Portal:Cars/Selected article
This page lists daily rotation of selected articles that will appear on the Cars Portal each month. Only articles that have reached 'Good Article' status or better and which have a suitable non-fair-use photograph of the car are allowed here. Because there are currently less than 31 articles that meet these criteria, dates marked with an asterisk are 'redirects' to earlier dates. To add a new article to the list, find the first entry with an asterisk next to it and edit that entry to contain a small picture and short summary of the article similar in style to those already here - then remove the asterisk from this page.
day 1
The De Lorean DMC-12 is an American sports car that was manufactured by the De Lorean Motor Company from 1981 to 1983 in Northern Ireland. It is most commonly known simply as the De Lorean, as it was the only model ever produced by the company. The DMC-12 featured gull-wing doors with a fiberglass "underbody", to which non-structural brushed stainless steel panels are affixed. A De Lorean was featured as a homemade time machine in the Back to the Future trilogy.
The first prototype appeared in March 1977, and production officially began in 1981 (with the first DMC-12 rolling off the production line on January 21) at the DMC factory in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. During its production, several aspects of the car were changed, such as the hood (bonnet) style, wheels and interior. About nine thousand DMC-12s were made before production stopped in late 1982. Today, about 6,500 DeLorean Motor Cars are believed to still exist. (more...)
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day 2
The Mini is a small car that was produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors from 1959 to 2000. The most popular British-made car, it has since been replaced by the New MINI which was launched in 2001. The original is considered an icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers. In the international poll for the award of the world's most influential car of the twentieth century the Mini came second only to the Ford Model T.
This revolutionary and distinctive two-door car was designed for BMC by Sir Alec Issigonis. It was manufactured at the Longbridge and Cowley plants in the United Kingdom, and later also in Spain (Authi), Australia, Belgium, Chile, Italy, Portugal, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela and Yugoslavia. The Mini Mk I had three major updates: the Mk II, the Clubman and the Mk III. Within these was a series of variations including an estate car, a pickup truck, a van and the Mini Moke — a jeep-like buggy. The Mini Cooper and Cooper "S" were sportier versions that were successful as rally cars, winning the Monte Carlo Rally three times. (more...)
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day 3
The Holden VE Commodore is the fourteenth and current model of the Holden Commodore, a full-size car produced by Holden, the Australian subsidiary of General Motors.
Once full-scale production had commenced, the official unveiling took place at a Melbourne media launch three days later on July 16, 2006. As opposed to previous generations which used Opel-sourced platforms adapted both mechanically and in size for the local market, the VE programme is the first to be developed exclusively by Holden in Australia. The design of this new model included innovative features to help minimise export costs, such as a symmetrical centre console that houses a flush-fitting hand brake lever to facilitate its conversion to left-hand drive. Internationally, the Commodore is badge engineered as the Chevrolet Lumina, Chevrolet Omega and Pontiac G8. (more...)
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day 4
The Maserati MC12 is a grand tourer produced by Maserati to allow a racing variant to compete in the FIA GT Championship. The car entered production in 2004 with 30 cars produced (five of which were not for sale). A further 25 were produced in 2005 making a total of 50 cars available for customers, each of which were pre-sold for €600 000.
Maserati designed and built the car on the chassis of the Enzo Ferrari but the final car is much larger. The MC12 is longer, wider and taller than the Enzo Ferrari, which has faster acceleration and a higher top speed. The top speed of the Maserati MC12 is 330 kilometres per hour (205 mph) whereas the top speed of the Enzo Ferrari is 350 kilometres per hour (217.5 mph). (more...)
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day 5
The Mini Moke is a vehicle based on the Mini and designed for the British Motor Corporation (BMC) by Sir Alec Issigonis. The name comes from "Mini"—the car with which the Moke shares many parts—and "Moke", which is an archaic dialect term for "donkey".
The initial design was a prototype for a light military vehicle in the style of the American Jeep, but its small wheels and low ground clearance made it impractical as an off-road vehicle. It was subsequently offered in a civilian version as a low-cost, easily maintained utility vehicle. The Moke finally achieved success as a beach buggy — becoming a popular 'cult' vehicle in the Seychelles, Australia, the United States and many tropical resorts in the Caribbean. The original Moke used identical engine, transmission and suspension parts to the basic Mini.
