders, was to skip approx half of the new delivered cars from the anticorrosion treatment in order to keep up with the outstanding orders. That's when it all went wrong and the cars got the name of being rustsensitive, where this was just the matter of the anticorrosion treatment not being done on all vehicles. If Chrysler would have made sure that this was done properly (and customers / cardealers informed their customers that they would need more time to have the new cars delivered) there wouldn't have been so much warranty problems in a short period, forcing Chrysler to loose money on the car for customers complaining / demanding anticorrosion measurements after a few years. This is where the matter went wrong, technical the Chrysler 1307 was a very good car, only the corrosion treatment failure was causing the problems.
Rare car .. hats off to Albert keeping it on the road .. hints of Pug 604 and Hyundai Stella. I have driven all the main Talbot vehicles.. Alpines, Horizons and Sunbeams .. I think I have seen 1 Tagora on the road in all that time .
I think it's a great looking car. When I was young my family had an Alpine mostly painted in hammerite :)
Bloody hell, it actually looks quite nice.. . Very 80's boxy. Interesting.
A car I really want to own. I love the styling.
Peugeot did not want Talbot to succeed, because of the 604...
Headlands Taxis based in Kettering Northamptonshire had one of these on its fleet back in the mid 80s - travelled in this on quite a few occasions. It was the 2.2GL which only had the 4 speed manual but was incredibly roomy and comfortable - I think the driver had regretted purchasing the car but I did remember him saying that it ran fairly reliably considering the job in hand - saw one recently at a show in Lincolnshire - one of those cars that have that hidden want one appeal - terrific road test by the way
The Tagora 2.2 engine was also used in the Peugeot 505 turbo because the block was more suitable for turbocharging than the Peugeot engine.
You will never forget when you're in a French-made car when your headlight switch is the stalk next to the turn signal. The Peugeots were always like that in the United States. Honestly, I loved the look of the Peugeot 604. I prefer the more classic boxy styling like this Talbot. I understand that it doesn't appeal to most buyers but I'm subscribed to Hubnut so that should tell you a ton about what appeals to me. Lol. Love seeing a car that i've never seen in my life.
Love that front grille. Mate's Dad bought a late Solara around 1986. It broke down constantly from day one. Was one of those Rapier editions or similar that they churned out to get rid of em. All it took was a two tone paint job and a radio cassette to fool many a mid 80's punter😁.
It's probably fair to say that Talbots were always better cars than everyone thought, as long as you didn't have the first of any particular series of car. A friend's dad had an A-reg Talbot Alpine 1.6 LS series II at school and it was a fantastic car and very well equipped for a stock family car at the time, coming with a 5-speed box and power steering as standard. It was faultless for him over 3 years and 120,000 miles until it got replaced by a mk2 Cavalier 1.6L hatchback which was a disaster by comparison...
Bloody hell, havent seen one of them in at least 30 years. Used to see one ocasionally as a kid and liked them just because it was a big car😀
Another 80s land yacht ticked off the list. Serial Talbot obsessive is not an expression you hear every day. The front end looks like a generic car drawing from a graphic novel. Totally agree about the slightly down at heel look French cars wore throughout their lives, most attractive.
fab car....I had a 1981 gold 2.2 GLS automatic. one of the most comfortable cars ive ever owned.
Great TV, One of your best, Great camera work for a low budget video and hugely entertaining. many thanks
Lovely car. Saw plenty near my work in Meriden during the 80’s. In some angles it has an Aston Martin Lagonda look to it
Back in the day, in Italy there was a penalising 38% VAT on cars over 2 litres (2.5 for diesels), so the Tagora was a non-starter in this country. However, I do remember seeing one perform a 360° spin on a snowy road in front of my house in Milan. It never hit anything and just carried on as if nothing had happened, leaving other drivers and onlookers bemused.
A bit like the Hyundai Stellar and Maserati Bi Turbo at the back.
Tagora is rather amazing, nice film and great to see you chat with someone too, these remind me a little of the early Rover 800 design
I had an 1982 2.2 Tagora in light metallic green. Beige velour interior. I really liked it. Thanks for the video, brought back memories.
looks like a good family car loads of room good video as always. keep up the good work
I had a X-reg 2.2 GLS Tagora until the end of 1997 - fantastic car, though not particularly economical, was very refined and comfortable, and the first car I ever owned that had electric windows and central locking.
