TALBOT SUNBEAM LOTUS AT 40

LAST

With prices of fast Fords hitting the roof, people are finally paying attention to the last of Britain’s rear-wheel-drive rally specials. Does it really offer similar thrills for fewer bills? hrysler Europe’s solution to publicising the launch of its new C Sunbeam in 1977 was an obvious, but proven one – rally it. Obvious not just because Ford had shown how successful the trick could be with its Escort, but also because the standard Sunbeam wasn’t much to shout about. That said, while its rear-wheel drive underpinnings looked increasingly archaic towards the end of the 1970s, the layout lent itself well to the high power outputs of rally cars. A more powerful engine was needed to make the car competitive – fortunately Lotus had surplus capacity for its 900 series 16-valve twin-cam engines following the demise of the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus is one of few cars to bear three names that have all been marques in their own right. Jensen-Healey. Lotus also had some input on the car’s chassis and the result was a World Rally Championship constructor’s title in 1981. The Sunbeam Lotus was an even more remarkable road car, providing an unmatched level of performance. It wasn’t cheap, though – nearly £7500, compared to less than £5200 for an Escort RS2000 Custom. Despite this, the Ford is by far the more valuable car today, with top quality cars fetching at least twice what the Sunbeam is worth. With most enthusiasts increasingly priced out of the classic fast Ford market, attention is Glass rear panel provides slowly returning to the Sunbeam Lotus some excellent visibility and harks 40 years after its birth. We take a Series 2 car back to the Sunbeam’s Imp ancestor. for a spin to see if it can fi nally step out of the Tyres are high-profi le by modern standards, but ride is Escort’s shadow. fi rm over bumps nonetheless.

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WORDS Charlie Calderwood and Chris Hope PHOTOGRAPHY Stuart Collins

Sunbeam has genuine rally pedigree, so it copes just as well with low-grip surfaces as the equivalent Escort.

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SEE THE TALBOT SUNBEAM LOTUS IN ACTION The Sunbeam Lotus Owners’ Club will be displaying a selection of its members’ cars at this weekend’s Retro Show at Santa Pod in WHY I LOVE MY SUNBEAM LOTUS Northamptonshire. n sunbeamlotus.com n retroshow.co.uk PETER BURNS ‘I’ve owned my Sunbeam Lotus for four years. n PROJECT £4-7.5k n USABLE £8-13.5k n GOOD £14- I was looking for a nice example – not WHAT TO PAY 19k n EXCELLENT 20k+ n PRICE WHEN NEW £7495 necessarily an Avon – but this one had been restored and was bodily sound with only some 1981 TALBOT SUNBEAM LOTUS ENGINE 2170cc/4-cyl/DOHC POWER 150bhp@ mechanical issues to sort. 5400rpm TORQUE 154lb ft@4800rpm TOP SPEED 121mph 0-60MPH 6.6sec FUEL ‘The first thing I did was get the Dellorto carbs rebuilt by Northampton Motorsport Ltd. Then CONSUMPTION 22-30mpg RWD, five-speed manual ENGINE OIL Castrol Classic after I’d done a couple of thousand miles in it, XL 20w50 6.3 litres GEARBOX OIL Castrol EP80 1.6 litres AXLE OIL Castrol Classic EP90 0.9 litres I noticed a nice cloud of blue exhaust smoke whenever I revved it or lifted off, so the valve variant fitted to the Jensen-Healey. This gives it a guides were clearly on their way out. The bores IRON FIST, level of flexibility that you simply wouldn’t expect were all pitted too, and the cylinder head thing’s polybushed. Pretty much everything that from a homologation special. It feels eager to pull gasket was on its last legs, so the engine came needs doing has been done now, apart from VELOUR GLOVE at almost any revs, so you rarely feel the need to go out and was rebuilt with new pistons and a the gearbox and back axle. above 4000rpm, though the car is happy to do so. reground crank. ‘It’s everything I thought it would be, but what Talbot struggled to shift Sunbeam Lotuses once If anything, the car could do with wider-spaced ‘I’ve stripped the suspension, had the Bilsteins surprises me the most is the interest you get, initial enthusiasm died down – unsurprisingly, gearing because the driver quickly dispenses with the refurbished, fitted new springs and the whole because people just don’t know what it is.’ perhaps, given how much the car cost when new. first three gears during all but the most white-knuckle This prompted Avon Coachworks to buy up the last driving. This relatively short gearing – combined with models made and turn them into cars much like the the deep well of torque – does allow the driver to one we’re testing today. With two-tone paintwork, focus on placing the car on the road, rather than knowledge that the engine will provide strong, the sort of thing that most period sports car drivers colour-coded external trim, a vinyl roof, velour endlessly rowing through the gears, however. but unintimidating power at pretty much any revs. could only dream of. upholstery and a tilting sunroof, it looks to modern Interestingly, the car is at its most stable when the eyes like Avon tried to create a car that was as early- driver is on the power; the weight transfer to the 1980s as a long queue at a job centre. POINT AND SHOOT rear helps to settle the rear – which sometimes skips CAPABILITY OVER So, did it work? Not really. Avon had to endure over bumps – just that little bit more. the same down-in-the-doldrums car market that The Sunbeam’s steering is unquestionably one of its The Sunbeam may project an image of being an FAMILIARITY Talbot had experienced with the standard car, so best features. It is incredibly direct, feelsome and uncouth blue-collar hero, but the way it handles only made 56 cars out of a planned run of 150. Still, quick – the sort of helm that larger, heavier cars on the road is far from wild; this isn’t just some Fast Escorts may have always eclipsed the Talbot, it made for an interesting marriage of superficial simply cannot match. There is a price to pay for all otherwise moribund with a massive but they have similar shortcomings in terms of luxury and gruff, raucous performance. of this feedback, however – you feel every bump in engine thrown in, screaming round corners in a refinement and ride quality and the Talbot’s engine No doubt about it, though – even the better the road through the small diameter wheel and have cloud of tyre smoke. In fact, the tyres – which are is far from overshadowed by the Ford’s powerplants. sound-proofed Avon-built cars are noisy, with to keep a strong grip on it during spirited driving just surprisingly wide for a car built in the 1980s – are Viewed this way, the Sunbeam starts to look an engine that is audible at all revs and speeds. to prevent it from darting to one side or the other – reluctant to break traction, reflecting the car’s Lotus like something of a bargain today and the very Thankfully, it’s a pleasing noise – a deep thrum that the Sunbeam’s ride isn’t exactly a soft, after all. Sure, tuning and single-minded purpose. embodiment of how a classic’s perceived value is never becomes shrill or harsh. In fact, this is the our car is running on polybushes, which tend to add There are other advantages to the Sunbeam often more about popularity than capability. general character of the engine – you might expect a degree of crashiness to any car’s ride, but while Lotus’s humble origins, too. All-round visibility is In short, if you tend to focus on a car’s driving a Lotus-designed twin-cam to sound and feel peaky, the experience is far from luxurious, it is at least excellent thanks to that huge rear window and the experience rather than its nostalgia element – or fussy and overstrung, but this couldn’t be further beautifully controlled. driving position is comfortable and uncompromised, simply prefer the left-field option – the Talbot is from the truth. In fact, the car always feels planted; its relatively unlike the sort of low-slung and cramped cabins well-placed, not just as an Escort substitute, but as The Lotus 911 engine’s longer stroke gave it a 20lb wide track allows the driver to just point the wheel you’d find in a typical contemporary sports car. a car that actually surpasses it – and in a straight line ft torque increase over the ‘torqueless wonder’ 907 and squeeze at the throttle at will, safe in the There’s room in the boot for actual stuff, too – again at least, it will do that quite literally…

