The cars : Chrysler Sunbeam development story

Just 19 months from conception to introduction, the Sunbeam was the result of a crash development programme for Chrysler in order to secure UK government funding.

It worked, too… and emerged from Whitley as a fine little supermini. Of course, it truly came of age once a Lotus engine was installed…


Chrysler Sunbeam: The sweet escape

Chrysler Sunbeam

By 1975, the UK’s car industry was heading for implosion. Poor labour relations, continued strikes and the invasion of the Japanese had all taken their toll on the domestic producers. Ford and Vauxhall weathered the storm by importing from mainland Europe, while British Leyland faced certain bankruptcy, and was only saved from oblivion by the government. The bailout took the form of a huge cash handout, and the protection of the National Enterprise Board. The resulting business plan – dubbed the Ryder Report allowed British Leyland to stay in business and continue its future model plans.

Chrysler UK, however, was stuck between a rock and a hard place: it could not import from its European subsidiary, as it had yet to implement a Europewide model policy (even though it had controlled Rootes and SIMCA since before 1967). Simca was already established as a minor player in the UK, and its first Pan-European car, the Alpine/SIMCA 1308 was still some months away. Chrysler UK needed a new car to take up capacity at the loss-making Linwood factory, but was not in a position to offer one. The Ryder Report changed the UK landscape as far as Chrysler was concerned, and as far as its management was concerned, its UK operation deserved similar treatment.

With that, Chrysler’s management approached the British government and offered a stark choice: ‘give us state aid, or we close the UK operation’. Although, Chrysler would have liked to have benefited from full NEB assistance, that organization had its hands full with British Leyland. In the end, it was announced that there would be a ‘joint declaration of faith’ from the government and Chrysler’s American parent company over the future of the UK operation. It received a state grant, with which it could fund the development of a new small car, to be engineered at Ryton, styled at Whitley and built at Linwood. The government had little choice; an election was looming, and there were a lot of marginal seats in the West Midlands…

Project R424: desperate measures

Conventionally handsome, the R424 evolved rapidly. From paper to production in 19 months was a seriously impressive achievement, in these pre-CAD/CAM times.
Conventionally handsome, the R424 evolved rapidly. From paper to production in 19 months was a seriously impressive achievement, in these pre-CAD/CAM times.

Once government funding was secured, the pressure was on the Ryton team to produce Chrysler’s new supermini, and in January 1976, work commenced. Given the limited budget to work with, the new car – codenamed R424 – needed to be simple, and use as many existing components as possible. The quickest and simplest way of arriving at a new small car, would be to base it on the platform of the Hillman Avenger, take three-inches out of the wheelbase and give it a hatchback rear end. In theory, all that would be required would be a to engineer a new body, and ensure that a modified version of the Hillman Imp engine could be installed simply. The question as to why the new car was based on the rear wheel drive Avenger, and not any of the front-wheel drive Simcas is simple: technically, it would be easier to develop the Avenger-based car to use the existing ex-Rootes engines, which would need to remain in production for the foreseeable future. That way, more British jobs would be maintained, no doubt pleasing the government no end.

The R424 made a compelling financial argument for Chrysler, but did mean that the company would be left behind by its rivals? Also, given that the front-wheel drive Alpine/SIMCA 1308 was looming on the horizon, and beyond that, the C2 Simca 1100 replacement was two years away. Was the UK operation being isolated by producing such a dated car? Whatever the arguments, one thing was clear: the R424 would be the final Rootes car, designed and engineered exclusively in the UK.

With the details settled, development of the R424 commenced at a lightning pace: given the technical simplicity of the package, the R424 comprised of almost entirely tried and tested components, there was little to slow the design process. All of the development resources at Whitley were focused behind the new car, and everyone was extremely keen to make the new car a success. Many, many components were lifted straight from the Avenger; even its new Alpine-like dashboard moulding would be shared with a facelifted version of the older car… and this allowed for an encouraging and extremely niggle-free development phase to follow.

Designing the R424: conservatively chosen

Styling was a straightforward process, too. How the R424 would look rested with the Ryton team, initially headed by Roy Axe (before he left for Chrysler in the USA); and given the importance of the car to Chrysler, the team decided to take no risks with the styling. As can be seen from the accompanying sketches, the R424’s look was set very early, and the cleverest thing about it, was the way in which it fit in with the rest of the upcoming Chrysler range. In fact, it could almost be mistaken for a three-door version of the upcoming car; interesting, given that the C2 was front-wheel drive, and based on the Simca 1100.