I haven't seen one of those since 1989!!! I have a soft spot for those.
Very rare indeed, in fact seeing a modern Talbot on UK roads is as likely as seeing an "original" Sunbeam-Talbot. I well recall the Autocar revealing the resurrection of the Talbot name after Peugeot took over the Chrysler assets and the plans for the future. Ah well Ryton and so much more went never to return. Nice of your Dutch mate Albert to let you drive and video his car
I read in Practical Classics about 15 years ago that there were 11 Tagoras left. I can't remember if that was 11 left on the road or 11 registered but either way, that's a rare motor. So imagine my horror when, about a week after hearing there were so few left, I saw one on a lorry heading for the breakers. Not only that but it was a V6. I could tell by the wheels. It didn't even look too untidy.
I always thought they were a really good looking car. Then again I like ugly 1960's vans and old audio equipment...
It's a great looking car. And the dash would look modern and clean even today.
@@karlp8484 The dash is far better than most made now. Clear instuments, no ambiguous displays and best of all NO CHROME PLATED PLASTIC! If that dash design was used now, everyone would be raving about how easy it is to read and how it doesn't take up ridiculous amounts of space.
It's possible that PSA saw the Tagora as a rival to one of their Peugeot models already sold in the UK, hence why they didn't promote it.
Persoanlly I love that car. I love the styling. To me it is stylish, and I don't particularly think it's bland. Nice clean lines
I think they deliberately made it boring and overpriced, just to drive buyers toward the 505.
Love it, so rare. It's a very "plain" design for a French car, it could almost have been an American saloon. I can imagine this car looking very sleek in '1980-'81
The design is actually British - Roy Axe who went on to style the Rover 800.
Indeed it was. You can see a number of the styling cues, that carried over to XX, the six light side portion, traces of the wedge profile......in fact, if you look at an original XX concept sketch, the similarities are even more pronounced. However, I don't think Roy intended the early XXs to be so horrendously hit and miss, quality wise........which, adds to the character and one of the reasons why they're on my top 20, and why I have owned eight, during my life......including a very very early 2.7 Sterling (which is still around, undergoing a light resto with its new owner :) ).
You're more than welcome to come and take my SX for a spin, only thing is I haven't restored it yet. May be a while, so don't hold your breath! 😉
I take that offer mate! You're more then welcome to try out my GLS, regards, Albert
Just a beautiful, beautiful looking car. Given the choice, I'd choose this over the majority of characterless 'pap' on the roads today; even in its' current grafted-looking condition. My Dad had a Talbot Horizon that was actually a very reliable car; and thanks to the tranverse engine, there was enough room in the front for a waltz. I also had a Talbot Avenger; albeit with a Chrysler grill (even though, knowing its' history, it had never been in a smack). Sadly I subsequently ended its' life in a snow-covered canal that to this day, I was convinced was a road! It took quite a while to live that one down.
PSA wanted to kill off the Talbot brand I think, as the 309 was going to be the Talbot Arizona until PSA killed the brand. I agree with you about the former GM Europe brands, it doesn't make sense having a brand just for one country
yes correct the Arizona became the 309
Another very rare car in the UK. Only seen two in the last forty years. One of them was a powder blue. Looked remarkably like a Renault 9 that came out in 1982.
After Peugeot bought Chrysler's European operations in the late 1970's, they revived the Talbot name to sell the existing models that were formerly known as Chryslers in Europe.
As well as the existing models, a new model was the Tagora, which was designed as an alternative to the highly successful Peugeot 505. The Tagora was a 6-window, 4-door sedan with a choice of engines - a 2155cc four, a 2304cc turbo diesel four or a 2664cc V6 Douvrin unit, coupled to a Peugeot transmission.
The ride was considered on the soft side, while the ungainly and bland styling was also not well received. Just less than 20,000 Tagoras were built in three years before production ended.
Side on view is much nicer than head-on . I like the wheels and the way the back one's are inboard. An interesting car 👍
The back wheels sit further in because Peugeot used the rear axle from the 505 instead of developing a new better fitting one for the Tagora.
I remember this coming out. I used to hitch a lot back then and kept a mental note of which cars stopped the most..... One Tagora ever.... and one Solara.
