Sunbeam-Talbot Limited was a British motor manufacturing business. It built upmarket sports-saloon versions under the parenthood of Rootes Group cars from 1938 to 1954. Its predecessor
Clément-Talbot Limited had made ''Talbot'' automobiles from 1902 to 1935.
Clément-Talbot was bought by Rootes brothers in January 1935 and re-organised to make Rootes Group cars also branded
Talbot
Talbot was an automobile marque introduced in 1902 by English-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talbot ...
.
[Sunbeam History]
on Sunbeam.org.ar
In 1938 after some years of consideration the Rootes brothers dropped plans to make large luxury cars branded
Sunbeam, added the name Sunbeam to Talbot and put the extra name on both the cars built in Kensal Green and the company building them.
After the Second World War Sunbeam-Talbot production was resumed in London then in Spring 1946 it was moved to
Rootes' new factory at
Ryton-on-Dunsmore
Ryton-on-Dunsmore is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Rugby, Warwickshire, situated 5.5 miles (8.8 km) southeast of Coventry and 7.5 miles (12.1 km) west of Rugby, England. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 1,672 in the paris ...
, Warwickshire and Clément-Talbot's North Kensington works became a Rootes administration and service centre.
Background history: predecessors
Clément-Talbot
Until acquired by Rootes in 1935 this
North Kensington
North Kensington is an area of west London. It is north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green and in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The names North Kensington and Ladbroke Grove describe the same area.
North Kensington is wh ...
business had manufactured "
thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...
" high quality Talbot cars and limousines. When it began in 1902 the company's name was
Clément-Talbot Limited and it kept that name until 1938 when it was changed to Sunbeam-Talbot. Initially an independent public listed company on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
Clément-Talbot was bought in 1919 by
A Darracq and Co. Later, in 1920, Darracq bought control of Wolverhampton's
Sunbeam Motor Car Company Limited[Big Motor Amalgamation. ''The Times'', Wednesday, Jun 09, 1920; pg. 21; Issue 42432] but kept all identities quite separate. In August 1920 Darracq was renamed S T D Motors Limited to recognise the gathering together of Sunbeam Talbot and Darracq under one ownership.
;Badges used by Clément-Talbot
Talbot car logo, 1908.jpg
Talbot-Logo.jpg
Talbot London (6327609495) (cropped) (cropped).jpg
in late 1934 S T D Motors was obliged to sell Wolverhampton's loss-making Sunbeam and North Kensington's then profit-making Talbot and they were bought by the
Rootes brothers. A provisional agreement with Rootes Securities was reached in January 1935 and from that point Rootes controlled Clément-Talbot. In the summer of 1935 Rootes Securities announced they had bought Sunbeam Motor Cars. Sunbeam designs had not been brought up to date and Wolverhampton's production ended. During 1937
Humber Limited
Humber Limited was a British manufacturer of bicycles, motorcycles, and cars incorporated and listed on the stock exchange in 1887. It took the name "Humber & Co Limited" because of the high reputation of the products of one of the constituent ...
, controlled by Rootes, bought Clément-Talbot Limited and Sunbeam Motors Limited, which continued to build buses, from Rootes Securities Limited.
Automobiles Talbot
S T D Motors in 1922 had finally dropped Darracq from the name of
its French subsidiary replacing it with Talbot. But they continued to import the French cars and when they were sold in Britain those cars were badged Darracq-Talbot or Talbot-Darracq or just Darracq. By the time this former Clément-Talbot London business was bought by Rootes the two manufacturers of Talbots no longer had any connection at all and in any case continued to manufacture wholly unrelated vehicles.
Talbot London
Although Talbots had been selling well the expensive London Talbot designs were dropped from production during 1936, since the new ownership had taken effect they had been steadily incorporating more and more
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...
parts, and replaced with much cheaper simpler Rootes Group designs intended for a quite different much larger market. From late 1935, capitalising on the high reputation of the brand name Talbot, the Clément-Talbot North Kensington plant made mid-range upgraded versions of their Hillman and Humber cars for Rootes and branded them Talbot. To begin Talbot's well-known chief engineer and designer
Georges Roesch came up with a modified Hillman Aero Minx for the October 1935 Motor Show and it was branded Talbot Ten.
History: Sunbeam-Talbot company
![Sunbeam-Talbot badge (2919466543)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Sunbeam-Talbot_badge_%282919466543%29.jpg)
Although the intention had been to continue the Sunbeam name on a large and expensive car almost four years after Rootes bought Sunbeam it was announced Sunbeam Motors and Clément-Talbot were now combined under Clément-Talbot Limited, since renamed Sunbeam-Talbot Limited, and would continue to produce good quality cars at reasonable prices.