For a good indicator of the cost pressures that Chrysler were operating under at the time, one only has to look at the headlamp/grille treatment of the finished car. Late on in the design process, it was found that the R424’s large, flush mounted headlamps would not be available to Chrysler until at least 1977, the year of the C2’s launch. So, rather than buying in new items, the Avenger’s sealed-beam units were used, mounted in recessed bezels. The R424 would eventually receive the Horizon’s headlamps, but later in its life, and well after the larger car was launched…

Naming the R424 was interesting: in order to maintain brand continuity, Chrysler’s UK management wanted to market the car as a Sunbeam, and this may have made sense, given that the Avenger was still sold as the Sunbeam Avenger in many European markets. However, Chrysler wanted a pan-European range of cars, all to be sold as Chryslers, and that meant that the new car would be sold under the Chrysler umbrella. That being the case, there would be no problem in calling the R424 the Chrysler Sunbeam.

Put a little Sunbeam in your life…

The new car made its appearance on the 23 July 1977, and had a very clear shot at being proclaimed the car to have the quickest development programme ever (although some Standard historians might say that honour belongs to the Triumph TR2); having taken just 19 months from project inception to public announcement. Impressive. The motoring press were largely kind to the Sunbeam, given its hasty development, and the fact that in effect, it amounted to Chrysler UK’s ‘last chance saloon’. There was mild criticism of the Sunbeam’s lack of interior space and its high loading lip (it wasn’t so much a hatchback, but a liftback), but in all, it was marked well for its pleasant handling, good looks and swift performance in the larger-engined versions.

Three flavours: (left) Basic Sunbeam LS, (middle) mid-range Sunbeam GL, (right) top-of-the-range Sunbeam GLS.
Three flavours: (left) Basic Sunbeam LS, (middle) mid-range Sunbeam GL, (right) top-of-the-range Sunbeam GLS.

In its test of the 1.6S version, Motor magazine rated it as a sold four-star car. The sum-up was largely positive: ‘First car – and a very important one – to be designed since the government’s rescue of Chrysler UK. Conventionally engineered with a longitudinal power train. High-floored luggage deck and small rear door restrict its role as a load carrier.

‘Engine harsh and noisy when extended, though peaceful when cruising at 80mph. Handling safe but uninspiring, ventilation poor.’ After testing the base model 1.0LS, the magazine’s findings were largely the same, although the gearchange came in for much praise. Obviously, the Imp-derived engine was always going to struggle with the task of motivating this Avenger-based car, and a 0-60mph time of 22 seconds demonstrated that it lost the fight.

Chrysler Sunbeam rear view

However, Motor still remained positive: ‘As an interim model to help Chrysler over a difficult period, it should have a reasonable future for the next few years, but we have no doubt that Chrysler can – and will – do better than this in models yet to appear which will have the benefit of a longer gestation period.’

Chrysler knew that in order for the UK operation to retain its autonomy, the Sunbeam would need to sell in reasonable numbers. The company gave the Sunbeam a clear path to make an impression: the upcoming Horizon would be a five-door model only, and so, there would be no overlap there; the two-door basic Avengers were also dropped; most importantly, the Sunbeam benefited from a memorable television advertising campaign, which had Petula Clark inviting us all to, ‘…put a Chrysler Sunbeam in your life.’

It worked, and early sales were strong, going some way to restoring a market share approaching that of the ex-Rootes Group, at the time of the death of Hillman in 1976. Given the opposition, Chrysler had half a chance too: Ford may have shown that the multi-nationals could put their weight behind the front wheel drive concept with its Fiesta in 1976, other giants remained unsure. Toyota retained rear wheel drive with the Starlet, General Motors similarly so with the Chevette/Kadett T-Car, and so, the Sunbeam really did not look that far out of place in 1977.

Rally success and terminal decline

1979 saw the launch of the Chrysler Sunbeam Ti; essentially an Avenger Tiger re-clothed. It went well, but not as well as the next fast Sunbeam to see the light of day.
1979 saw the launch of the Chrysler Sunbeam Ti; essentially an Avenger Tiger re-clothed. It went well, but not as well as the next fast Sunbeam to see the light of day.

