Real Road Test: Talbot Solara! Is it a Simca?
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- čas přidán 11. 07. 2019
- The first of my Dutch road tests is this gorgeous 1980 Talbot Solara GLS, the saloon version of the Alpine (previously Chrysler Alpine or Simca 1307). It is owned by the same person who owns this lovely Tagora. • Real Road Test: Talbot...
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This guy knows his stuff. Refreshing that someone is so enthusiastic about a car like this.
Exactly how my grandfather had it in the early eighties 🙂
Yet again ian you find cars that were fogetable. now remembered 👍..well done much better viewing than all those supercars at goodwood .....no disrespect to all concerned at goodwood..cheers from dave
I always prefer to see the cars that were knocking about when I was a nipper. Supercars have never done it for me.
@@paulbennell3313 Supercars are overwhelmingly remembered, discussed, written about and reviewed despite being ultra rare cars. Whereas ordinary and often unremarkable in their prime cars glow with interest today. Amongst us anyway. Funny isn't it?
I remember the talbots back in the day which were easily identified with their trademark tappety engines you could hear coming down the street.
Tin can full of nails! Even after you set the tappets!!!
I always remember Talbots of this era by their sound, they were quite distinctively tappety - even as a child it was very obvious!
spainter: For some reason the tappets always looked oil starved when you went to adjust them. Probably why so noisy. A right pain to do, with the engine tilted back to almost touch the bulkhead. These cars were total rust buckets! Mine fell apart in the end. One of the worst cars ever made!
@@janicewatts5888 utter clown… they were actually class leading. A 1442cc `Alpine was way better than the `cortina `mk4
My first proper car a solara 1.6sx with trip computer electric windows, central locking, veluuur seats, headlamp wash wipe action, super comfy and I loved it!
Fantastic! My Dad had one (1.6) as a company car 1980-81, when he was dating my mum. Replaced with an Opel Ascona 2.0 S, as a wedding present from his boss!
I remember the days! Samba, Horizon, Alpine, Solara, Tagora and Rancho. Great range of cars. How could I forget the Sunbeam Lotus??
The Rancho nice memories
Indeed the Rancho, my father loved it so much and was on the brink to sell it's Simca 1100 for it. My mother said, no, to funcky at the dealer. Why on earth a Rancho she said... same nose as their Simca 1100 incl. front interior, besides ofcourse the back and its great bodykit...
Murena , 3 seated coupé
That is the tidiest Solara I've seen since the 80's! My mate's mum had an Alpine 1500S. Superbly comfortable car and suprisingly quick. Suprisingly solid as well for a ten year old specimen. Engine sounded like it was about to fly apart but it just kept on going.
Loving these videos Ian, top quality job as always from you.
That tinny sounding engine was very distinctive
@@JuiceTerry87 I'd still recognise that sound with my eyes shut.
I'm with you on the comfy ride. With today's roads what's the point of hard suspension and 35 profile tyres? All you get is headache, backache and buckled wheels.
BRING BACK VELOUR!
I think there should be a nationwide or ever worldwide campaign, to get manufacturers to return to using velour for their car interiors...and not just bland black either...
I will sign up to your petition straightaway. I think velour is much nicer and plusher than leather.
Bought a 3 year old Solara cheaply from the Austin Rover dealership I worked at for my father. This was because the engine was really noisy and the clutch slipped.
I adjusted the tappets and put a clutch in it after work. When the sales manager saw it once it was done, he was really peed off, as he realised that he had sold it too cheap.
My dad had it for about five years without any real problems.
Some slight detail correction - the 5speed gearbox in this era of Solara was taken from the Citroën Cx, the Peugeot BE1 box arrived in 1982. This being a GLS - it would have one level below the top Sx spec which would have had the front headlamp wipers as standard. Very underated cars which suffered ultimately from a lack of continual development due to its complicated parantage.
Well said pal,had two plus an alpine and we're great cars.if they had updated with the pug engine would have been even better later.
Nice to see this rare Simca badged Solara. My father had a Talbot Solara GLS in 1983 complete with its two-tone red and silver paintwork. In addition to the two-tone paintwork, the GLS had power steering, the electric front windows, trip computer etc, all quite rare standard fit items at the time
And none of it worked i bet lol
I think that was the SX.
@@MonkeyHunch1 He had the car from new so in this case, it did all work but the trip computer was a little optimistic with the average fuel consumption calculations.
@@nick2203 Trip computers on modern cars are still the same they all tell more lies then Theresa May.