Mokes were first built at BMC's Longbridge, Birmingham plant, but production was soon moved overseas. 14,500 Mokes were produced in the UK between 1964 and 1968, 26,000 in Australia between 1966 and 1981, and 10,000 in Portugal between 1980 and 1993 when production of the Moke ended. (more...)
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day 6
The Talbot Tagora is an executive car developed by Chrysler Europe and produced by Peugeot Société Anonyme (PSA). The Tagora was marketed under the Talbot marque after PSA took over Chrysler's European operations in 1979. PSA presented the first production vehicle in 1980 and launched it commercially in 1981. The Tagora fell far short of sales expectations, and PSA cancelled the model only two years later. Fewer than 20,000 Tagoras were ever built, all of them at the former Simca factory in the Poissy commune near Paris, France.
Chrysler Europe began the development of the Tagora in 1976, under the code name C9, with the goal of replacing the unsuccessful Chrysler 180 series. Following the same development pattern as with the Horizon and Alpine models, the responsibility for the Tagora's technical development remained in France, while the styling was devised at Chrysler's design centre in the United Kingdom. An early proposal for the name of the car was "Simca 2000". (more...)
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day 7
The Ford BA Falcon is a full-size car, produced by the Ford Motor Company of Australia, between September 2002 and October 2005. The exterior styling of the BA was a substantial revision of that used for the preceding AU model. A new independent rear suspension setup was fitted to all sedan derivatives, and the engine and transmission received further upgrades. In late 2004, Ford introduced a Mark II update, bringing subtle styling and mechanical changes, and twelve months after that, replaced the BA with the BF. The model's market share briefly topped that of its chief competitor, the Holden Commodore on two occasions, but have failed to match those of the record-breaking EL Falcon.
In the final months of 2002, the BA model received the influential Wheels Car of the Year award, breaking a 36-year drought. The BA also won four consecutive Australia's Best Cars awards, spanning three years. (more...)
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day 8
The Simca Vedette is a large car, manufactured from 1954 to 1961 by the French automaker Simca, at their factory in Poissy, France. The Vedette was Simca's largest model at that time and it spawned a more economical version, the Simca Ariane.
Simca acquired the Poissy factory from Ford France (Ford Société Anonyme Française, the French subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company), along with the model line, in 1954. The Vedette was therefore initially still marketed as the Ford Vedette.
The Vedette was manufactured in Poissy until 1961 and the Ariane until 1963. After that, production continued in Brazil, where the Vedette finally evolved into the Simca Esplanada, following Simca's takeover by Chrysler. (more...)
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day 9
The Ford Taurus is a full-size, front-wheel drive automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in North America. Initially a mid-size car, it was introduced in December 1985 as a 1986 model, replacing the rear-wheel drive Ford LTD. Most Tauruses have either been built in Chicago, Illinois (until April 23, 2004, at which time the plant was retooled to build the Five Hundred) or in Ford's Hapeville Plant in Atlanta, Georgia.
The original Taurus was a milestone design for both Ford and the entire American automotive industry, as well as a very influential vehicle in the marketplace. During its 20 years of production, Ford has sold over 6.7 million Tauruses worldwide. Between 1992 and 1996, the Taurus was the best-selling car in the United States, prompting Honda to grow the US version of the Accord to a similar size. The Taurus eventually lost its best-seller status in 1997 to the Toyota Camry. (more...)
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day 10
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Holden is an Australian automaker based in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was originally independent, but since 1931 has been a subsidiary of General Motors (GM). Holden has taken charge of vehicle operations for GM in Australasia and, on behalf of GM, holds partial ownership of GM Daewoo in South Korea. Over the years, Holden has offered a broad range of locally produced vehicles, supplemented by imported GM models. In the past, Holden has offered badge engineered Isuzu, Nissan, Suzuki and Toyota models in sharing arrangements.
Holden bodyworks are manufactured at Elizabeth, South Australia, and engines are produced at Port Melbourne, Victoria. Historically, production or assembly plants were operated in all mainland states of Australia. The consolidation of car production at Elizabeth, South Australia was completed in 1988, but some assembly operations continued at Dandenong until 1996. (more...)