The Sunbeam sold in reasonable numbers, but it failed to set the world on fire – how could it, given the sum of its parts? However, in 1979, things changed: the performance Sunbeams arrived on the scene, and showed the world that if a rear wheel drive layout did nothing for a supermini’s practicality, it did an awful lot for its motor sport potential.

The first hot Sunbeam arrived early in 1979; called the Sunbeam ti, the new car was powered by the 1600cc Avenger Tiger engine, including twin Weber carburettors, and developed a healthy 100bhp. However, the Sunbeam ti was a stripped-out special, and made little sense as a road car, thanks to its noise, harshness and temperamental nature, especially in town driving. The rally crowd took it to their hearts though, thanks to a plethora of off-the-shelf tuning parts. The pragmatic What car? magazine tested the ti, and was less than impressed. Admittedly, it was pitted against the Volkswagen Golf GTi and Vauxhall Chevette HS…

On handling: ‘We consider ordinary shopping Sunbeams to be safe if a trifle dull handlers, and were looking forwards to the ti in the hope that Talbot (car tested in November 1979, after the marque change over) have given the car a little more agility. They haven’t. It still feels stodgy and unexciting.’ Performance was acceptable – 0-60mph in 9.9seconds, maximum speed 111mph – but the magazine allowed the ti’s lack of drivability overshadow its verdict of the car: ‘…we suffered near accidents at traffic lights with both cars (the Chevette HS being the other) thanks to fouling of the plugs – the cars will pull away from the lights only to stutter and near die, causing heavy braking from behind. The only answer is to rev the engine high and drop the clutch as if doing a standing start at the test track, no wonder fuel consumption was high (18-19.7mpg on test) and looks from other drivers disdainful…’

From Tiger to Lotus in seven seconds

Lotus developed the Sunbeam-Lotus for Chrysler's entry into world rallying. Lotus managed to shoehorn its own 2174cc 16V slant-four engine under the bonnet of the Sunbeam, and the result was an absolutely superb road and rally car. 2308 were produced. (Picture: Autocar magazine)
Lotus developed the Sunbeam-Lotus for Chrysler’s entry into world rallying. Lotus managed to shoehorn its own 2174cc 16-valve slant-four engine under the bonnet of the Sunbeam, and the result was an absolutely superb road and rally car. A decent 2308 were produced. (Picture: Autocar magazine)

The next sporting Sunbeam was something much more special. In 1977, the Competitions Manager at Chrysler UK, Des O’Dell, began to look around for a replacement for the Avengers Tiger and BRM, and could not fail to notice that the once-dominant Ford Escort RS was beginning to see some serious competition in the shape of the Vauxhall Chevette HS. That car’s recipe for success was clear for all to see: a 2.3-litre 16-valve engine, mated to a short, stiff three door body and rear wheel drive. The Avenger Tiger’s replacement was the Sunbeam ti, while the BRM would be more difficult to replace, but in the end, Chrysler hit upon the idea of approaching Lotus for its slant-four 16-valve engine…

Read more: Talbot Sunbeam Lotus development story

All that glisters isn’t gold

Rallying was definitely the Sunbeam Lotus’s forté, and it led a glittering, if short career: it performed admirably in the hands of Henri Toivenen, to win the 1980 World Rally Championship, as well as take the Lombard-RAC rally, ending Ford’s string of successes. In 1981, with Stig Blomqvist at the wheel, the Sunbeam failed to shine, and beyond that, it never got close to matching its 1980s successes. However, the legacy of the road car would live much longer, and even if it proved to be a slow seller when contemporary, the Sunbeam-Lotus would become a legend as the years passed.

The 1981 Sunbeams looked a lot better for their flush headlamps.The Sunbeam range itself fell into decline quickly after a brisk start. Following the sporty Sunbeams of 1979, the rest of the range received a minor facelift in 1981 (gaining those flush Horizon-style headlamps and better integrated bumpers – right), but the end was nigh. Despite the government assistance, which initially saved Linwood from closure in 1977, the PSA-led process of rationalisation following the 1978 takeover, led to the inevitable. Talbot MD and former-Austin-Morris boss George Turnbull made the decision to close Linwood, later saying: ‘the government pleaded with me to keep it open, asking me, “how much do you need to keep it open?” I said I couldn’t keep it open, it would have been an economic disaster.’

And that, sadly, would signal the end of the two ranges produced there: the Avenger and Sunbeam.  So, in the middle in 1981, Talbot announced the Sunbeam’s impending death, a mere four years after its introduction. Given the hasty nature of its conception, perhaps four years was long enough in production, but the closure of Linwood had a terrible effect on the Scottish economy.