@@nick2203 yup the fuel consumption was optimistic to say the least :)
Re comfort could not agree more, I’m sure all the manufacturers make the cars ‘handle’ like a race car to keep the journalists happy, when reality is most of us mere mortals just want something to be quiet and not fall over. Enjoyable as ever.
I had a red Simca 1300 saloon in the late 1970s when I was married with 2 young girls. It was a very comfortable family car that never let me down.
Sadly it eventually succumbed to rust. The girls cried and so did I.
An absolute joy to watch as always. Superb insight and entertainingly delivered.
Ian I don't care about the sandals but absolutely love the oil encrusted finger nails! Shows you are a true car nut! And your dedication to Elly!
Yet another first class review!
That metallic green looks surprisingly gorgeous out in the sun.
Just a pity that whoever did the paint matching for the respray did not know what he was doing, different shades of green for different panels on the car.
Ian, you have a very listenable, instructional delivery...keep it up! Ta Nige
My friend had one the same colour. Took us to many rock concerts, great days. Reminds me for some reason of my dad's old Renault 30tx. Try and find one of those, sure it had 4x headlamp washers.
My late father had one of these, lovely to see one again. Still looks good
I was lucky enough to have a ride in a solara back in the 80’s. My mum once did consider buying a Talbot-Matra Rancho as it did look like a rugged 4x4 but was actually just a 2wd with a funky body kit and spotlights, She ended up deciding on a MK2 escort which turned up to be full of filler. The Talbot was no worse than most cars on the road in the 80’s and it’s a real shame it’s such a rare site here today.
Your mum made the right choice, the Matra Simca Rancho was hopelessly underpowered with its 1442cc Simca engine, essentially a bored out Simca 1100 unit, indeed the platform was from the very dated Simca 1100. The Alpine actually was quite quick particularly with the 1592cc unit; although that only had 84bhp, it was in an era when most family cars were not much more than 1,000kg.
Hi Ian I loved those things when I was a Y.T.S. mechanic because they NEVER broke down. Literally it's like they were built in a naval dockyard. Not very exiting to drive but got to be a contender for the most reliable car EVER.
@@TomAlter1000 driven French for 30 yrs
Great video. Really loved this.
Another lovely car from the eighties bring back velour interiors instead of boring black leather and make cars have a comfortable
ride again !
Yes, the roads are awfully poorly maintained yet we don't get a reduction in road tax for them failing to keep their end of the bargain.
I agree Paul. I´m not bothered about being animal friendly (in this situation) or the effect on the planet - I just do not like leather upholstery in a car. It used to be that when leather was standard the buyer could opt for cloth or velour instead but that is less common now. To me velour is far more luxurious and comfortable.
@@almal378 I had a Saab 9000 with gold like velour everybody said it was the nicest interior of a car they ever seen
@@pauldavies6037 Nice one mate. I´ve never owned a SAAB but their velour upholstery was wonderful. Always used to dash to the SAAB stand at the motorshow to luxuriate in those great seats. A friend of mine had a Rover 3500 VDP with velour. I loved it.
When I recall the Golden Brown velour interior that Talbot did so well with the Alpine, Solara in the early 80s, I think that if they had achieved the sales success they deserved, Teddy Bears would have become an endangered species ;-)
Quick correction from your friendly car pedant; the 5 speed gearbox was a Citroën CX unit, the more modern Peugeot box was fitted when the car received a mild update in late 82. There was a more luxurious version than the GLS, badged SX which had a trip computer and possibly headlamp wipers. I saw a mint one in Bordeaux recently.
It reminds me of a used Plymouth TC3 I bought in the early 90's. It had been designed by Simca. It was the most comfortable car I ever owned. Plenty of suspension travel combined with single-action gas shocks made it a pleasure to ride.
Cheers for another great one Ian, loving the Croatia series and Congrats on 40 thousand! It’s been fun watching the subscribers grow over the years just keep hubnutting and they’ll keep coming 👍
Brilliant video again 👍 How many of us panel beaters are cringing at the memories of removing the bumpers from old Talbot's. ?
This channel is amazing, don't stop!
Hooked on your channel for my daily dose of nostalgia. Brilliant Ian!