Until the Second World War Sunbeam-Talbot cars were made in the
Clément-Talbot
Clément-Talbot Limited was a British motor vehicle manufacturer with its works in Ladbroke Grove, North Kensington, London, founded in 1903. The new business's capital was arranged by Charles Chetwynd-Talbot (whose family name became the brand- ...
premises in North Kensington, London with its aging machinery. Those works repaired aero engines during the war and, though production of the prewar models resumed in London, in Spring 1946 Sunbeam-Talbot production was shifted to
Rootes' new factory at
Ryton-on-Dunsmore
Ryton-on-Dunsmore is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Rugby, Warwickshire, situated 5.5 miles (8.8 km) southeast of Coventry and 7.5 miles (12.1 km) west of Rugby, England. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 1,672 in the paris ...
, Warwickshire and the North Kensington buildings became a Rootes administration and service centre.
The first two models were the handsome
Sunbeam–Talbot 10 previously the Talbot Ten and the 3 Litre. They were modified Hillman-Talbots or Humber-Talbots radiatored and badged as Sunbeam-Talbots for the October 1938 Motor Show. The new 3 Litre car was a combination of then current 3 Litre
Hillman Hawk later re-badged
Humber Snipe
The Humber Snipe was a four-door luxury saloon introduced by British-based Humber Limited for 1930 as a successor to the Humber 20/55 hp (which remained in the catalogue as 20/65) at the same time as the similar but slightly longer Humber ...
in a better finished Hillman/Humber body with distinctive rear side-windows.
The Ten was launched in August 1938, and was an upgrade from the previous Talbot Ten, itself an upgrade of the Hillman Aero-Minx. Purists described the new car as "a Hillman Minx in a party frock". It had a 1185 cc sidevalve Minx unit engine with an alloy head, and a chassis that had its origins in that used in the Hillman Aero Minx. The Ten was available with four-door saloon, sports tourer bodywork and
drophead coupe.
The
Sunbeam-Talbot 2 Litre
The Sunbeam-Talbot 2 Litre is an automobile which was manufactured by Sunbeam-Talbot in the United Kingdom from 1939 until 1948. It was offered in 4-light sports saloon, foursome drophead coupé and 4-seater sports tourer body styles as well as ...
was introduced in 1939 and was based on the Ten, though it used the 1944 cc sidevalve engine from the
Hillman 14
The Hillman Fourteen is a medium-sized 4-cylinder car announced by Hillman's managing director Spencer Wilks, a son-in-law of William Hillman, at the end of September 1925. This new Fourteen substantially increased Hillman's market share and rema ...
later
Humber Hawk
The Humber Hawk is a four-cylinder automobile manufactured from 1945 to 1967 by British-based Humber Limited.
Humber Hawk Mk I & II
The Hawk, a re-badged Hillman 14 (1938-1940) was the first Humber car to be launched after World War II. Sl ...
. Due to the advent of World War II, these models were rare. They were available in the same bodywork as the Ten. The Sunbeam-Talbot 3 Litre was available as a saloon, sports saloon, sports tourer and drophead coupé. Another new model for 1939 was the 4 Litre, a 3 Litre car with a 4086 cc sidevalve six and alloy head engine of the
Humber Super Snipe
The Humber Super Snipe is a car which was produced from 1938 to 1967 by British-based Humber Limited.
Pre-war Super Snipe
The Super Snipe was introduced in October 1938, derived by combining the four-litre inline six-cylinder engine from the ...
. It was also supplied as a touring limousine.
These models continued to be listed after the
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
until 1948. However, materials were short at that time and it has been reported that "all the
and 4 Litreengines were needed for the
big Humbers", so that Sunbeam Talbot production was in reality virtually or entirely restricted, post-1945, to the Minx based 10 and the 2 Litre.
Second World War
During the war Barlby Road repaired aero engines and built Karrier's Bantam lorries. All Sunbeam-Talbot production was suspended though Rootes continued to build the Hillman Minx and Humber Super Snipe for military use. When production resumed in 1945 only the 10 and 2-litre were continued. The 3 and 4 litre models were never revived. The following year production moved in Spring 1946 from the ex-Talbot Barlby Road London plant to the new
Ryton plant opened in 1940 for the production of bombers and military vehicles under the UK government's
shadow factory
A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two- dimensional silhouette, ...
scheme.
Postwar
![1946 Sunbeam Talbot 2 litre Supreme (24513733711)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/1946_Sunbeam_Talbot_2_litre_Supreme_%2824513733711%29.jpg)
Rootes were relatively quick to reintroduce the 1,944 cc and 1,185 cc Sunbeam-Talbots after the war, though the cars delivered during the first couple of years followed the designs first seen in 1939, readily identifyable by their separate headlamps.