A production run of 200,000 cars in its life was an acceptable performance, and the Sunbeam did manage to maintain Chrysler’s presence in the all-important supermini sector. Once PSA were in control though, was this a supermini range too many? At the time of the Sunbeam-Lotus’s rallying successes in 1980, PSA could already boast the presence of the Citroen Visa and LNA and Peugeot 104. That did not stop the company from drawing the obvious conclusion, and it ended up developing another hastily-conceived supermini: the Talbot Samba.

Period interior shot shows off the contemporary dashboard and 1970s interior color scheme. Rear legroom looks tight, even though the driver's seat is pulled well forward.
Period interior shot shows off the contemporary dashboard and 1970s interior colour scheme. Rear legroom looks tight, even though the driver’s seat is pulled well forward.
Keith Adams

35 Comments

    • The 1295cc ohv was the same engine as the 1300 Avenger. A strong bottom end and just a pity they didn’t get much development. I believe there were plans to give the Avenger engine an alloy and presumably cross-flow head.
      An unusual point about the small bore Avenger/Sunbeam engines was that the crt was lowered when they were stroked from 1250 to 1300, then raised again for the 1976 Chrysler Avenger and Sunbeam in 1977. So the 1250, Hillman Avenger 1970-3 was at 9.1:1 then the early 1300, Hillman Avenger 1973-6 was 8.6:1 then finally Avenger/Sunbeam 1976- was 8.8:1. With each change the peak torque went down the range from 3,000 rpm to 2,800 and finally 2,600rpm for the 1976- engines.
      the 1.3 Sunbeams were very ‘diesely’ in that they were quite torquey and early Sunbeam 1.3 I think had the 3.7:1 diff so some maniacs could get 110mph out of them!
      I guess in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s undersquare buzzy engines were in vogue such as Fords x-flow then as the 70’s progressed, fuel prices rocketed and mpg became king. At the time the MK2 Chrysler Avenger was launched, Chrysler were making a ballyhoo of the 1.6 Avenger being able to achieve 40mpg. They tweaked the crt, put the 1250/1300 ‘blue’ camshaft in the 1.6 so a 3.5:1 diff could be used, up from 3.9 or 3.7.
      Anyhow the Avenger/Sunbeam engine in standard tuned form were developed to improve torque characteristics as the years went on.

      • The Sunbeam was essentially a Rootes/ Chrysler car, rather than a Simca based car like the Alpine and Horizon, hence it lacked the tappet rattle of the other cars. Also Avenger engines were quite smooth when cruising and in the lighter Sunbeam, except for the 928 cc engine, endowed the car with good performance and good economy, and were mostly reliable. Of course, the ultimate one to have was the Lotus, an extremely rapid car that could see the wrong side of 120 mph and could kick an RS 2000 into the long grass.

  1. Christian

    The Sunbeam was basically a shortened Avenger which had newly Designed OHV Engines for the 1970 Launch, these had nothing in common with previous Rootes Design’s, It’s Designer was said to be Leo Kuzmicki (who re designed the Hillman Imp Coventry Climax engine) using Chrysler Money, originally 1200 and 1500cc they were later upgraded to 1300 and 1600.

    The Engines were quite sturdy lumps and had few problems (other than common water Pumps failure) However they were slightly rough and ready, though they were upgraded to the Ti spec but quite thirsty, hey were never used in the Hunters of the time despite basic versions using having the same capacity 1500, nor was the larger 1725 used in the avenger which in Holbay tune could of been an RS1800 competitor.

    After the Avenger and Hunter tooling was sold off, I think some markets did use each others engine’s ! The Sunbeam 930 (928cc) was a slightly enlrged All Aluminium Hillman Imp item but heavily reworked to sit upright, these are highly prized for fellow Impers although they need a few £££ spent to make them fit Imps.

    Chrysler also had the OHC engines fitted to the ill fated French made Chrysler 160/180/2litre models, Jurnalists regarded the car as Good engines…shame about the car! A later enlarged version (2.2) found its way into the Talbot Tagora.

  2. I never cared for the look of the “Sunbeam” when it was in production. Looking at these photos now, it doesn’t look bad… strange that, must be the nostalgia factor. I always preferred the Horizon though.