Seems like you are having a really enjoyable road trip, very jealous, great video yet again
I had the Alpine 1.5, one journey was Sicily to Portsmouth in 22 hours. Great performance, great ride, best new car I ever bought
Nice footage, brought back a few memory's, I had actually forgotten my Dad owned a mid Blue Alpine GLS, everything you pointed out rang true about his car especially comfortable suspension and seating. Also had a mate who worked as a Talbot junior salesman for a while, and regularly used part ex cars or demo cars as his company transport, I remember he had a mk1 Alpine for a quite a few weeks, brown metallic with cream vinyl roof " I know !!, very tasty looking motor ", If I recall correctly my Dads power steering mount broke, he was told it was a common fault, not sure of the validity of that fact though .
Have fun and keep up the good work
The color of the Solara is camouflage grass green at the end. Nice that there are enthusiasts who keep this type of car alive.
Thanks for bringing back memories of these when I a kid in the 80's. :)
OMG my dad's car! Thank you so much for reviewing it! He had a red Solara SX
My knowledge of forgotten cars just keeps growing with each of your videos. This was close to being one my first car in 1983 but for 50 quid less I bought a Marina instead. If you could turn back time .........
Remember my dad having a red Solara when I was a kid. Interesting times.
We used to build these in Finland too. At the SAAB factory in Uusikaupunki. We equipped ours with seats from SAABs. We even made a petroleum fuelled version that stank...
Following my comment the other day, I dutifully ordered HubNut beanie hat and car sticker. They came in literally a couple of days, super service. Sticker now proudly in the car and hat ready to be worn 👏🏻👏🏻. Great service Ian/whoever has been left in charge of the shop in your absence
Great. Not seen one in years, think I remember my uncle having a beige Solara in about 1987. Nice too see, cheers essdeewon.
Talbot that takes me back cushty hope you're having a good trip Ian Good luck 👍
I had a 1985 Talbot Solar Minx. Great car and had power steering that was unusual at the time on a normal saloon. It did 176000 miles before I got rid of it and I always remember how tappitty the 1600 sounded even a couple of hundred miles after they were adjusted. The UK clutch pedal was straight too.
Another car I didn't know existed, that's why I love this channel...
Nice to film this in my home country with this wonderful car. My father had one, and the previous also were Simca's/Talbots. I love them all, especially the 1100 and 1308 and Rancho/Bagheera/Mureno..
Always enjoys your cars and scenery beautiful country nice roads for a drive out keep them coming.
awesome to see a C6 car finally on the channel! I love Solaras even though I've only ever seen one (that said, i do have my Alpine so maybe my love comes from that!). You should definitely keep your eyes peeled for one, they can still be had at decent prices & from my experience restoring Annie, there are plenty of people willing you sell, if not, give you the parts you need to make the car perfect. The Simca club is the best place to go as they are very helpful, they have been to me & I'm not even a paid up member! Maybe that'll change. Wish you all the best with your big adventure!
My dad had an Alpine. It was the first of his cars I drove. You couldn't hear the tappets over the noisy diff! The gearbox was on its last legs as it needed double declutching to engage second,a skill I rapidly learned! Nice video,keep up the good work.
Hi Ian, another great review, I had a Talbot Horizon in an earlier life and it was a great car, and it is still on my wish list to buy another again. Good luck on the tour with Ellie
What a nice car. Surely everything you need in a family vehicle. Nice example too and a good review as always Mr HubNut. (Liked the child-powered windmill as well.)
The owner of the Solara thanks you for calling it a nice car. Much appreciated. Only 6 in the Netherlands with a valid MOT currently.
Had one of therein 1987 the 1.6 le if I remember correctly. We had one of the worst winters I can remember but nothing stopped the Solara just ploughed through it. Gear leaver not good infact the linkage came off as I remember. Nice one. Thank you 🙂
Great video mate really enjoyed it 👍👍
Wow , great car . I never knew the history , so thanks. My brother had a couple of ailing Simca 1000's as daily transport in the late 70's and my neice had one as her first car ,circa 1985 which she loved !
My Dad had an Alpine. Great car. Loads of space - decent turn of speed and good economy. Heavy steering and ropey gearchange though.
There is a great Chris Goffey old Top Gear report on these on You Tube - the one featured at the end of that report takes a bit of starting up too !
My father had a Chrysler Alpine and then a red Talbot Solara SX. Loved those cars as a kid!!
I had one of these and a Horizon they were good cars and a little different. Love the videos keep them coming.
Great video👍
Body roll is brilliant and hilarious. We need more, not less! During the 1990’s there was a car called a Citroen Xantia Activa that apparently almost eliminated body roll. I thought ‘Why the hell would you want that. No fun at all!’ 😂😂
my neighbour had a 1977 alpine in gunmetal grey when i was a kid, remember the tappety engine with a smile!
plymtube1 so did my parents: rust caused MOT failure at just 7 years.