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day 11
The Mitsubishi i (三菱・i Mitsubishi i?) is a kei car from Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors, first released on January 24, 2006. It debuted twenty eight months after its introduction as a concept car at the 60th Frankfurt Motor Show in 2003, and its innovative "rear midship" layout proved an immediate critical and commercial success, exceeding Mitsubishi's initial sales targets by 20 percent and winning four major awards in its first year.
Explaining the choice of name, the company claimed that "i" could represent the owner (I, the nominative personal pronoun) as an encouragement to personal expression, or innovation, intelligence and imagination, keywords in the car's development. It is also a play on the Japanese word for love, pronounced /aɪ/. (more...)
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day 12
Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. Lexus brand name vehicles are sold in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, Africa, and Latin America; in the United States, Lexus is the highest-selling brand of luxury cars. In 2005, the Lexus marque launched in Japan, marking the continued global expansion of the luxury division.
Since its debut in 1989, Lexus has developed a reputation for the luxury and reliability of its vehicles, along with the quality of its customer service. In 2007, consumer ratings firm J.D. Power and Associates named Lexus the most reliable brand in the U.S. based on its Vehicle Dependability Survey, a measure of over 53,000 vehicle owners and the problems they experienced in the first three years of vehicle ownership. It was the thirteenth consecutive year that Lexus achieved this top rating. In recent years, Consumer Reports has also named Lexus among the top five most reliable brands in its Annual Car Reliability Surveys of over one million vehicles nationwide. Additionally, Lexus ranks highly on surveys of dealership service experience. The British Top Gear and Auto Express satisfaction surveys have had Lexus at the top of their ratings since the entry of the luxury division, with high reliability and quality among the main selling points of Lexus around the world. (more...)
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day 13
MINI is an automobile brand owned by the BMW Group which has produced vehicles in Oxford, England since April 2001.
The car, designed by Frank Stephenson, is marketed as a "retro" redesign of the original Mini, which was manufactured by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 to 2000. The name is written in capital letters to distinguish it from its predecessor. It is sometimes called "The BMW MINI" or "The New MINI". Originally developed by Rover Group and to be sold under the Rover brand and made at the Longbridge plant, the MINI project was retained by BMW when the latter divested itself of Rover in 2000. The MINI is assembled in Cowley, Oxford, United Kingdom, in what was historically the Pressed Steel Company body plant, now known as Plant Oxford.
The 2001 to 2006 model years included four hatchback models: the basic "MINI One", the diesel-engined "MINI One/D", the sportier "MINI Cooper" and the supercharged "MINI Cooper S". In 2005 a convertible roof option was added. In November 2006 a greatly re-engineered version of the MINI was released which is unofficially known as the "Mk II MINI".. The Mk II is only available as a hard-top in the 2007 model year. (more...)
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day 14
The Holden Commodore is an automobile produced by the Holden division of General Motors (GM) in Australia, and formerly in New Zealand. In the mid-1970s, Holden established proposals to replace the long-serving Kingswood nameplate with an all-new smaller model. Holden looked to Opel, another GM subsidiary for inspiration, and based the Commodore on the Opel Rekord. The German marque continued to provide the basis for future generations until the launch of the fourth generation model in 2006, which came to be Holden's most expensive project yet, deploying an all-Australian design.
Initially introduced as a sedan body style, the range expanded in 1979 to include a station wagon. The line-up expanded for a second time in 1990, when Holden introduced the utility and the long-wheelbase Statesman/Caprice derivatives. Then in 2001, the third generation architecture provided the foundations for a revived Monaro coupé. (more...)
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day 15
The Autobianchi Primula is a small car (supermini) from the Italian automaker, Autobianchi (a subsidiary of the Fiat Group), built from 1964 to 1970. It was notable as Fiat's first ever automobile with the front-wheel drive, transverse engine setup, as well as the first Fiat group car with rack and pinion steering. Primulas were built in the Autobianchi factory in Desio and were priced comparably to the Austin/Morris 1100 models built in Italy by Innocenti.
The car's original body was similar to the BMC's fastback "saloon" concept, available with two or four doors and with or without the rear hatch (which made the car effectively a hatchback), producing four different combinations, referred to in Italian as "berlina". In 1965, a year after the original launch, the lineup was complemented with a Coupé model (effectively a more stylish yet spacious 2-door fastback) designed by Carrozzeria Touring. (more...)
