The Talbot Sunbeam Lotus Is A Legendary Hot Hatchback Rally Car! (Road Test)
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- čas přidán 30. 07. 2024
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When we think of early hot hatchbacks, the Golf GTI, Chevette HS and Escort XR3 come to mind, but there's an often-forgotten British legend with a mighty twin-cam engine, rear-wheel drive and legendary rally pedigree that deserves your attention - Joe took a mint Talbot Sunbeam Lotus for a hoon!
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Chapters
0:00 Early Hot Hatchbacks
0:49 Hillman Avenger Tiger
1:08 A Sporty Talbot Sunbeam?
1:59 The Talbot Sunbeam Lotus
2:44 Lotus Power!
3:21 Suspension Upgrades
3:45 Driving Impressions
5:04 Interior
5:33 Rallying
5:50 Commercial Flop
6:26 A Loveable Legend! - Auta a dopravní prostředky
![The Vauxhall Astra Mk1 Was GM's Rival To The Ford Escort! (1981 1300 L Road Test) [Opel Kadett D]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vFOQ4tvw07o/mqdefault.jpg)
I had an Avon Talbot Sunbeam Lotus back in the day. Skip Brown fettled them for rallying and I got to fit Bilsteins all round, polish the head and uprate the cams slightly. What a car! A 911 killer. I loved it.
A true rally hero. Won the 1981 WRC manufacturers title.
Great to see it get some love here.
In fact, every retrospective review of the car I've seen says it's still a great driver's car to this day.
I remember drooling over a black one in the window of our local dealer and vowing that I would have one one day. I never did. The one that most certainly got away.
Great little car. All the better for the skip brown treatment.
I believe this fine car was the first hot hatch to actually break seven seconds for the 0-60 dash (6.8). I used to fantasize about owning one of these as a young man, but insurance costs and maintenance costs and initial purchase cost ruled this dream out. The powerful 2.2 litre engine needed regular servicing and lots of tlc to keep it purring, and the handling could be a little soft for some. I believe the Skip Brown handling kit REALLY transformed this and made the car a sharper, tight and thrilling drive. Still one of my all time favourite vehicles.
Sadly the Sunbeam wasn't classed as a hatchback so it missed out on that title. It was just the back window what opened.
@@Everything_Evan Thanks for that clarification. That fact doesn't make it any slower though, and that 6.8 0-60 gave it a magical aura to myself and my petrol head schoolboy mates back in the day. I remember one young guy in our home town was always cruising round in one in black and silver, and the only time we were quiet was when this lucky guy was driving up our road. You could really hear the thing too. I know he had twin 48 Dellorto carbs on it, but I don't know if these were standard or not?. It sounded divine regardless.
The thing is, the last Lotus Sunbeam I saw was 26 grand, and you can get a1990 Lotus Esprit for 10 grand. Which would you go for?
In my youth, this was one of the (many) cars I lusted after 😍
These weren't assembled at Hethel, were they? I thought they were put together in a tiny workshop in a little village called Catfield in Norfolk. Wonderful car regardless, and nice to see a video about them!
I had a Ti which I loved, however the comment made about when the tail went out it would "bite back" is an understatement. When you ran out of talent you would be very quickly into tank-slapper territory; with such a short wheelbase it was so easy to overcorrect. I had quite a few scary moments....
My favourite of the old school hot hatches.
Great car. The was one on bangers and cash a few years ago it was a rust bucket that had been left outside for years and years. But it came with a new old stock shell.
One of my work colleagues had a black/silver car in the early 80s. A rare car even back then.
Embassy Black with silver stripes
My god i loved this car back in the 70's. I was born in 1970. Both sets of my Grandparents lived on Berkley Road east and an ajoining road which connected to the Coventry Road (A45) i remember in my minds eye the Talbot Factory sitting in the back of a Hillman Imp heading onto Cov road going to Hitchins for clothes!! I hated Hitchins cuz it was boiling hot in there and i had to wear winter clothes. Got my own back on may parents. I gave them the slip...they found my coat but not me...................i got myself into a coat on display arms down the sleeves etc loooool saw my mom and dad running past several times...........she still has not forgiven me
Technically the Sunbeam wasn't a hatchback it had liftback window not a hatch.
If you know you know how good they were. I had a Skip Brown modded one👌
Lovely car, I'd have that, the Ti & Tiger in my dream garage.
Looks and sounds great even today
Lovely car good video 🚗🚙🚘👍👍👏👏⭐️⭐️
i love this car. Looks such great fun
It really is!
I have a Sunbeam Lotus. Lovely car but poor brakes. Tail happy on wet road. be careful !
Good looking great little car that I always thought was much better/more interesting than many of the "hot hatches."
Nice 👍
Always dreamt of owning one, sadly out of my price range now.
The steering wheel looks buckled on this one ?
correction at 1:20. The TI was not a twin cam.
I drove one or two of those back in the day. They were pretty skitty (particularly if modified) and a handful on a wet road with the short wheel base, rear wheel drive and quite a lot of grunt from the Lotus engine. Nevertheless a lot of fun. Those Lotus engines were far from bullet proof. My friend had to have his rebuilt at 40K miles. That and the rust prone nature makes me think there aren’t many survivors today?
I have a Sunbeam Lotus (1981) LHD. I am french. The engine is marvellous (torkey and powerful) but the brakes very poor. I have a Salisbury diff (80%)
I was lucky to be a passenger Back in the day truly frighteningly fast what a car😅
Always my first hot-hatch choice. Then the HS2300...*becauseRWD* ;o)
Let's not forget greater Manchester police had them as pursuit cars
green cars
I had one of these when I was 20 years old. Unbelievable car and easy to generate more than the claimed power. The number of people in XR3s etc who didn’t have a clue what they were - until they were left standing! Transverse cam leaking oil at factory but who cares.
Rich parents?
Me too - LPH 287W. 157 bhp at the wheels on Skip Browns dyno. No rich parents just a good job with Shell international and an understanding bank manager …..that happened to be my Dad 😊
Basically an old school 205 gti.
Police showed one off to teenage boys in Rochdale 40 years ago.
kool as ffff.
Buy one now! Bargain!
this could be extra cool with a LSD
They've increased in value by £7K in 2023. According to Hagerty's, the average price is now £23,275 - it's an investment, Mrs Wife. Honest!
They were always very & too expensive for most people to afford. That is Probably why they are not remembered like the others of this era.
It's not comparable with a 90bhp XR3 either.. Obviously it's got 60 more BHP.
They were fun admittedly but those interiors were rubbish and boy did they rot
Mmmh. Decent hot hatch. But I'd prefer
the Dodge Shelby GLH.
the most over-rated car of all time! Not quick, numb steering and a total rust bucket.
That's why it won the world rally championship then..you've obviously never been in a new one..had a new one in 79..had skip brown modified it and it killed everything