RARER THAN RARE – THE TALBOT HORIZON ULTRA

I have always admired the Chrysler and Talbot models and have owned numerous Sunbeams and Avengers over the years; my other classic Talbot at the moment is quite a rare 1978 Sunbeam Automatic which has recently been subject to quite a substantial recommissioning. I am always on the lookout for something from the lineage and saw this beautiful car appear on a social media site. I made immediate contact with the seller, who understandably was a little reluctant to let it go but was slimming down on his classic collection. A deal was made, and the car was driven back from the north-east with no faults whatsoever.

Approximately 150,000 Horizons departed the Talbot factory at Ryton, but any example is now a rare sight. The Ultra is particularly exclusive as only four examples are believed to remain, and Jim’s is the sole example on the road. Talbot introduced it in 1985 – “Use The Key To Turn Yourself”, urged the vaguely 1969-sounding advertising copy. Five thousand, nine hundred and twenty-five pounds gained you a Horizon with a choice of silver, peony or ming blue metallic paintwork, tinted glass, a sunroof, velour seats (“with red piping”), black decals and a radio-cassette player.

In 1974, Chrysler Europe commenced Project C2, the eventual heir to the Simca 1100; Roy Axe devised the styling. The Horizon debuted in December 1977 but, in 1978, Chrysler sold its European operations to Peugeot. By August 1979, they rebadged the line-up as Talbots. This did not assist Horizon sales, nor did Autocar’s complaints: “At high mileage, their most obvious failing is they go noisy, with thrashy valve gear and timing chains.”

By the time of the Ultra’s launch, the Horizon was soon to be replaced by the 1986 Peugeot 309, which marked the demise of the Talbot marque on cars. Today, rather too many people have forgotten the Horizon was Car of the Year in 1979, defeating the Fiat Ritmo/Strada, the Audi 80 C2, the Opel Senator/Monza, the Peugeot 305, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and the Renault 18. Nor, when UK sales began in October 1978, did the motoring press disdain the Horizon. Car found it “a very good car, competent on the road, very pleasing to drive, practical and efficient”.

As for the Silver Ultra, Jim finds:

It is always great to meet like-minded people who show interest in all things of a motoring past. Sadly, that seems to be lacking in today’s mainstream cars. People always seem to fondly remember owning a Talbot or Chrysler, or having a relative or friend who did, sometimes not always for the best of reasons but with fond reminiscence. The Ultra was quite a rare car in its day, so that does get them scratching their heads sometimes.

Jim argues the Horizon is a neglected car, saying:

The classic press does a great job of covering a broad range of vehicles, which we, the reading public, absolutely devour; however, the more popular and mainstream models, such as the Fords and VWs, tend to attract more press coverage. Hopefully, I can do my little bit to preserve the interest in the Horizon’s future.

And who would have thought in 1985 that a Talbot Horizon would be rarer than a Ferrari? This is why the Ultra is such an important car.

With thanks to Jim and Richard Illand for their time and permission to use the images in this blog.