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day 16
The Talbot Samba is a supermini car manufactured by the PSA Group in the former Simca factory in Poissy, France and marketed under the short-lived modern-day Talbot brand. Based on the Peugeot 104, it had the distinction of being the sole Talbot to be engineered by PSA alone (not inherited from Chrysler Europe like other Talbot cars), the last new Talbot to be launched and the last to be produced. Its demise in 1986 was effectively the end of the Talbot brand for passenger cars. Launched initially as a three-door hatchback, it was also for some time the only supermini available in a factory-ordered cabrio body style and at one time the most economical car in Europe.
When the PSA Group (formed in 1976 after Peugeot bought out its competitor, Citroën) took over the former Chrysler Europe in 1979, one of its first decisions was to rebrand all the models manufactured in the French and British factories to Talbot. Among the models inherited from Chrysler was the Scotland-built rear-wheel drive Talbot Sunbeam, the sole supermini in the lineup. (more...)
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day 17
The Toyota Aurion (pronounced or-ree-on) is a mid-size car produced by Toyota in Australia and parts of Asia since 2006. The Aurion is essentially a seventh generation Toyota Camry with revised front- and rear-end treatment, along with changes to the interior. The Camry-based Aurion is also sold in the majority of East and Southeast Asia as the Toyota Camry, with the original version of the Camry sold alongside the Aurion in the Middle East and Australasia. In the previous two markets, the car replaces the Avalon model, which can trace its roots back to the early 1990s.
In the Middle Eastern and Australasian regions, to further differentiate the Aurion from its Camry sibling, Toyota equips the former exclusively with a 3.5 litre V6 engine. With the Toyota Camry however, only the 2.4 litre four-cylinder model is offered. Previously in these markets, prior to the introduction of the seventh generation Camry, Toyota had offered both four- and a six-cylinder powerplants.
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day 18
The Lancia LC2 (sometimes referred to as a Lancia-Ferrari) was a series of racing cars built by Italian automobile manufacturer Lancia and powered by engines built by their sister company Ferrari. They were part of Lancia's official factory-backed effort in the World Sportscar Championship from 1983 to 1986, although they continued to be used by privateer teams until 1991. They were also the company's first car meeting the FIA's new Group C regulations for sports prototypes.
More powerful than its primary competitor, the Porsche 956, the LC2s were able to secure multiple pole positions during their three and a half seasons with the factory Martini Racing squad. However, reliability and more notably fuel consumption hampered the LC2's efforts for race wins against Porsche. LC2s earned three race victories over their lifetime in the hands of Italian drivers Teo Fabi, Riccardo Patrese, Alessandro Nannini, and Mauro Baldi, as well as German Hans Heyer and French Bob Wollek. (more...)
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day 19*
The Holden VE Commodore is the fourteenth and current model of the Holden Commodore, a full-size car produced by Holden, the Australian subsidiary of General Motors.
Once full-scale production had commenced, the official unveiling took place at a Melbourne media launch three days later on July 16, 2006. As opposed to previous generations which used Opel-sourced platforms adapted both mechanically and in size for the local market, the VE programme is the first to be developed exclusively by Holden in Australia. The design of this new model included innovative features to help minimise export costs, such as a symmetrical centre console that houses a flush-fitting hand brake lever to facilitate its conversion to left-hand drive. Internationally, the Commodore is badge engineered as the Chevrolet Lumina, Chevrolet Omega and Pontiac G8. (more...)
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day 20*
The Maserati MC12 is a grand tourer produced by Maserati to allow a racing variant to compete in the FIA GT Championship. The car entered production in 2004 with 30 cars produced (five of which were not for sale). A further 25 were produced in 2005 making a total of 50 cars available for customers, each of which were pre-sold for €600 000.
Maserati designed and built the car on the chassis of the Enzo Ferrari but the final car is much larger. The MC12 is longer, wider and taller than the Enzo Ferrari, which has faster acceleration and a higher top speed. The top speed of the Maserati MC12 is 330 kilometres per hour (205 mph) whereas the top speed of the Enzo Ferrari is 350 kilometres per hour (217.5 mph). (more...)
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day 21*
The Mini Moke is a vehicle based on the Mini and designed for the British Motor Corporation (BMC) by Sir Alec Issigonis. The name comes from "Mini"—the car with which the Moke shares many parts—and "Moke", which is an archaic dialect term for "donkey".