The ex-Talbot London plant became a Rootes service centre. (In 1987 the outside of the old London administration block in Barlby Road, W10, was transformed into the set for the
Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...
programme,
The Bill
''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983.
The programme focused on ...
, which was filmed there between 1987 and 1990.)
![Sunbeam Talbot 90 Rear Window](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Sunbeam_Talbot_90_Rear_Window.JPG)
New Sunbeam-Talbot 80 and 90 designs were introduced during the summer of 1948 and built at the new Ryton plant. Both had the same new streamlined design with flowing front wings into which were integrated headlamps in a manner reminiscent of the front of a fighter plane,
[ a shape that would have been all too familiar to potential buyers at the time. The designer, Ted White, acknowledged a prewar Packard had been his inspiration.][page 152, John Bullock, ''The Rootes Brothers'', Patrick Stephens, Sparkford Somerset ] The 80 was again fitted with an overhead valve version of the old 10 and Minx engine. The 90 had a modified version of the Humber Hawk
The Humber Hawk is a four-cylinder automobile manufactured from 1945 to 1967 by British-based Humber Limited.
Humber Hawk Mk I & II
The Hawk, a re-badged Hillman 14 (1938-1940) was the first Humber car to be launched after World War II. Sl ...
ohv 4-cylinder 2-litre engine.[ Both were available with saloon bodywork from ]British Light Steel Pressings
British Light Steel Pressings Ltd was a company at Warple Way, Acton, London producing bodies for the vehicle industry.
British Light Steel Pressings Ltd (BLSP) was formed in 1930. In its early years it made pressings for various purposes. In 19 ...
or drophead coupe bodywork by Thrupp & Maberly
Thrupp & Maberly was a British coachbuilding business based in the West End of London, England. Coach-makers to Queen Victoria they operated for more than two centuries until 1967 when they closed while in the ownership of Rootes Group.
Mr Thru ...
. The small-engined postwar austerity model Sunbeam-Talbot 80 was discontinued in 1950.
The 90 continued in production renamed 90 MK II with a new chassis and independent front suspension. The headlamps were raised by three inches to meet American regulations and the front driving lamps were replaced with a pair of small air intake grilles. The 90 MK II also had an enlarged OHV engine with 2267 cc. The MK IIA arrived in 1952, the main update on this model was the removal of the rear wheel spats.
;Sunbeam-Talbot models sold:
* 1938-1948 Sunbeam Talbot Ten
* 1938-1940 Sunbeam-Talbot Three Litre
* 1939-1948 Sunbeam-Talbot 2 Litre
The Sunbeam-Talbot 2 Litre is an automobile which was manufactured by Sunbeam-Talbot in the United Kingdom from 1939 until 1948. It was offered in 4-light sports saloon, foursome drophead coupé and 4-seater sports tourer body styles as well as ...
* 1939-1940 Sunbeam-Talbot Four Litre
* 1948-1950 Sunbeam-Talbot 80
The Sunbeam-Talbot 80 is a 4-door 4-light automobile, sports saloon which was produced by English manufacturer Sunbeam-Talbot from 1948 to 1950.Ian Nickols and Kent Karslake, ''Motoring Entente'', Cassell, London 1956
The 80 was introduced in Ju ...
* 1948-1954 Sunbeam-Talbot 90 Mk I, II & IIA
Sunbeam
![Sunbeam grille badge (14600270893)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Sunbeam_grille_badge_%2814600270893%29.jpg)
Sunbeam-Talbot facelift
After twenty years of potential confusion with the French Talbot that name was dropped in 1954 and the final revision was badged Sunbeam instead. It was given much larger front air intake grilles and three air outlet portholes just below each side at the back of the bonnet. The engine now developed , amazing compared to the that the, admittedly smaller swept volume, very first 90 achieved. In the 1952 Alpine Rally
The Alpine Rally, also known by its official name Coupe des Alpes, was a rally competition based in Marseille and held from 1932 to 1971. In the 1950s and the 1960s, it was among the most prestigious rallies in the world and featured an internat ...
cars won three Coupes des Alpes, Manufacturers Team Prize, 1st 2nd and third places in the 2 to 3-litre class and a special cup for an outstanding performance. A name had been found for a new model.
Production of the first postwar style finally ended in 1957.
Alpine 2.25 Litre open two-seater by Mulliners of Birmingham
The first Alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
is a two-seater sports-variant its body specially made by Mulliners of Birmingham from the standard 2¼-litre 4-seater drophead coupé. Very successful in motor rallying in Europe —rallying was then a greater spectator sport than GP racing— its production was from 1953 to 1955. The day before its announcement it was awarded the RAC Dewar Trophy
The Dewar Trophy was a cup donated in the early years of the twentieth century by Sir Thomas R. Dewar, M.P. a member of parliament of the United Kingdom (UK), to be awarded each year by the Royal Automobile Club (R. A .C.) of the United Kingdom "t ...
for setting new speed and endurance records on the ''Jabbeke
Jabbeke () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Jabbeke proper, Snellegem, Stalhille, Varsenare and Zerkegem. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 13,572 inhabitants. The ...
