The Talbot Sunbeam Lotus was one of the original ‘hot hatches’ It was built in Britain between 1979 and 1981 by Talbot UK and this was the road car version of the very successful World Rally championship winning Group 2 rally car. It was fitted with a 2.2litre Lotus (911 type) DOHC engine and a five speed ZF gearbox. In original standard road trim, it could reach 60mph in 6.6 seconds with a top speed of 125mph. It is estimated that the are now in the region of only 400 cars left in the UK.
This particular car is an original Series 1 road car. It retains still its original body shell which was in remarkably good condition. The car had been dried stored for many years but was missing quite a few bits and pieces and many of the mechanicals of the car were in very poor condition.
Our brief was to rebuild it to original standard showroom specification which meant stripping the car to a bare shell and then rebuilding it completely including a full engine and axle rebuild, full suspension, fuel system, hubs and brake rebuild. We also had to do a lot of recovery work on trim with fully upholstered seats, new graphics and diamond cut and powder coated original wheels. A new set of period style Pirelli tyres adds the finishing touch.