The initial design was a prototype for a light military vehicle in the style of the American Jeep, but its small wheels and low ground clearance made it impractical as an off-road vehicle. It was subsequently offered in a civilian version as a low-cost, easily maintained utility vehicle. The Moke finally achieved success as a beach buggy — becoming a popular 'cult' vehicle in the Seychelles, Australia, the United States and many tropical resorts in the Caribbean. The original Moke used identical engine, transmission and suspension parts to the basic Mini.
Mokes were first built at BMC's Longbridge, Birmingham plant, but production was soon moved overseas. 14,500 Mokes were produced in the UK between 1964 and 1968, 26,000 in Australia between 1966 and 1981, and 10,000 in Portugal between 1980 and 1993 when production of the Moke ended. (more...)
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day 22*
The Talbot Tagora is an executive car developed by Chrysler Europe and produced by Peugeot Société Anonyme (PSA). The Tagora was marketed under the Talbot marque after PSA took over Chrysler's European operations in 1979. PSA presented the first production vehicle in 1980 and launched it commercially in 1981. The Tagora fell far short of sales expectations, and PSA cancelled the model only two years later. Fewer than 20,000 Tagoras were ever built, all of them at the former Simca factory in the Poissy commune near Paris, France.
Chrysler Europe began the development of the Tagora in 1976, under the code name C9, with the goal of replacing the unsuccessful Chrysler 180 series. Following the same development pattern as with the Horizon and Alpine models, the responsibility for the Tagora's technical development remained in France, while the styling was devised at Chrysler's design centre in the United Kingdom. An early proposal for the name of the car was "Simca 2000". (more...)
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day 23
The Lancia Flaminia is a luxury car from the Italian automaker, Lancia, built from 1957 to 1970. It was Lancia's flagship model at that time, replacing the Aurelia. It was available throughout its lifetime as sedan, coupé, cabrio, and a stretched limousine model was even created for official service. The Flaminia (save for the sedan) was a coachbuilt car with bodies from the most prestigious Italian coachbuilders. The demise of this model in 1970 left a void only filled by Lancia Gamma in 1976.
With only 12,633 sold over 13 years, the Flaminias were truly exclusive and unique cars, and are very rare collectibles now. Interestingly, coupés outsold the 4-door variant by far, even in spite of shorter production run and coachbuilt bodies. (more...)
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day 24
The Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina (more commonly known as the Ferrari P4/5) is a one-off supercar made by Italian sports car manufacturer Ferrari but redesigned by Pininfarina for film director and stock exchange magnate James Glickenhaus. The car was an Enzo Ferrari but the owner James Glickenhaus preferred the styling of Ferrari's 1960s race cars, the P Series. Glickenhaus supervised the project throughout its design and construction and the end result is faster than the original car. The project cost Glickenhaus US$ 4 million and was officially presented to the public in August 2006 at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elégance, but in July 2006 some images were leaked and Glickenhaus allowed Ultimate Car Page to show the early designs. (more...)
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day 25
The Howmet TX (Turbine eXperimental) was an American sports prototype racing car designed in 1968 to test the competitive use of a gas turbine engine in sports car racing. Planned by racing driver Ray Heppenstall, the TX combined a chassis built by McKee Engineering, turbine engines leased from Continental Aviation & Engineering, and financial backing and materials from the Howmet Corporation.
Although not the first attempt at using a turbine powerplant in auto racing, the Howmet TX was the first and is still the only turbine to successfully win a race, earning two Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) race victories and two qualifying sprint victories during its only year of competition. The TX later set six Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) land speed records for turbines after being retired from racing. (more...)
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day 26
The Chrysler 180 was the base name for a series of large saloon cars produced by Chrysler Europe. Resulting from joining development efforts of Rootes Group and Simca, the car was produced from 1970 to 1975 in Poissy, France, and later in Chrysler's subsidiary Barreiros' factory in Spain. The Chrysler 180 was also the base for the medium-sized model built by Chrysler Australia model, the Chrysler Centura.
Depending on engine employed, the cars were marketed as Chrysler 160/180/2 litre, and since 1977 in France and rest of continental Europe as Chrysler-Simca 1609/1610/2 litres. After the takeover of Chrysler Europe by PSA Peugeot Citroën, the continental Europe models were renamed Talbot 1610/2 litres for 1979 and 1980 model years, after which the model was discontinued in Europe save for Spain, where a diesel model was sold until 1982.