Another one I’ve never heard of. I like the way it looks.
I just love your reviews of cars I grew up with in my day, and more strange kind of cars. What about more thorough reviews of your old videoes e.g. citroen bx and ami 6, skoda rapid etc?
A great review of a Fine car. 1981, An Excellent Year! Thanks.
Love this Ian, reminds me of my first car a Talbot Horizon 1L..... Ohhh that tap tap tap engine note 😍
My uncle has a couple of these solaras , he ran a Peuegot Talbot dealership that closed in the mid 80`s and has some Peugeots too ths tar being a brand new 305GTX that still has the plastic on the seats !
I'll have to watch this again to see the car as I was totally blown away by the beautiful countryside!
Hi Ian good to hear you're coming to nz . Love your videos .Love the difference . Steve auckland nz .
Thanks for this one . My first car was an 82 Alpine. Rust got her in the end even after all my tinkering.
Brilliant & interesting v log never seen one of these cars in my life till now 😁
A Talbot. A first for me and I want it. So simple and elegant, what a way to drive to work.😀
o wow thank you im made up now ,i had 2,a series one like that,which i passed my driving test in,and a series 2 which was pretty amazing ,in metallic blue.The wipers were on the SX,U did a Tagora ,i had one of those too,uve made my day Hubnut ,many thanks,if only id been at butlins earlier.
I always preferred the Solara to the Alpine and that one is a gorgeous example. Can't remeber the last time I saw one here in the UK. The last few days of videos just shows how many beautiful old cars are still about on the continent, thanks for the content.
Another great video. Its wonderful seeing all these 70s and 80s cars that some might call unfashionable. Not sure I'll be able to get the sight of those sandals out my mind though 😱🤣
I had 3 alpines and a solara in the 1980's, all were the 1442cc engine with the distinctive "ticky Talbot" rattle. The first one cost me 200 pounds and lasted a year till it failed its MOT big time, the second I kept for a few months and traded in for a Princess... then the third Alpine was a brown GLS model that I kept 2 years until it failed the MOT and was uneconomic to repair.... the last of all I had a Solara in metallic red. I sold it to my mate who wrote it off in a head on collision in which nobody was seriously hurt. Lots of memories in these, they were easy to service and reliable.
Great video great car. I always thought I was the only one into these types of vehicles.
This is another car that I'm learning of thanks to Ian -- never saw or heard of it before :). I was impressed by how spacious it was and that it had electric front windows -- I would have thought such feature was fairly uncommon in anything but a premium class car in the beginning of the 80's. I really liked the quirky interior and how spacious the car appears, especially in the back.
Great review, loved every second ( but the sandals scene). My father drove the first Solara 1.6 LS, same engine but lower specced than the GLS. Great ride, better than the Simca 1308 GLS and the Simca 1307S he drove before. Pulled our 4.5 meter caravan with ease.
Love this my dad had an Alpine in orange and a solara very happy memories
In the late 80s I was a car hire manager all we had were alpines and solara
Ride comfort is harsher these days because we use less coils to 'wind up' the spring wire in less movement. We also are using a different type of steel to get away with this... which is also why, unlike in the past, we have to change so many coil springs on modern cars. With the sophistication of suspension geometry we now enjoy, it would be quite easy to return to old fashioned comfort without quite the levels of lean that were extant in these cars.
I agree with what you say about modern springs, I had a 2006 Fiesta ST from new and had to replace both front springs before 20k miles as they broke in two.
Very interesting, I've broken a few front coil springs in my time and a back one or two. They seam quite brittle although I've not broken aftermarket coilover's.
Had one of those Glass coolant bottles in my Horizon... It was part of my regular "under the bonnet" detail tasks to empty out the yellowy grey sludge and put fresh water in it... made a big difference LOL !!!
Love the funky dash board buttons with the missing lettering
Thanks Ian 👍
We bought a new one of these in 1980 with the optional 1.6 litre engine. The DL version and I still have photos off it. They were a nice balanced design. We had it Protectol treated too. It developed quite a few problems and so it had to go.
Ah, fond Alpine/Solara memories here for me. My Grandfather had a silver Alpine after his lovely orange Marina... Anyway I don't recall much about the Alpine other than it being silver, obviously. He then had a C Reg beige Solara "Minx" runout model, presumably Minx being stolen from Rootes history somewhere. He had that until 1995ish when it really was very rusty indeed. Even though it probably wasn't, it seemed so much posher than my parents mk2 Vauxhall Astra (and just as rusty). He eventually changed it for a Peugeot 405 (another fine car)
Ahh, just seen, in fact you have already done one! Fair play! Will have to think up some other requests
Ah, the car of my youth. My father had a red Solara SX. We had many family trips with this car and the Rapido caravan.