  3. The early Avengers had 1250cc engines. This engine was stroked out to 1800cc in Brazil.
    Some guy in Aberdeen bought a base model Sunbeam without a rear wiper. These days, they would put a rubber bung in the glass, but Chrysler used a different rear window for the base model.
    So this guy got a special drill for glass, and lowly and methodically drilled through the hatch glass. Take it easy, lots of tallow grease, makes his hole, checks both sides, nice job. Then he slams the tailgate — and it smashes..

  4. Ken, the rear window was toughened glass, so the guy would never get to slam the tailgate. The glass would shatter at the first turn of the drill. You simply CAN NOT drill toughened glass. Any holes for the wiper or hinges MUST be formed at the production stage when the glass is still semi molten, so to fit a rear wiper, the only option was a replacement screen with the pre-formed hole.

    • Just for the record…….it is correct that toughened glass cannot be worked in any way once it has been toughened, this is the final operation on the glass and is a quenching process using cool gas immediately after forming. This is a non reversible process.
      No operations are completed in a semi molten state!
      Flat annealed glass is cut to shape and the edge is ground if necessary. At this stage holes are drilled, these are tubular diamond lap type cutters that cut simultaneously from each side. The first hole in a piece of glass is quite expensive due to the cycle time, additional holes are usually done at the same time within cycle time. Glass is then formed and toughened.

  5. Great old school cars,i had a 1.6 GLS,a Ti and missed out on a sunbeam Lotus.Greater manchester police had three Lotus models (plain car)on thier traffic fleet in the late 70’s early 80’s.

  6. @3, Hilton D,

    I always felt the other way. I thought the Sunbeam looked much better styled than the Horizon. To me, the Horizon looked very much like a bloated Mk1 Golf clone that it obviously was. I never cared for the Mk1 Astra either. Maybe because of its more compact dimensions, the Sunbeam seemed to look more ‘right’.

    And it wasn’t powered by SIMCA, although the Avenger engines were hardly the last word in turbine-like sweetness either.

  7. A nice looking little car, somewhat smaller than an Escort, but well proportioned. Let down by horribly harsh engines (other then the tiddler) and some fairly indifferent build quality. Seats wore out quickly and rear glass panels occasionally used to fall out of the hinges…

    With some decent engines and a bit of work on the handling this could have been a good competitor to the Chevette.

  8. Linwood, where the Sunbeam and the Avenger were made, has never really recovered from the closure of the car factory, which was the town’s only major employer. The town has a depressed, miserable edge to it with a beaten up sixties shopping centre and rundown council estates. I often wonder if the plant was rationalised and the Samba produced there if it would have had a future as labour costs were lower than Coventry and the plant was newer than Ryton.

  9. I took lessons and passed my test in a White Sunbeam in 1978 and have fond memories of this car.
    I think Petula Clark did an advertising stint for the Sunbeam on TV around this time?. A couple of years later i would come across them again as a used car salesman and remember the hissy gearbox and twist light stalks with fond affection, my last contact was with a Lotus version in early 1991 when i took it in PX.

  10. @#2: the “2L” engine enlarged to 2.2L was also found in the Murena, with kits for up to c150bhp and the 505 TURBO, tough engine as the more modern “Douvrin” wasn’t up to the turbo charged task…

  11. the met had some 1l sunbeams very slow you could not run away from an Allegro but it has a very small turning circle allowing you to sucker the allegro driver into the centre of the road and then U turn which the allegro could not do.they had excellent brakes unlike the escort pop.

  12. Couldn’t PSA have produced the Sunbeam at Linwood, marketed across Europe as an albeit replacement for the Simca 1000 & saved money developing the Samba which it could have stood in for, before being replaced by the three door 205 in 1984.

    This would have given the car a seven year run (industry norm) & maximised sales for minimal investment.

    Some may have lamented the replacement of a four door RWD car (the 1000) with a two door replacement but the former was a slow seller by 1977 being over 15 years old by then so such people would have been in a minority.

    A typical example of a perfectly good car (the Austin Ambassador being another that springs to mind) being undersold as a result of not selling into Europe.

  13. @13 the Sunbeam/Avenger was sold off after the Linwood closure to VW Brazil (apparently when they gutted the factory it was the sale of the century as PSA wanted rid) As the 11 year old Avenger wasn’t related to the Hunter (already sold to Iranian Government) nor anything else at handover to Peugeot so in hindsight it made sense.