The large Chrysler fared quite poorly in the European markets. The replacement for the car was developed by Chrysler Europe under the codename C9 and was finally launched by PSA as the even more ill-fated Talbot Tagora. (more...)
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day 27*
The Mitsubishi i (三菱・i Mitsubishi i?) is a kei car from Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors, first released on January 24, 2006. It debuted twenty eight months after its introduction as a concept car at the 60th Frankfurt Motor Show in 2003, and its innovative "rear midship" layout proved an immediate critical and commercial success, exceeding Mitsubishi's initial sales targets by 20 percent and winning four major awards in its first year.
Explaining the choice of name, the company claimed that "i" could represent the owner (I, the nominative personal pronoun) as an encouragement to personal expression, or innovation, intelligence and imagination, keywords in the car's development. It is also a play on the Japanese word for love, pronounced /aɪ/. (more...)
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day 28*
Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. Lexus brand name vehicles are sold in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, Africa, and Latin America; in the United States, Lexus is the highest-selling brand of luxury cars. In 2005, the Lexus marque launched in Japan, marking the continued global expansion of the luxury division.
Since its debut in 1989, Lexus has developed a reputation for the luxury and reliability of its vehicles, along with the quality of its customer service. In 2007, consumer ratings firm J.D. Power and Associates named Lexus the most reliable brand in the U.S. based on its Vehicle Dependability Survey, a measure of over 53,000 vehicle owners and the problems they experienced in the first three years of vehicle ownership. It was the thirteenth consecutive year that Lexus achieved this top rating. In recent years, Consumer Reports has also named Lexus among the top five most reliable brands in its Annual Car Reliability Surveys of over one million vehicles nationwide. Additionally, Lexus ranks highly on surveys of dealership service experience. The British Top Gear and Auto Express satisfaction surveys have had Lexus at the top of their ratings since the entry of the luxury division, with high reliability and quality among the main selling points of Lexus around the world. (more...)
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day 29
The Brabham BT46 was a Formula One racing car, designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team, owned by Bernie Ecclestone, for the 1978 Formula One season. The car featured several radical design elements, the most obvious of which was the use of flat panel heat exchangers on the bodywork of the car to replace conventional water and oil radiators. The concept did not work in practice and was removed before the car’s race debut, never to be seen again. The cars, powered by a flat-12 Alfa Romeo engine, raced competitively with modified nose-mounted radiators for most of the year, driven by Niki Lauda and John Watson, winning one race in this form and scoring sufficient points for the team to finish third in the constructors championship. (more...)
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day 30*
The Autobianchi Primula is a small car (supermini) from the Italian automaker, Autobianchi (a subsidiary of the Fiat Group), built from 1964 to 1970. It was notable as Fiat's first ever automobile with the front-wheel drive, transverse engine setup, as well as the first Fiat group car with rack and pinion steering. Primulas were built in the Autobianchi factory in Desio and were priced comparably to the Austin/Morris 1100 models built in Italy by Innocenti.
The car's original body was similar to the BMC's fastback "saloon" concept, available with two or four doors and with or without the rear hatch (which made the car effectively a hatchback), producing four different combinations, referred to in Italian as "berlina". In 1965, a year after the original launch, the lineup was complemented with a Coupé model (effectively a more stylish yet spacious 2-door fastback) designed by Carrozzeria Touring. (more...)
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day 31*
The Talbot Samba is a supermini car manufactured by the PSA Group in the former Simca factory in Poissy, France and marketed under the short-lived modern-day Talbot brand. Based on the Peugeot 104, it had the distinction of being the sole Talbot to be engineered by PSA alone (not inherited from Chrysler Europe like other Talbot cars), the last new Talbot to be launched and the last to be produced. Its demise in 1986 was effectively the end of the Talbot brand for passenger cars. Launched initially as a three-door hatchback, it was also for some time the only supermini available in a factory-ordered cabrio body style and at one time the most economical car in Europe.
When the PSA Group (formed in 1976 after Peugeot bought out its competitor, Citroën) took over the former Chrysler Europe in 1979, one of its first decisions was to rebrand all the models manufactured in the French and British factories to Talbot. Among the models inherited from Chrysler was the Scotland-built rear-wheel drive Talbot Sunbeam, the sole supermini in the lineup. (more...)
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