R4 and Ami were the best.... But I digress. Hitching was mostly done in France.
I also used to keep a list with a pal of the most vanilla versions of the most vanilla cars with the fewest saving graces.... A competitive field.
Chrysler 180 was on it.... 1.7 Ambassador (not the 18/22 first series wedges, which were legendary) Pug 604.... But there was only one winner: 4-cylinder Tagora. Bottom spec. Not quite what we see here, but close enough.
What a fabulous car and so good to see one for first time in 30+ years for me. Decent amount of power from a 2.2 engine, well trimmed and probably drives nicely. Reminds me of an old Volkswagen Santana I'm many ways.
Loved it when Hubnut was told not to worry about any warning lights because its French. Surely he'd already know that having experienced many French cars and their legendary flakey electrics 😂😂
I’d Always Love to own a Talbot Tagora including all the Talbot Cars
My uncle and aunt had one, i think it was the same color as this one.
2.2gls he loved that car.
Made my night and considering I'm in hospital waiting for a v serious op that's something. I had a 81 tagora gls and I loved it, I put a chrysler 2l weber on it as the sole was crap and it went even better. Should have been a major success and if it had been left as chrysler designed it it would have been thanks so much.
No worries. Hope all went well.
Love the old Talbots. My Dad had an Horizon and a Rancho. The Tagora was very nice it's day and is a sure Classic now. Keep the videos coming. Can you do a Lada Samara and Seat Ibiza Mk1 test drive?
A car I'd only ever seen pictures of and now I've seen one driven, thanks Ian. Always reminded me of an overgrown Solara and I thought of it as a smart looking car as well. Now after another one of your informative videos I know why I've never seen one, still live in hope though!
It's absolutely no 'overgrown' Solara. Remember the Solara has got maximum 1588cc (mine has) and the Tagora has got 2155cc.
Can tell that's a huge difference in accelerating and so on.
I think the point is that it looks like a larger Solara, which is does, from the rear certainly.
@@gti505 I'm sorry that my wording in my comment has caused offence, never my intention at all. To clear it up, what I meant was that the reason the Tagora reminds me of the Solara is that I can see the styling similarities between the 2 cars in the same way that you can with other cars of a particular time and a particular manufacturer. I watched the video as I'd never seen one before and after seeing the video I couldn't understand why they didn't sell in bigger numbers because its a really good car.
Funny how some cars become unlikely victims ie. when young guys realized that Talbot Sunbeams made good cheap rally cars then they were bought for racing and more often than not were wrapped around a telephone pole (my brother) or dumped on it's roof.
this is a great video, I love the collaboration with the owner of the car
The owner thanks you for your nice commentary.
Exact same indicator stalks as on my first car - 1982 yellow Talbot Samba. RIP sambie.
My dad had a well-used Samba as a company car when I was a kid. We were a family of six... I still really liked it. Such comfortable seats!
HubNut there were indeed very comfy and it was fun to drive. I once had it tuned up by one of those hometune guys that would come round to your house and set all your timing/ignition/carb. It was only a 954cc but £50 later it had turned it into a hot rod in my eyes. The following week I was clocked by West Yorkshire plod doing '88 mph sir!!' on Leeds ring road. They couldn't fine me though as it was only a police metro and it didnt have all the proper speed recording gear in it. I however was over the moon though with a new world speed record for it. Fun fun times...
Another underrated French executive is the Renault 25. Space age dashboard and the Baccara model was very nice. Renault 25's are almost extinct in the UK.
Michael Langley .... Simon here... I’ve got a Renault 25 sitting on blocks at the bottom of my yard. It’s under a cover and not been touched for a very long time. I remember it’s blue 😂
I think there's less than 50 of them left. Good car back in its day and the V6 Baccarra and Monaco were very nice.
If you come across one please do a review of one.
There is a chap whom owns a 25 TXE, whom lives around 2 miles up the road. The 25 is in pretty much daily use, and in very good shape.
In the meantime :-
th-cam.com/video/FC9YGtdVSyU/w-d-xo.html
Spotted a very tidy Renualt 25 on an F plate locally for 500 quid last year. Missed out - someone struck lucky at that price.
TH-cam's algoritm is like magic. Ian has long and short hair on and off ......
