CarBrandLogos archive · Talbot · 1980

TalbotTalbot Solara

A booted version of the Alpine, arriving as its badge was already running out of time.

Photo: Charles01 · CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

A defining chapter in Talbot history.

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

Origins

The Solara was the saloon answer to a question European buyers kept asking about the Chrysler Alpine hatchback: where is the boot. Roy Axe's team added a conventional three-box tail to the existing front-wheel-drive platform, and the car went on sale in 1980 wearing Talbot badges after PSA took over Chrysler's European business.

Talbot 1510 Lahti · Gwafton · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

Mechanically it was familiar Simca hardware, with 1,294, 1,442 and 1,592 cc overhead-valve fours and a diesel option, four- and five-speed manual gearboxes and an automatic. It was competent, roomy and unremarkable, and it was assembled in an unusually long list of places, including Poissy, Ryton in Britain, Madrid, Bogota, Uusikaupunki in Finland and Porirua in New Zealand.

1985 Talbot Solara Rapier 1.6 Front · Vauxford · CC BY-SA 4.0

In production

Production ran to 1986, by which point PSA had decided the Talbot name had no future in passenger cars. The Peugeot 405 took over the segment and did it considerably better.

1985 Talbot Solara Rapier 1.6 Rear · Vauxford · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1975–1986

Engine

Petrol engine

Designer

Roy Axe

Technical specification

The Talbot Solara, in detail.

Production: 1975–1986
Class: Large family car (D)
Layout: FF layout
Engine: Petrol engine; petrol: ; 1294 cc Simca Type 315; Type 315 Overhead valve engine; ohv Straight-four engine; I4 ; 1442 cc Simca Type 315; Type 315 ohv I4 ; 1592 cc Simca Type 315; Type 315 ohv I4 ; Diesel en
Transmission: 4 speed manual all-synchromesh; 5-speed manual; Automatic
Designer: Roy Axe
Assembly: France: Stellantis Poissy Plant; Poissy ; United Kingdom: Ryton plant ; Spain: Madrid ; Colombia: Bogotá (GM Colmotores; Chrysler Colmotores) ; Finland: Uusikaupunki (Valmet Automotive) ; New Zealand: Porirua (Todd Corpo
Manufacturer: Chrysler Europe (1975–1979); PSA Peugeot Citroën (1979–1986)