Wednesday 12 June 2019 CLASSIC CAR WEEKLY | 11 TALBOT SUNBEAM LOTUS AT 40

Sunbeam’s 6500rpm redline betrays the fact that the potent Lotus twin-cam engine is a bit of a screamer.

THE SECRET CALL TO JENSEN THAT Interior is a vision in velour and vinyl – and the three-spoke steering SPARKED THE SUNBEAM LOTUS wheel looks remarkably similar to that of a Ford RS2000.

We recently caught up with Sunbeam Lotus no right to do this because we were in the chief development engineer, Wynne Mitchell, competitions department; we certainly weren’t pictured here with a prototype owned by top brass. Sunbeam Lotus Owners’ Club historian, Graeme ‘Nonetheless, Graham said that he would go Lawton. Wynne explained how the Coventry- away and build us an engine with the power we Hethel collaboration came about: needed. He supplied us with a standard two- ‘We wanted to rally the Sunbeam, but needed litre engine, only the sump had to be reversed an engine capable of giving 220-240bhp – the because it was in the way. engine we had in the Avenger, with the BRM ‘We fitted it to Des’ Avenger GLS and he four-valve, twin-cam cylinder head, was no took it up to Ryton to show one of his bosses. longer competitive; at most we could wring out Des took him out for a ride and he was very 200bhp. I did, however, know that Lotus was impressed with it. Then Des opened the bonnet supplying an engine to Jensen. and showed him this Lotus engine. He was ‘I secretly contacted Jensen’s chief engineer, blown away! Mike Jones, and explained the situation to him. ‘That immediately generated interest in He allowed me to borrow an experimental the possibility of a Sunbeam Lotus at the top engine to see whether it would fit in the level. Wheels started turning out of sight and Sunbeam, before we alerted Lotus to the fact Graham developed this 2.2-litre engine – he had that we were interested. discovered that he simply couldn’t get 240bhp ‘[Competitions Manager] Des O’Dell and I out of a two-litre engine, it needed to be a 2.2. then went over to Lotus and met managing ‘From there we arrived at the prototype [the director, Mike Kimberley, and engine man, car pictured here] and the homologation cars Graham Atkin – bearing in mind that we had followed soon after.’ Twin Dellorto carbs make a lovely sound and, unlike in some applications, fuel well throughout the rev-range. BRITISH RALLY RIVALS The Sunbeam Lotus was the last in a line of small, rear-wheel drive family cars that British manufacturers released in the late 1970s. Their brief? To win major international rallies and increase the appeal of their more fleet-friendly offerings

1978-79 VAUXHALL 1973-80 TRIUMPH 1976-80 FORD ESCORT CHEVETTE HS DOLOMITE SPRINT RS2000 MkII Like the Sunbeam, the Chevette was a knee-jerk response from a One of BL’s best products, and the first mass-market vehicle to be Not as powerful as the Talbot, but more survivors and a fanatical company jealous of the Ford Escort’s successes. So similar offered with a 16-valve engine – if only they had been better-built. following mean that spares and specialist industry is more were their remits, in fact, that their engines have a common At least a second or so slower to 60mph than the Talbot thanks to developed. This same popularity has seen the Ford become ancestry, even shearing the same crankshaft. Not quite as a less powerful engine, but significantly more refined, with longer significantly more valuable than the Talbot, despite the reverse powerful as the Talbot, but a slightly better ride. gearing to boot. being true when the cars were new. WHAT TO PAY £10,000-20,000 WHAT TO PAY £5000-10,000 WHAT TO PAY £15,000-60,000+ PRICE WHEN NEW £5939 PRICE WHEN NEW £6288 PRICE WHEN NEW £5179

12 | CLASSIC CAR WEEKLY Wednesday 12 June 2019