God this car is square and I adore it. Anyone who knows me well knows the squarer the car the more obsessed I am with it. I'd honestly desperately love to own a Tagora, but I have no idea where I'll find one...
I remember seeing these in Talbot showrooms when my father was buying a 'Horizon' in the 80's (i was teenager!) - very stylish car..!
Like very much the straight line architecture of some cars of that days, citroen bx, volvo 740, and this tagora as well .....
God, I love this car, I wish I had one...
As I'm over 50, I remember these very well, build quality back then seemed not so good. I visited car dealership, British Motorshows to add to my collection as a child. I even have many Tallbot catalogues, a long with other manufacturers brochures from Rover, Ford, Vauxhall Volvo etc, my favourite were the Renault brochures and the Fuego I guess the internet killed this type of media off sadly.
Here's a little know fact about the Tagora. Chrysler Australia were fishing around for a replacement for the CM Valiant. This was around the time that the Chrysler Corporation were having a fire sale getting rid of its overseas operations and Chrysler UK was sold to Peugeot who continued to produce the Talbot. The Gavin Farmer book "Chrysler great ideas in motion" says that Peugeot actually came to Australia to talk with Chrysler bought documents and an offer to hand over all rights to build the car here. It was to use both the 4 litre and 4.3 litre local sixes and would have come just at the right time. Chrysler knew Holden were planning a smaller family car and Ford were going to downsize too. The book says that Corporate head quarters gave it the green light.........and then it just all went away. Chrysler Australia and all it's manufacturing facilities were sold to Mitsubishi. They must have been serious about the Tagora though. There are photos of the car in and around the Chrysler plant and to this day a fiberglass mock up of the Tagora is on display at the National Motor Museum at Birdwood in South Australia. Fair to say it wasn't done just to practice their skills at using fiberglass.
I am also liking this car very much.
Got to love how you drive all these non-Japanese cars :D.
"If you press this one you can see what's wrong eventually"
Here's a guy who knows his car.
I do like the way it looks. You are completely right for calling it mighty.
Considering the country it was made in I guess it's pronounced "Talbow".
Either that or I messed it up for all these years.
There were two Talbots. A British one, and a French one. The history is remarkably complex, but naturally the British version would have sounded the T. I think that's the Talbot that got dredged up by Peugeot following their purchase of Chrysler Europe.
I have driven it sinds 0817.. kilometers already, so yeah, some lights sometimes do burn when not broken, or not malfunctioning, you actually think why is this, in the beginning that you own the car, but after checking several times the oil, and other things, you learn that it's just a French habit, so you get used to it. French technique... ;-)
Bizarre and wonderful. Everyone was after the coke-dealer mark-ups of the "executive" market, even firms that were on the very brink.
Peugeot/PSA/Rootes/Chrysler were doing what BL had managed already and were competing with themselves across the model range.
What a bizarre and pointless car; and for that reason what a wonderful thing.
"What the executive sector needs is a parts-bin special from the wrong parts bins that looks like its own younger sibling in a borrowed suit. Stick a wheezy, underpowered four in it and we'll be in clover!"
Thanks for the video... Nostalgia for suburban station cab ranks has overwhelmed me....
I remember Talbot having a really naff image at school by the time I was 7 or 8, circa 1982/3. No boy wanted their dad to buy one. Launching a luxury car under that brand, no matter how good, was surely a non-starter. Having said that, I *love* the Tagora, although I don't recall ever having seen one.
Can't remember the last time I saw one of these. They were a decent car especially in V6 form.
The poor man's Bill Towns Aston Martin Lagonda.
Remember seeing a few of these driving about in the 80's. There were 2 in the local scrapyard in 1993 l remember sitting in them ,and I stole the tagora badge of the back, I still have it!
huh! Are you selling it ? I'm seeking one for my car...
There’s a very strong resemblance to the fabulous Renault 25. I love the totally boxy design that even makes a Volvo 240 look quite curvy. Cool video
You can hurt yourself with every corner of this car !
I think there are not more than 300 Talbots on the streets in europe, they are all gone...so a test is a nice memorial...but for a car who does not exist anymore....
Sometimes, I see a Samba convertible.
