MEET THE OWNER – ADAM SCARBOROUGH AND HIS TALBOT HORIZON

Adam’s Talbot Horizon can potentially turn more heads than the average Ferrari or Lamborghini. As he remarks, “Near enough every time I go out, even if it is just to the petrol station, I get stopped by people shocked that it has survived. Most think the brown colour is typical of its era”.

This is quite correct, for while many regard the 1970s as the archetypal ‘Decade of Brown’, its influence lasted well into the 1980s. There were provincial shopping arcades with shops painted in exciting shades of light brown, chocolate chalk-stripe suits for work and ‘timber’ home furnishings in browns not found on any known tree.

As for the cars, while some people fondly think of the 1980s in terms of red Ford Escort XR3is, the truth was more often a brown Horizon. They were once as familiar a sight as contestants on Bullseye wearing disastrous mullet hairstyles, but now a mere 13 remain on the road. Adam sometimes finds his Talbot referred to as “a Sunbeam” during car shows, for it is often forgotten that the Horizon defeated the Fiat Ritmo/Strada to become COTY 1979 and that it was a genuine ‘World Car’, with production in France, Spain, Finland, the UK and the USA.

Project C2 commenced in 1974 as a replacement for the Simca 1100 with styling by Roy Axe in Coventry. The floorpan was derived from the 1975 Simca 1308, aka the Chrysler Alpine, and the Horizon debuted in December 1977. UK sales began in October 1978, as the car “built to win you over”, but Autocar was somewhat lukewarm: “Good predictable handling marred only by rather low gear and heavy steering”,

However, when Car tested the Horizon opposite its VW Golf and Renault 14 rivals, they found it “a very good car, competent on the road, very pleasing to drive, practical and efficient”. The vehicle from La Regie may have been their victor – Car in the 1970s was predictably unpredictable – but they thought the Chrysler, as it was initially badged, would develop. Frank Page of The Observer seemed equally impressed – “a well-designed eager family vehicle”.

Chrysler sold its European operations to Peugeot in 1978, and from August 1979 onwards, their line-up was re-badged as Talbots. By then, the Vauxhall Astra was only weeks away from its launch and the Ford Escort Mk. III’s arrival in 1980 further impacted Horizon sales. Nor did the marque’s lack of identity and uninspiring marketing comings - ‘Talbot Takes You Further’ - assist its chances. That said, the Talbot Horizon did star in some truly amazing TV commercials – don’t have nightmares:

British sales ended in 1986 with the introduction of the Peugeot 309, although a re-engineered Plymouth and ‘Dodge Omni’ remained in US production until 1990. The Scarborough Talbot is a 1983 model, and Adam has memories of the Horizon during his youth. “I like how this one has never been restored - it is original and was very close to being scrapped at one point”. And that would genuinely have been a great loss, as the Horizon is a car that deserves to be better remembered. Whether or not it is finished in a thrilling shade of brown.

With Thanks To: Adam Scarborough