CarBrandLogos archive · Talbot · 1948

TalbotSunbeam-Talbot 90

A Rootes saloon with enough pace to embarrass rally cars built for the job.

Photo: Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England · CC BY 2.0

The story

A defining chapter in Talbot history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Talbot Sunbeam-Talbot 90, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The Rootes Group launched the Sunbeam-Talbot 90 in 1948 as a sporting saloon: a handsome four-light body with faired-in headlamps, a 1,944 cc four and a four-speed gearbox, sold alongside a drophead coupe. Early cars used a beam front axle carried over from pre-war Rootes practice; independent front suspension and a larger 2,267 cc engine arrived by 1952 and made it a considerably better car.

Sunbeam Talbot 90 Mk II cabriolet · Charles01 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

Its reputation was made in competition. Rootes ran a works rally team through the early 1950s, and Stirling Moss was among the drivers who campaigned the 90 in the Alpine Rally, where the car's durability counted for more than outright speed on long, punishing mountain routes. The high point was the Monte Carlo Rally in 1955, won by Per Malling and Gunnar Fadum in a Sunbeam-Talbot 90.

Sunbeam Mk III · Mick from Near Kettering, England;Cropped and minor alterations by uploader Mr.choppers · CC BY 2.0

In production

Only 20,381 were built between 1948 and 1954, and the model gave way to the Sunbeam Mk III as Rootes dropped the Talbot half of the name. The lighter two-door Sunbeam Alpine that grew out of the same mechanical package is the better-remembered car today, but the saloon did the work that earned the reputation.

Classic Black Car · Martin Pettitt from Bury St Edmunds, UK · CC BY 2.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1948–1954

Units built

20,381

Engine

1944 cc Inline-four engine

Body

4-door 4-light sports saloon

Technical specification

The Sunbeam-Talbot 90, in detail.

Production: 1948–1954; 20,381 built
Class: Compact executive car (D)
Body style: 4-door 4-light sports saloon; 2-door drophead coupe
Engine: 1944 cc Inline-four engine; I4 (until 1952) ; 2267 cc I4 (from 1952)
Transmission: 4-speed manual
Manufacturer: Sunbeam-Talbot (Rootes Group)