Sunbeam-Talbot
Encyclopedia
Background history
The Sunbeam Motorcar Company Ltd was formed in 1905 to separate the SunbeamSunbeam (motorcycle)
Sunbeam was a British manufacturing marque that produced bicycles and motorcycles from 1912 to 1956. Originally independent, it was ultimately owned by BSA...
motorcycle and bicycle maker from the new car manufacturer.
Sunbeam merged with the French company Automobiles Darracq S.A.
Darracq
Automobiles Darracq S.A. was a French motor vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq.Using part of the substantial profit he had made from selling his Gladiator bicycle factory, Alexandre Darracq began operating from a plant in the Parisian suburb of Suresnes...
on August 13, 1920. In order to import Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard was a French manufacturer of automobiles, aeroplanes and airships founded in 1903 by the entrepreneur Adolphe Clément-Bayard . The name celebrated the Chevalier Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard who saved the town of Mézières in 1521...
cars into England, Darracq bought the London-based firm of Clement-Talbot to become Talbot-Darracq
Talbot
Talbot was an automobile marque that existed from 1903 to 1986, with a hiatus from 1960 to 1978, under a number of different owners, latterly under Peugeot...
. The addition of Sunbeam created Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq, or STD Motors, however during the height of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
in 1935 STD Motors went bankrupt.
In France the former Talbot plant was purchased by entrepreneur/engineer Anthony Lago who from 1935 produced luxury cars badges as Talbot-Lago
Talbot-Lago
Talbot-Lago was a French automobile manufacturer based in Suresnes, Hauts de Seine, outside of Paris.-Origins:The Anglo-French STD combine collapsed in 1935. The French Talbot company was acquired and reorganised by a Venetian born engineer called Anthony Lago and after that, the Talbot-Lago...
s (though when these were imported into the UK they still turned up carrying the old Darracq name).
Talbots were still a success at this time and in 1935 both its UK assets and the Sunbeam business were purchased by the Rootes Group headed by brothers William 'Billy' and Reginald Rootes.
Formation of Sunbeam-Talbot
The existing British Talbots were re-badged as Sunbeam-Talbots from 1938 onwards and were a combination of current HillmanHillman
Hillman is a British automobile marque created by the Hillman Motor Car Company, founded in 1907. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had built bicycles...
and Humber
Humber (car)
Humber is a dormant British automobile marque which could date its beginnings to Thomas Humber's bicycle company founded in 1868. Following their involvement in Humber through Hillman in 1928 the Rootes brothers acquired a controlling interest and joined the Humber board in 1932 making Humber part...
chassis and quality Talbot coachwork. Subsequent Talbots used a Talbot badge and grille rather than the traditional Sunbeam badge and grille.
An early proponent of badge engineering, Rootes built a single mass-produced chassis and equipped it with different body panels and interiors that fit with different markets. Ending production of existing models at all new companies, Rootes replaced them with designs from Hillman
Hillman
Hillman is a British automobile marque created by the Hillman Motor Car Company, founded in 1907. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had built bicycles...
and Humber
Humber (car)
Humber is a dormant British automobile marque which could date its beginnings to Thomas Humber's bicycle company founded in 1868. Following their involvement in Humber through Hillman in 1928 the Rootes brothers acquired a controlling interest and joined the Humber board in 1932 making Humber part...
.
The first two models introduced were the Sunbeam–Talbot 10
Sunbeam-Talbot Ten
The Sunbeam-Talbot Ten is a four door saloon manufactured by the Rootes Group between 1938 and 1939, and then reintroduced after the Second World War and sold between 1945 and 1948...
and the 3-litre. The Ten was launched in August 1938, and was an upgrade from the previous Talbot Ten. It had a 1185 cc sidevalve Minx unit engine with an alloy head, and a chassis that had its origins in that used in the Hillman Aero Minx. The Ten was available with four-door saloon, sports tourer bodywork and drophead coupe.
The Sunbeam-Talbot 2 litre was introduced in 1939 and was based on the Ten, though it used the 1944 cc sidevalve engine from the Humber Hawk
Humber Hawk
The Humber Hawk was a large four-cylinder saloon produced by the British-based Humber car company, part of the Rootes Group.-Humber Hawk Mk I & II:...
and Hillman 14. Due to the advent of World War II, these models were rare. They were available in the same bodyworks as the Ten.
A rebadged Talbot 3 Litre was the 3 Litre based on the Humber Snipe. It shared the same chassis and 3181 cc sidevalve six with an alloy head. It was available in the saloon, sports saloon, sports tourer and drophead coupé.
Another new model for 1939 was the 4 Litre that was based on the Humber Super Snipe
Humber Super Snipe
The Humber Super Snipe was a car produced by the British-based Humber car company, part of the Rootes Group, from 1938 to 1967.-Pre-war Super Snipe:...
. The 4 litre shared the same chassis as the 3 Litre and the Super Snipe. It came with a 4086 cc sidevalve six and alloy head. The 4 Litre was available in the saloon, sports saloon, touring saloon, sports tourer, drophead coupé and touring limousine.
These models continued to be listed after the war until 1948. However, materials were short at that time and it has been reported that "all the [3 and 4 litre] engines were needed for the big Humbers", so that Sunbeam Talbot production was in reality virtually or entirely restricted, post-1945, to the Minx based 10 and the 2-litre.
World War II
All Sunbeam-Talbot production was suspended during the war, after 1940, though Rootes continued to build the Hillman Minx and Humber Super Snipe for military use.Rootes was responsible for providing Britain with 14% of its bombers, 5000 aero engines, 300,000 bombs and 60% of its armoured cars. For his efforts as chairman of the Supply Council, Ministry of Supply, William Rootes was recognised by a knighthood in the New Year Honours List of 1942. In 1945 when production again resumed, only the 10 and 2-litre were continued. The 3 and 4 litre models were never revived and production ceased.
