RARER THAN RARE – THE TALBOT TAGORA SX

In 1981, when this writer was eleven, and Adam and the Ants were the pop group du jour, certain mass-produced executive cars were about as rare as a watchable episode of Runaround. I seldom encountered a Vauxhall Viceroy, a Renault 30TX, a Citroën CX Prestige, a Volvo 264 or a Rover SD1 V8S on Lower Swanwick’s (less than) mean streets. But rarer still was a Talbot. I still regard them as highly stylish, which is why I am delighted and amazed to find this Tagora SX on eBay – 1983 Talbot Tagora SX 2.6 V6 Manual one of the rarest 80's super saloon's | eBay

In 1976, Chrysler Europe commenced Project C9, the replacement for their 180/2-Litre range. They predicted annual sales of 60,000 for their latest executive saloon. Peugeot acquired the American giant’s French and UK operations two years later, and they decided C9’s development was too advanced to cancel. The Tagora made its bow at the 1980 Paris Motor Show under the Talbot badge used by former European Chryslers after 1979.

Buyers could choose from GL, GLS and SX trim levels, the entry-level version with a four-speed gearbox and the latter two with a five-speed gearbox. The cheaper models had a 2.2-litre, four-cylinder engine, while the SX had a twin triple-barrel Weber carburettor version of the 2,664cc Douvrin unit it shared with the Peugeot 604, the Renault 30 and the Volvo 264.

The Design Studio in Whitley created the appealing bodywork, and Talbot built the Tagora in France. British sales began on the 14^th of May 1981, with the GL at £6,916, the GLS at £8,599 and the SX at £10,251. The advertisements claimed, with a certain degree of immodesty, that the Tagora represented “a complete redefinition of luxury and performance”.

Autocar regarded the Tagora as highly comparable with its rivals and deserving “to sell as well as any of them”. However, it lacked “the startling advantages which you might expect of the latest appearance on the scene”. Frank Page of The Observer initially thought the “blunt nose and squared-off lines” were “not only inelegant but inefficient”. But he concluded, “the Tagora is a better car than I expected it to be”.

When L. J. K. Setright drove the Tagora at the Morocco press launch, he thought: “It has its place, even though there may be very little in the way of individual details to pick out for praise or even mere analysis.” But he also believed the SX was, in many ways, a better car than the Peugeot 604, and Motor Sport wrote that with correct pricing:

Fords have a serious and worthy competitor, particularly in the fleet sales area, which Ford has dominated for so long. The addition of the Tagora gives the Talbot name a range of cars which spans the requirements of the Company Chairman and the lowliest sales rep.

At that time, the company car market was so significant to the UK motor industry that private buyers represented just 10% of the Granada’s output. As Autocar noted in 1981, Talbot’s management was making big efforts to increase fleet sales and:

regard it as very important to have something to offer the chairman as well as the Alpines, Horizons and Solaras for his staff. Because of the high proportion of company cars, Britain is a more important market than most for bigger and more expensive models, and Talbot have high hopes about its success here.

Nor should the Tagora’s French origins have proved a bar to fleet sales – after all, the Granada was German-built after 1976. Talbot UK made determined efforts to raise its profile, with Jimmy Hill, the then Chair of Coventry FC, driving a GL. The company also loaned a police demonstrator to several forces, but several challenges still faced their dealers.

Firstly, the Tagora had a limited inherited customer base, as the 180/2-Litre had enjoyed modest popularity in the UK. As a result, dealers were largely dependent on conquest sales over the Granada, the Rover SD1 and the Volvo 240. Secondly, the Talbot marque lacked a strong identity in this country. Advertising slogans as inspiring as public information films about efficient drain maintenance did not assist their cause. Thirdly, the 1982 Budget meant a 50% increase in tax and fuel bills for company cars.

Production ended in 1983 after a mere 19,403 units, 1,083 of which were the SX. There was to be no replacement, and the Peugeot empire ceased using the Talbot name on cars after 1986. Today, the Tagora’s survival rates are best described as “minimal” – Search results for 'talbot tagora' - How Many Left?. As a result, this gold SX is a far more exclusive machine than any mere Rolls-Royce Phantom V.

And who could resist that splendidly 1980s trip computer?