    As the old 104 was to be replaced shortly by the 205 another swift move meant the existing French factory continued producing it (little known here Citroen LNA) and in a tweaked form Talbot Samba, which all shared engines/gearbox etc with the Peug 205.

    The rear engine Simca 1000 was a slow seller in the UK but just like the Sunbeam/Avenger sold steady in France until the early 1980s whilst the 1967 Simca 1100 lived on until the mid 1980s in commercial form and as far as I know was the last to wear the Simca badge.

    Peugeot in the early 1980s were in more of a Crisis than now with many speculating the success of the 205 saved the Company, Incidentally on the PSA website they have announced “General Motors and PSA Peugeot Citroën are announcing today that as part of the existing alliance agreement, B-MPV’s from both companies will be built in the GM España plant in Zaragoza…” http://b2b.psa-peugeot-citroen.com/index.php?id=b2b_public_accueil&L=2

  14. As far as the Sunbeams rallying successes were concerned, they actually done better than is made out in this article, as Talbot won the 1981 World Rally constructors title, and its lead driver, Guy Frequelin, finished runner up in that years drivers championship.

    Good article though, I have fond memories of my brother buying one, but he didn’t have the funds to fix it, and he sold it to a friend. If I was ever lucky enough to have a “dream” garage, a Sunbeam Lotus would be one of the cars in it.

  15. I was one of the lucky few who owned an early ‘Talbot’ Sunbeam Lotus, (still with Chrysler pentastars stamped all around it, even on the VIN plate….) and it certainly was a satisfying machine and overall lived-upto my teenage ‘Dreamcar’ status.

    A more civilised car than I expected it to be, (esp. compared to a mate’s worthy but rather grim Mk.2 1.3LS) and quite a good cruiser. Drove it to Germany and back and fully enjoyed the experience, (apart from enforced 200 mile fill-ups due to the small fuel tank.)

    Of course, when occasion came to releasing the animal within it was a different ball game. I was very careful not to spin it in the wet, (after noting that motoring mags long-termer test cars had all suffered this fate)- although gentle tail-squirming in such conditions was fun and quite safe/easily controlled in context.

    I did however come ‘unstuck’ when showing-off on a rounabout to a mate whilst in the DRY once though. Got around it fine with the tail out and smartly exited where I intended to OK, but then closed the throttle too quickly to slow the car down…

    …luckily nothing was coming the other way as we slid fully sideways towards the opposite kerb of the dual carriageway.

    Was suitably humbled and learnt a lesson that evening…

  16. An interesting car using proven parts and in Lotus Sunbeam form became the only Talbot people lusted after. Like the Avenger, the last Chrysler/ Talbot to mostly use British engines and parts and to be made in Scotland. The demise of the Linwood plant proved to be a heavy blow to west central Scotland, as apart from the 5000 jobs lost in the town, its closure led to heavy redundancies at BSC Ravenscraig( which made the bodies), Goodyear Tyres and Fisher Pressed Steel.

    • BSC Ravenscraig did not make the bodies! The North Side of the plant (ex Pressed Steel from Rootes Group Days) much expanded did. Do you also mean India Tyres at Inchinnan as I don’t remember Good Year having a plant in Scotland let alone West of Scotland? Honestly just have another drink and leave off posting rubbish

  17. My sisters boyfriend bought a new 1.3LS in 1978, always thought it looked pretty modern and I was especially impressed by the dash with all round illumination, it made the dash on my Dads Chevette look archaic. Sadly I wasn’t old enough to drive it at the time.

    I also recall finishing school in late 1980 and rushing down to the center of Bath to see Henri Toivonen bring a Lotus Sunbeam home to win the Lombard RAC Rally, in fact 3 out of the top 4 were Lotus Sunbeams, pretty impressive. Happy days..

  18. Chrysler Europe’s product plans, thanks to the battles between the British and French arms, and the UK government rescue were certainly novel, with the French winning the battle for the mid sized car, leading to the FWD Alpine, while in a desperate bid to preserve job, the British arm then get to develop a RWD supermini…

    Indeed if Peugeot hadn’t taken over Chrysler Europe, presumably the Sunbeam would then have been replaced by a FWD car based on the Horizon and I’m not sure where that would have left Linwood?

  19. What gearbox was used with the 930 engine?

    I have a Ginetta G4 rolling chassis and a 1 litre/100 hp imp engine up front would be intriguing!