Someone who worked at the Talbot factory told me that one problem that they had was that there were several unions in the factory and they didn't always walk out together. If one union called a walk out but other unions didn't the line kept running, so the jobs done by the workers who had been called out got done by people untrained for the task or they didn't get done at all. This explains why they had inconsistent faults. Occasionally they made the cars correctly, but not too often.
Hi Ian, yet another interesting car I remember dad had a white solare and a brown alpine both very good cars the only problem with them was very weak engine mounts on the gearbox side as they both broke, lol no engine or gearbox damage was done to eather car just had to heve the mounts welded.. Good video. The barge was pretty in the back ground
Talbot's history was Anglo-French. Anthony Lago designed a series of luxury machines which became known as Lago-Talbots.
It's a muddled history as there was a British Talbot and the French one, and seperately, both became part of the Rootes empire, then Chrysler Europe, and finally Peugeot.
From what I remember, the Tagora was just too late for a market which was already in the grip of the Granada etc. & from a company that was pretty wobbly at the time. I remember reading What Car? at the time & thought the Tagora a weird mix of space-age and dull.
Simon here.... love the seats and trim. I’m sure my neighbour has one of these or like it. His out now and I’m too old to climb a fence 😂. Great video and I’ll have a look later on.😉
In the UK?
You're not too old to pilot a drone... :)
I've only ever seen one Tagora, a gold GL, which by 1990 looked like it was close to the end of its life.
Shared the 2.2 litre lump with the Chrysler 180 and the Matra Murena if I remember correctly.
It was a stroked version of the Chrysler-Simca 2 litre engine.
Very nice. There are none of these in the UK. Got a brochure for it when I was a kid and loved the Tagora then. Still have the brochure!
Incorrect. I know of at least three UK Tagoras...
Well 9 cars are known to exist in the UK, maybe some more lurking in dusty garages?
5 SX V6
3 GLS
1 GL
This car looks a lot like the Hyundai Stellar, even the colour on this particular one.
7:45 I think that the Talbot name revival was a stumbling block. It played on the name heritage and got perceived as a pretence. Maybe if they had chosen to keep the Simca name that was a down to earth marque, the Tagora may have done better. The Simca 1000 and 1501 were nice cars. The later Peugeot 405 was similarly styled to the Tagora and that was a roaring success. Has to be the name.
405 was a much more beautiful car! That's the Pininfarina effect for you...
This brings back memories; I had a 1982 GLS in grey and it was a good car but unfashionable. I particularly liked the deep windscreen and airy interior. People were never going to be tempted by a large executive car made by a marque like Talbot which was struggling anyway and didn't have any presence in that part of the market. In addition, there was a recession and there were fields and fields of stockpiled Granadas and Rover SD1s so it didn't really stand a chance. Thanks for making this video.
Hi Ian, never seen one of these before,i remember the Talbot alpine with the sloping boot,they look like the same lights near enough,more fancy version.
I do see an air of Citroen XM in the Tagora. I had a neighbour where I grew up in Woodley, Reading who had a burgundy coloured Tagora.
I had a Talbot Alpine. It was a rust bucket but I loved it.
It was way advanced in '81....Talbots always had tappet problems...They couldn't get it right...There was a TV programme as i remember about how they solved it...But too late. Tappety Tappety....Is it a diesel.? ..Tappety!!! Tap tap tap!
Regular oil changes and maintenance could tame the wild tappet rattle of the ancient Simca engines that the Alpine, Horizon and Solara had to make do with. They were old hat even in the 70's. No such worries with the 2.2 though - its OHC.
Oddly enough our A reg Horizon never tapped, rattled, rusted, broke down or otherwise offended us beyond an interior light switch which was replaced on the day we bought it. The only time I ever saw a Tagora, it was a rusted out wreck, parked near Bigbury Beach in Devon, the sea air must have got to it. I still drive a '72 Hillman Avenger, these early ones being better built than the later Chrysler and Talbot branded Avengers.
Why did the SIMCA's and Talbots all sound like a bag of bolts being rattled around in a bucket when idling? Were these engines originally from old tractors?
I had a new (W reg)Talbot Solara with the optional 1.6 engine. It was a good looking car but reliability wasn't that good but most of the problems came to light whilst it was still under warranty.
Feel the luxury.
