Talbot — A British-French Marque From 1902 to the Express Van

Talbot at a glance

The first Talbots in London

Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, the 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot, arranged the capital for a company that began by assembling French Clément-Bayard cars in London. Adolphe Clément was a shareholder, together with Baron Auguste Lucas and Emile Lamberjack. A footnote in Wikipedia cites The Automotive Journal for an incorporation date of 11 October 1902; the infobox gives 1903. The first cars were assembled in London from French mechanical parts, but British parts soon replaced them. After the first year the brand name was shortened to Talbot.

The works were at Ladbroke Grove in North Kensington, on a site that grew from 5 to 28 acres. The range grew steadily between 1904 and 1915. On 15 February 1913 Percy Lambert set a world record in a Talbot at Brooklands. Both founders reduced their financial interest during the war.

S.T.D. Motors and Georges Roesch

In autumn 1919 Darracq & Co., the French firm based at Suresnes near Paris, agreed to buy Clément-Talbot, taking over its entire capital in December 1919. In 1920 Darracq joined with Sunbeam to form S.T.D. Motors, for Sunbeam, Talbot and Darracq, although each company kept operating separately. From 1920 the French cars from Suresnes were badged Talbot-Darracq. From 1922 they were badged simply Talbot, so that two different Talbots, one British and one French, now existed in the same group.

In London, the engineer Georges Roesch is named as the key figure behind the cars of the 1920s and 1930s. The range listed for the period includes the 14-45, 75, 90 and 105, with 34, 52, 69 and 75 kW (46, 70, 93 and 100 bhp). The last Roesch-designed cars date from 1937. Clément-Talbot remained profitable through the Depression, but S.T.D. Motors did not: debts dating partly from borrowing in 1924 for Sunbeam's racing programme brought the group down in late 1934, and it ceased to exist in 1936.

Rootes in Britain, Lago in France

The two Talbots then went separate ways. The Rootes brothers bought Clément-Talbot in London, and in 1935 Rootes acquired Darracq & Co. and kept Talbot as a brand. Rootes built Talbots with Hillman and Humber parts; a modified Hillman Aero Minx became the Talbot Ten. In 1938 Rootes formed Sunbeam-Talbot Limited, and the British cars were badged Sunbeam-Talbot. The Rootes connection survives in models such as the Sunbeam Tiger and the Hillman Imp.

In France, Antonio Lago, managing director at Suresnes since 1932, completed a management buy-out of Automobiles Talbot from the receiver in 1936. His Talbot-Lago cars became famous for their bodies and their racing. The T150-C SS is best known with the teardrop coupé body by Figoni et Falaschi, and a factory-bodied 1939 car sold for US$418,000 in 2013. After the war Talbot-Lago built the Lago Record, a 4.5-litre six-cylinder saloon of 1946–1952 with 127 kW (170 hp). The T26 Grand Sport of 1947–1954 followed, with 142 kW (190 bhp). The T26C single-seater was built for the 1948 Formula One rules, and in 1950 Louis Rosier and his son Jean-Louis won the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The cars were too expensive for post-war France, where engines over 2.6 litres were heavily taxed. Output fell from 433 cars in 1950 to 80 in 1951 and 34 in 1952, and on 6 March 1951 Lago was granted a moratorium on his debts. He put the business up for sale in 1958, and in 1959 Simca's president Henri Pigozzi acquired it; the last Talbots used a Simca V8. Lago died in 1960.

Chrysler Europe and the PSA revival

Chrysler gradually took control of Simca between 1963 and 1970 and already owned Rootes, so both Talbot names were now in one group. In August 1978 PSA Peugeot Citroën agreed to buy Chrysler Europe for a nominal US$1, and it took control on 1 January 1979. PSA decided to use the dormant Talbot name for the former Simca and Chrysler/Rootes models. Every former Chrysler model registered in Britain after 1 August 1979 carried a Talbot badge. The French side of the story is in the Peugeot history.

The new Talbot range was large. It included the Horizon hatchback, a Chrysler and Simca design that was European Car of the Year for 1979 and is covered in the Talbot Horizon history. Next came the Alpine, Solara and 1510 family of 1979–1986, renamed Minx and Rapier in late 1984; as the Chrysler Alpine, the car had been European Car of the Year for 1976. The range also included the Sunbeam hatchback and the Peugeot 104-based Samba of 1981–1986. At the top sat the large Tagora saloon of 1981–1983, of which only 19,389 were built, and the Matra-built Murena of 1980–1984 completed the line-up.

Sunbeam Lotus and the rally title

The Sunbeam had gone on sale on 23 July 1977 as a Chrysler. It was a three-door hatchback on a shortened Hillman Avenger platform, built at the former Rootes plant at Linwood in Scotland. About 200,000 were made up to 1981, when Peugeot closed the Linwood plant. The Sunbeam Ti, in British showrooms from June 1979 at £3,779, had a 1,598 cc engine with 75 kW (100 bhp).

The fastest version was the Sunbeam Lotus, with a 2,172 cc 16-valve Lotus slant-four engine of 112 kW (150 bhp) in road form and about 186 kW (250 bhp) in rally trim. Run by a factory team founded in 1979, it won the 1980 RAC Rally with Henri Toivonen. In 1981 Guy Fréquelin's results brought Talbot the manufacturers' title of the World Rally Championship; Fréquelin narrowly lost the drivers' title to Ari Vatanen. Talbot left the championship after 1982, and Jean Todt's Peugeot Talbot Sport, founded in 1981, went on to win the world titles of 1985 and 1986.

The end of Talbot

The revival did not pay. After years of losses PSA abandoned its three-brand strategy. The planned successor to the Horizon, the Talbot Arizona, became the Peugeot 309. In 1986 PSA sold the Whitley research centre to Jaguar, which ended the development of British Talbots. The Samba was discontinued in May 1986, the Horizon was built in Spain and Finland until 1987, and car production ended in 1986–1987. The Talbot Express van, a popular base for motorhomes, continued until 1994, and the marque was then retired.

PSA considered a low-cost Talbot revival in 2008, possibly with cars built in China, but it did not happen. After the 2021 merger of PSA and Fiat Chrysler, the rights belong to Stellantis. Talbot models on 1cars are listed in the Talbot catalogue.

Talbot timeline

Landmark Talbot models

Photo gallery