  20. The end of Linwood marked the end of Talbot using British Rootes based drivetrains, as the Talbots that were produced in Coventry used French drivetrains and only 40% of the content was British The end of Linwood and the Avenger and Sunbeam marked the end of the Rootes/ Chrysler era and a sad end to an 18 year experiment at building up a Scottish car industry.
    While Linwood had its faults, the early workforce was inexperienced and it suffered from a number of strikes( as did most British car factories in this era), it wasn’t a total disaster. The Hillman Hunter, which was produced at Linwood from 1969 to 1976, was a big selling car and fairly reliable, and the Chrysler era Avenger and Sunbeam were popular and competent enough cars. Even the Imp, after its early problems, settled down to be a reliable and distinctive car that proved to be especially popular in Scotland for patriotic reasons.

  21. Just suddenly struck me how similar the Sunbeam is to the 3 door version of the 1980 Mk3 Escort. Stick a bustle back on it and its more or less the same with an identical glasshouse. It was a very clever reskin of the Avenger, even using the same front doors. Remember it being quite popular in its day, occupying the same – not quite a supermini – slot as the Chevette.

    • The three door Chevette proved to be a big success and while not a supermini, being larger than a Fiat 127, it did shake up British Leyland and Chrysler who had nothing similar to offer, and the Sunbeam was the answer, a large supermini that was bigger than something like a Fiat 127, but smaller than a Ford Escort. However, the car was let down by being rwd, when the market was moving to fwd, which limited space inside, and the car was closely based on the 1970 Avenger. Of course, there was always the Lotus and the Ti to attract petrolheads and give the Sunbeam a more desirable image.

  22. What was the fate of the Sunbeam-Lotus engined cars as they aged? Was the shell strengthened to cope with the extra power? I can certainly testify as to their acceleration, you would need a 100+bhp sports motorbike to beat one from away the lights. Were the cars purchased for the engine by Lotus owners then scrapped? I met an a Sunbeam Lotus owner who told me the engine was from the Lotus Eclat and their were two versions of the engine, very high power for the majority and even more powerful factory special for a select group of cars

  23. Sorry, I never liked the Chrysler Sunbeam much (apart from the rare Lotus version). Still preferred the looks of the Chevette – particularly the 2300HS

    • The Sunbeam was an OK car and managed to keep Linwood alive for another 4 years, but by the time it was dropped, it was really just a shortened Avenger and becoming outclassed. The Chevette was a more complete range of cars, with four body styles and a van version, and was better rustproofed and better built. Sad to say both were the last cars from their manufacturers that were made out of mostly British parts rather than being assembled from parts from other countries.

      • I always thought the Sunbeam to be smart and attractive looking as a kid, compared to the Chevette which I though was rather bug eyed looking. As we have since found out since this page was originally created from Graham, font of knowledge on the Rootes group, the Sunbeam was planned long before as part of the avenger programme so the remarkable gestation period actually is not as remarkable as first seen. I think the car being RWD in the 70s was not really any issue for buyers as it was only really BL / Renault / Fiat / SIMCA that were running with it – most mainstream manufacturers were still RWD – hell the Japanese didn’t really go over to FWD until the 80s and even then we had RWD and FWD cars competing in the same market from the same manufacturer for a while.

        • While Datsun introduced the Cherry in 1970 with FWD, the rest of the range was RWD until 1981 when the Sunny switched.

          Toyota didn’t have any FWD cars until about 1983, with the Starlet originally being RWD.

          • Thats correct Richard. My 1979 Cherry was FWD, but I think it was 1982 when the B11 series FWD Sunny came on the scene. My Dad bought one in 1983 then I acquired it later. After that, cars like the Stanza & Bluebird became FWD

      • I would add that rustproofing on Chevette’s was better than on the HC Viva that I owned. I liked the look of the Chevette in GLS trim (saloon & hatch)

  24. I always preferred the Sunbeam to the Fiesta, even if the Fiesta was front wheel drive, and likened it more to the three door Chevette. The 928cc Sumbeam was a slug, although the 957cc Fiesta was no better, but the 1.3 and 1.6 models were quite powerful for their size and quiet at speed. I always thought the recessed headlights, Alpine rear lamp clusters and Alpine style dashboard made the Sunbeam look classy and while a bit garish by todays standards, the green cloth seats used on some models stood out. Then, of course, came the Lotus, a car that could take on cars like the Capri 3000 S and was liked by Car magazine.

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