That inside reminded me of my first car, the Talbot Horizon 1.1
No way ! My dad had a 2.6 sx tagora flying machine in its day, sadly it succumb to tin worm after years of sitting
The car got heavily slated by the press for poor ventilation but this was the product of it being cut off from its parents Chrysler parts bin before birth. The plan was to sell the car on quantity over quality because of the limited mechanicals available, the plan being to use Alpine derived front end and 180 derived drivetrain and rear end. However the USPs was a load of space and Air Con sourced from the Chrysler US parts bin, which is why it got this American style push button ventilation control. However as Peugeot did not have a European source of volume air con they all including the SX got a compromised ventilation system, I think if Peugeot had done a deal with Chrysler to buy air con they would have had a winner in the executive company car barge in the 80s.
Love the headlining
You’re right, I’ve never heard of this car. It has that early Toyota Camry look.
Mmm...surprised that they sold as many as they did. Peugeot rear axle probably the best part of it.
Impressed by your diplomacy Mr HubNut.
I can tell you this: at Talbot there were the best engineers, for sure. They managed to get even 200 horsepowers from this engine, by mounting 3 double carburators on this engine., the 'regular'V6 had 165 horsepowers, impressive for 1981!! Having a top speed of 195 km/h back in the days, it was a lot, that's for sure.
I ran a 2.0 Peugeot 505 for years out in Africa, great car.
This Talbot, same era, no competition.
Never had a Tagora, but I did own a brace of Solaras, actually the first and second cars I owned. They were both bloody awful, to be frank, but they were dirt cheap - the first was free, from my uncle who didn't want to pay the scrapper a tenner to fetch it, the second was £50, I think...
This is what Peugeot-Simca thought would compete with the BMW 3 series, Volvo 240, Mercedes 280, Citroen CX, Audi 80, and Rover SD-1. I'd take the Citroen or the Volvo any day.
That makes me wonder why this car was not imported into the US. I loved the Peugeot 505 STI and I certainly love this Talbot, all they needed to get the Tagora past the emissions was to install the STI 2.2 into it. I don't know but I think this car with the right engine would have sold well in the U.S., the Tagora is a sharp looking car, even as it is today.
They could install the EFI version of the PRV V6 engine, already approved for Volvo applications (like for the Delorean) But it was significantly less powerful than the 2 x 3 carburated PRV installed in the Tagora
That's a very rare car. Only ever seen 1 in Britain and that was years ago
Apparently the same headlamps as the later Leyland Olympian/ECW coach... (and the Bentley?)
Leyland Olympians used Rolls-Royce headlamps from the Silver Spirit (and Bentley Eight/Mulsanne etc).
Certainly sounds better than my old Alpine did, more rattles than Mothercare!
Well I had the Talbot alpine with the twin Webers and automatic transmission luxury. Only problem with it it just rotting away and then I got a Rover 3500 SD1 wish I still had it today as cars have too much technology in them that can and will go wrong.
There’s plenty to go wrong on an SD1, I can tell you! Fortunate to have one and absolutely love it! 😊
'Not very exciting' is how you described the styling. All these years later after the car was on sale I'm struck by how much of a different image it may have had if it had worn a Volvo badge, as it isn't a million miles away from being a 740/760 saloon - Volvo being described as 'Boxy, but good' in a spoof ad campaign in an 80s Dudley Moore film possibly called 'Crazy People'. I was a car mad teenage school kid when the Alpine and Horizon came out, and about 18 when the Tagora was launched. To my eyes at that time, when I saw the Chrysler/Talbot products alongside whatever Ford, Vauxhall and even BL/Austin-Rover were producing, I thought the interiors and particularly the dashboards were very lacklustre, looking cheap and plasticky with thin fragile looking column stalks, and the engines always sounded rattly. I've never driven any of the above although for a very brief time in the late 80s I did own a well used Chrysler Avenger, which didn't do a lot to endear me to the brand. To say this was Talbot's flagship model, unfortunately I can see why it didn't do well against Ford's Mk2 Granada or even Vauxhall's Carlton and Viceroy - and is it fair to compare it with Rover's smaller engined SD1? I think for a flagship model it might be. All the same I enjoyed the video and among my car literature and brochures I do have a single sheet flyer for the Tagora and possibly an Autocar road test excerpt, because I'm intrigued by failed cars! Just sayin'.....it didn't surprise me it didn't work.
Keep up good work mate :-)