The following year, production moved from the ex-Talbot London plant to the new Ryton
Ryton-on-Dunsmore
Ryton-on-Dunsmore is a village and civil parish in the Rugby district of Warwickshire, and is south-east of Coventry, England. The 2001 census recorded a population of 1,672 in the parish. The A45 dual carriageway passes through the village....
plant, opened in 1940 under the UK government's shadow factory scheme, and initially used for the production of bombers and military vehicles. (Eventually the old London plant in Barlby Road, W10, was transformed into the set for the Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
programme The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
, which was filmed there between 1987 and 1990.)
Post war production
The post-war Sunbeam-Talbot 80 and 90 designs were introduced during the summer of 1948. The cars were built at the new Ryton
Ryton-on-Dunsmore
Ryton-on-Dunsmore is a village and civil parish in the Rugby district of Warwickshire, and is south-east of Coventry, England. The 2001 census recorded a population of 1,672 in the parish. The A45 dual carriageway passes through the village....
plant. Both came with a new streamlined design with flowing front wings into which were integrated headlamps in a manner reminiscent of the front of a fighter plane, a shape that would have been all too familiar to potential buyers at the time. The 80 used the Hillman Minx based ohv 1,185 cc engine, which was dwarfed by the size of the engine bay. The 80 was also fitted with an overhead valve version of the old 10 engine. The 90 had a modified version of the Humber Hawk
Humber Hawk
The Humber Hawk was a large four-cylinder saloon produced by the British-based Humber car company, part of the Rootes Group.-Humber Hawk Mk I & II:...
ohv 4-cylinder 2-litre engine.
Both were available with saloon bodywork from British Light Steel Pressings
British Light Steel Pressings
British Light Steel Pressings Ltd was a company in Acton, London producing bodies for the vehicle industry.British Light Steel Pressings Ltd was formed in 1930. In its early years it made pressings for various purposes. In 1937 it was taken over by the Rootes Group, to make body shells for Sunbeam...
or drophead coupe bodywork done by Thrupp & Maberly
Thrupp & Maberly
Thrupp & Maberly was a British coachbuilding company based in London, England.-Origin:This business was created by a merger in 1858 of the carriage builders Joseph Thrupp, who established his business in George Street in 1760, and George Maberly.As far back as the 1880s Thrupp & Maberly began its...
. The relatively slow Talbot 80 was discontinued in 1950.
Renamed as the 90 MK II, the 90 continued in production with a new chassis with independent front suspension. Completely redesigned, the headlamps were raised by three inches to meet American regulations. Replacing the front driving lamps with a pair of small air intake grilles the 90 MK II also had an increased OHV engine with 2267 cc.
Eventually renamed as the 90 MK IIA in 1952, the main update on this model was the deletion of the rear wheel spats.
Due to the confusion with the French Talbot concern, the 90 models dropped the Talbot part of the name with the 90 Mk III and became known as the Sunbeam MK III which was introduced in 1954. This model came with much larger front air intake grilles and three portholes just below each side of the bonnet. The engine now developed 80 bhp, amazing compared to the 64 bhp that the Mk I 90 achieved. In 1957 production of the MK III ceased.
The 90 models proved to be a very effective rally vehicle surprising many people, with notable International successes by drivers Sir Stirling Moss and Sheila van Damm
Sheila van Damm
Sheila van Damm was a leading British woman competitor in motor rallying in the 1950s, and also the former owner of the Windmill Theatre in London....
.
Sunbeam Alpine
The Sunbeam Alpine is a sporty two-seat open car from Rootes Group's Sunbeam car marque. The original was launched in 1953 as the first vehicle from Sunbeam-Talbot to bear the Sunbeam name alone since the 1935 takeover of Sunbeam and Talbot by the Rootes Group....
, was produced. Based on the Sunbeam Talbot 90 Mk IIa, this two-seater roadster was inspired by George Hartwell in Bournemouth, a friend of the Rootes family. The end product, however, was finalised by the Loewy Studio. The Alpine was named in honour of the success of the Sunbeam-Talbot team in the Alpine rally. Dropped in 1954, the Sunbeam Alpine sports car ceased after nearly 3000 were produced.
Sunbeam models have both competed in and won numerous international rallies, most notably was the Monte Carlo Rally
Monte Carlo Rally
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rally Monte Carlo is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco which also organises the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The rally takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and...
. Continuing in the tradition of STD, under Rootes Sunbeam-Talbots competed in various motorsports. They concentrated mainly on rallying rather than racing.
Sunbeam-Talbot cars
- 1938-1948Sunbeam Talbot TenSunbeam-Talbot TenThe Sunbeam-Talbot Ten is a four door saloon manufactured by the Rootes Group between 1938 and 1939, and then reintroduced after the Second World War and sold between 1945 and 1948...
- 1938-1940 Sunbeam-Talbot Three Litre
- 1939-1948 Sunbeam-Talbot Two Litre
- 1939-1940 Sunbeam-Talbot Four Litre
- 1948-1950 Sunbeam-Talbot 80
- 1948-1954 Sunbeam-Talbot 90 Mk I, II & IIASunbeam-Talbot 90The Sunbeam Talbot 90 was a sporting car built by the Rootes Group in Ryton Coventry under their Sunbeam-Talbot brand.The car was launched in 1948 along with the smaller engined Sunbeam-Talbot 80 but many features dated back to the pre war Sunbeam-Talbot Ten. The body was completely new and...