Very underrated cars in the day. I believe that these were built in Colombia and badged as a Dodge. Not sure if it was the Alpine or Solara? Amazing! Loving your trip to the continent.
That's where the K-cars come from, the Simca Solara. Check it out...
Loved seeing you test this and you are spot on, it's a real classic. I had an early Alpine in space hopper orange. It was incredibly spacious with the transverse engine and the suspension was fantastic. It had long torsion bars on the front. Iirc the Peugeot 205 was the first car to have anti roll bar drop links. VW copied the Alpine body design to create the Mk1 Passat. But they made it very Germanic under the skin.
After a relative died my wife was given one in late 80s with 8.000 miles on the clock, kept it for 5yrs one water pump one back exhaust, what a stifling car, if you did the tappets every day lol.
That brought some memories back as I had one for my first car it was a 79 GLS in gold and vinyl roof, tan velour seats with door panel mounted window switches and those controls I did have the push button radio till I changed it to a matsui radio and cassette player and mine had that tappet rattle but it did have headlight wipers but I had many great miles with it in 86 bring back the love for them
Always associate engine clatter with these cars.
Someone had one down our road back in the 80’s.
A nice enough looking car, and quite well Spec’d in high trim versions.
Great video again 👍👍
Nothing wrong with the sandals, they are what they are. Rattling engines, but good performance, remember them well from my early job in a garage in Camden Town.
Jesus!
......He wore sandals.....
A good rattle can be a good at dislodging stuff!
Great sandals! Fairmont sandals!
My Dad almost got a two tone Alpine when his long serving Hillman Hunter estate came to the end of its many years faithful service. Instead he was tempted by a Toyota Corolla (quite rebellious in the eyes of the local yokels at the time). After noticing the huge leap forward in quality he never regretted his decision and stuck with Toyota for donkeys years.
My grandfather had Talbot one from 1984 I suppose. Made in valmet automotive here in Finland. The first car I drove by my self around the age of six or seven years old. I remember the funny seatbelts from it that locked just the belt to a hook.
I had one of these in the ealy 90s. Had a lovely ride. Used to oversteer slightly on right handers just to add some fun. I agree that modern cars are way too harsh. It's got to the point that rather than have optional sports suspension, they need an option of comfortable suspension to replace the standard set up. Even Citroens no longer ride properly.
Hi Ian,what a nice review on this Talbot/ Simca Solara,nice alloys on the car,I remember the Alpine in the UK, and they had different lights on the back, and in a hatchback form.
Alpine had the same rear lights after the 1979 facelift.
Another utterly wonderful video! Keep doing exactly what you’re doing Ian! The channel and the cars are very appealing. The channel that keeps on giving!
You have no idea - I almost squeal with delight when CZcams notifies me of a new Hubnut video despite being subscribed to your channel for a while now! I’ve become interested in cars that I’d never give a second glance to!
I remember being driven around in a Talbot Alpine by a friend of my father’s as a kid. It was a funny solid blue colour with an interior I can only describe as ‘shabby ginger’. The sun had gotten to the rear seats and they had burst open like an old sofa. Didn’t really like it back then, but boy if I saw one now, I’d probably keep an osteopath in business if I saw one! White dog-pop coloured bumpers and a monumental amount of engine noise - the Simca version seems to have a nicer colour of bumper although maybe that was body style dependant rather than brand dependant.
My Dad's Solara was one of the last, made in 85 registered in 86.
It was the final facelift model, which included a body coloured grill with fewer but larger slats, body coloured bumper aprons, steering wheel from the later 305 and stalks from the early 309 with a 309 gear lever. Bit of a parts bin special.
A very underrated car which was lovely to drive if somewhat tappety but only had a couple of minor surface rust issues.
Should have kept it really considering how few remain.
The engines couldn't be easily be converted to run on Unleaded fuel as they didn't have hard valve seats which is possibly why that one is running an lpg conversion.
I saw a B reg Rapier for sale about 12 months ago on one of the classic car sights, it was a car local to you with an EJ registration complete with Original Lyn Davies, Gwrthynt Garage, Aberaeron dealer sticker and plates.
The later models were better rustwise, but by that time sales were on the wane and Talbot's days were numbered. 😰