'' autoroute and the Montlhéry
Montlhéry () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located from Paris.
History
Montlhéry lay on the strategically important road from Paris to Orléans. Under the Merovingians, it was owned by the ...
circuit.
On its first competitive outing, the 1953 Coupe des Alpes
The Alpine Rally, also known by its official name Coupe des Alpes, was a rally competition based in Marseille and held from 1932 to 1971. In the 1950s and the 1960s, it was among the most prestigious rallies in the world and featured an internat ...
, the new car won the Coupe des Dames (Sheila Van Damm) and, without loss of any marks, four Coupes des Alpes driven by Stirling Moss, John Fitch, G Murray-Frame and Sheila Van Damm.
Under Rootes Sunbeams and Talbot
Talbot was an automobile marque introduced in 1902 by English-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talbot ...
s with the unified name continued competition in some motorsports. The two seater Alpine variants proved to be very effective rally vehicles with notable International successes by drivers Sheila van Damm
Sheila van Damm (17 January 1922 – 23 August 1987) was a British woman competitor in motor rallying in the 1950s, and also the former owner of the Windmill Theatre in London. She began her competitive driving career in 1950, and won the Coupe d ...
and Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of comp ...
. Cars competed in and won numerous international rallies, most notably the 1955 Monte Carlo Rally. They concentrated mainly on the more popular rallying rather than other competition.
Sunbeam Rapier 1.5 Litre
Sunbeam Rapier
The Sunbeam Rapier is an automobile produced by Rootes Group from 1955 until 1976, in two different body-styles, the "Series" cars (which underwent several revisions) and the later (1967–76) fastback shape, part of the "Arrow" range.
The first ...
is a Raymond Loewy designed two-door hardtop variant of the Hillman Minx available from October 1955.[New Car Models. ''The Times'', Thursday, Oct 13, 1955; pg. 4; Issue 53350] Later sold as a convertible it displayed the Sunbeam-Talbot signature rear side-window on its first hardtop version.
In 1967 it was replaced by a two-door fastback version of the Hillman Hunter
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
which stayed in production until 1976.
![1963 SUNBEAM ALPINE 111 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/1963_SUNBEAM_ALPINE_111_%28cropped%29.JPG)
Sunbeam Alpine 1.5 Litre
Series I. From 1959 to 1968 a quite different 1½-litre car with the same name and an up-to-date prominently finned Transatlantic
Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to:
Film
* Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950
* Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s
* ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...
shape for its body was made on a modified Hillman Husky
The Hillman Husky was a line of British passenger vehicles manufactured between 1954 and 1970 by Hillman.
Original Hillman Husky ("Mark 1")
The first (or "Mark 1") Hillman Husky, introduced in 1954, was a small estate car based on the contempor ...
chassis. A 4¼ Litre (later 4¾ Litre) Ford V8 powered variant was sold under the name Tiger. The Tiger showed little change in external appearance.
Hunter variant
Low spec Rapier. Under Chrysler ownership and continuing the old Sunbeam-Talbot Ten and Sunbeam Rapier
The Sunbeam Rapier is an automobile produced by Rootes Group from 1955 until 1976, in two different body-styles, the "Series" cars (which underwent several revisions) and the later (1967–76) fastback shape, part of the "Arrow" range.
The first ...
formula a two-door fastback variant of the Hillman Hunter
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
Minx replacement was sold under the Alpine name from 1969 to 1975. Unusually this Sunbeam was a simplified downmarket version of the main Sunbeam Rapier
The Sunbeam Rapier is an automobile produced by Rootes Group from 1955 until 1976, in two different body-styles, the "Series" cars (which underwent several revisions) and the later (1967–76) fastback shape, part of the "Arrow" range.
The first ...
car.
Sunbeam Tiger 4.75 Litre
The Q-car
A sleeper (US English) or Q-car (British English) is a car that has high performance and an unassuming exterior. Sleeper cars are so called because their exterior looks similar or identical to a standard or economy-class car. In some cases ...
, Sunbeam Tiger
The Sunbeam Tiger is a high-performance V8 version of the British Rootes Group's Sunbeam Alpine roadster, designed in part by American car designer and racing driver Carroll Shelby and produced from 1964 until 1967. Shelby had carried out a ...
, is a Sunbeam Alpine with a 4¼-litre, later 4¾-litre, Ford V8 engine transplant.
References
External links
3-litre sales brochure
{{British Car Industry
Rootes Group
Motor vehicle manufacturers based in London
Companies based in Warwickshire
Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers