Chrysler decided to revive the Sunbeam name, dormant since 1976, for the new model. Unfortunately this was not in keeping with Chrysler's policy of phasing out the old Rootes names. Consequently it was launched as the "Chrysler Sunbeam".
Famous Sunbeams from the past were dusted off to publicize the new model. It's a shame that this new Sunbeam was not quite as exciting as some of its illustrious forebears.
Chrysler, in deep financial trouble, sold its European divisions to Peugeot in 1978. Peugeot needed a new name for their fresh acquisition. Rummaging through the cupboard, they found the Talbot name, unused since the last Lago in 1959. Talbot was substituted for Chrysler, and the car became the Talbot Sunbeam. This was rather ironic because Roesch Talbot and Coatalen Sunbeam fans were none too pleased when the Sunbeam-Talbot marque was created in 1938.
In 1979, two new Talbot Sunbeams arrived which did live up to their name. The first, the 1600 Ti used the Avenger Tiger engine giving excellent performance. The Ti bragged about it too, with wings and go faster stripes everywhere. The second one was much more subtle and was modified to take a 2.2 litre Lotus engine. The Sunbeam Lotus was fast. Neck-snappingly fast. 60mph could be reached from standstill in 6.6 seconds in standard form. In 1979, this was Ferrari and Porsche territory. The Group 2 rally specification model, meanwhile, could hit 60mph in 5 seconds. These figures were unheard of from a hot hatch then and are still very respectable today.
The Sunbeam Lotus won the World Rally Championship in 1981 but sadly its life was cut short. Rally success was not sufficient to shift the rapidly aging mass market Talbots. The Linwood plant closed down that year, ending Sunbeam and Avenger production.
10,113 Ti models and 2,308 Lotus models were built.
In some markets these cars were called Talbot Simca Sunbeams.
Wynne Mitchell, O'Dell's assistant, had been at college in Coventry
with Mike Kimberley, now the Managing Director at Lotus Cars in Norfolk.
Lotus had been supplying their own 2 litre DOHC engine in quantity for
the Jensen Healey sports car, but as Jensen Motors had ceased trading in
1976 Lotus were actively attempting to sell their engine. Lotus readily
agreed to supply a basic 2 litre type 907 engine (as used in the Elite
and Eclat) plus a rally tuned engine for competition use. This subsequently
turned into a 2.2 litre unit designated type 911 of the following specification:
The competition engine was uprated to 234bhp and featured 48mm carburettors
and a compression ratio of 11:1. To enable these to compete, however, 400
cars had to be produced to satisfy homologation rules. In fact, Chrysler's
marketing department decided that they could do much better than that and
the deal signed with Lotus mentioned no fewer than 4500 engines.
Lotus were fully involved in the development and production, not only designing and manufacturing the engine but developing the suspension and exhaust systems as well. As a result, the rolling chassis built alongside all other Sunbeams at Linwood near Glasgow were delivered by transporter to Lotus in Norfolk. Here they were fitted with the engine mated to a 5-speed ZF gearbox. The work included modifications to the bodyshell, fitting a larger radiator and alloy road wheels, and so a satellite operation was mounted at Ludham airfield some 20 miles from the Hethel base. 16 employees were drafted here by Lotus and work began at the end of 1978 to build the first pre-production cars. Once assembly was completed the cars were transported to Chrysler in Coventry for final checking before delivery to the dealers. This method of production continued at a considerable rate until the Summer of 1981.
The Chrysler Sunbeam Lotus was launched at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1979, but deliveries did not start until summer of that year. By this time, Chrysler UK had been sold to the French Peugeot concern who changed the name to the Talbot Motor Company. With the exception of the very first pre-production models, all road cars were officially known as Talbots.
Originally the cars were only available in Embassy black with broad silver side stripes and grey interior, and the very early cars also boasted twin exit exhaust pipes. For the 1981 model year, however, a black and grey "Piccadilly" trim was introduced and these new Series 2 cars were further distinguished by larger headlamps, a new corporate grille, new door mirrors and engine modifications which produced a small increase in power and torque figures. The following year, with a number of cars still in stock and sales slow, moonstone blue paintwork became the only available colour, although customers were offered a choice of silver or black stripes.
Even so, some cars remained unsold through the winter of 1982/3, and a batch of 150 were reserved for Avon Coachworks of Warwick to produce a limited edition "Avon" model. These were to be retrimmed internally with a change of exterior colour scheme and the addition of original green & yellow Lotus badges on the flanks, plus each was to be registered within the series DDU 1Y to DDU 150Y with a limited edition serial number corresponding to the registration. In total, though, only 58 cars were converted, and some of these missed out on the DDU number plate although they were still numbered sporadically up to no.150.
The final batch of cars, including the balance of the 150 originally destined for Avon Coachworks, were sold through a single dealer in Nuneaton at reduced prices. Again, these cars were all registered in sequence bearing the marks DAC 2Y to approximately DAC 150Y. A handful of cars did still remain unsold at dealers until the "A" prefix was introduced in August 1983, and at least one car even went unsold until the "B" arrived.
Overall, Lotus claim to have built 2298 cars (1150 right-hand-drive) while Talbot claim a total of 2308. This discrepancy may be due to the building of several pre-production cars by Chrysler themselves at Coventry in early 1979.
Delivery statistics are as follows:
| Country | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | Total |
| UK | 423 | 304 | 457 | 1184 |
| Austria | 14 | 1 | 0 | 15 |
| Belgium | 36 | 39 | 14 | 89 |
| France | 235 | 125 | 28 | 388 |
| West Germany | 52 | 121 | 31 | 204 |
| Holland | 20 | 10 | 0 | 30 |
| Italy | 32 | 291 | 68 | 391 |
| Switzerland | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Others | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Totals | 816 | 894 | 598 | 2308 |
1161 cars were sold in the first twelve consecutive months of production,
meaning that the car genuinely qualified for inclusion in international
rally competition - not something that all of its competitors could boast!
The Talbot Sunbeam Lotus took part in international rallying from 1979
to 1982 and won the World Championship for Talbot in 1981. Its most famous
achievement was at the 1980 Lombard-RAC rally, Britain's round of the World
Rally Championship, where Sunbeam Lotus cars finished 1st, 3rd and 4th.
The most well known driver was the late Henri Toivonen, who drove for Talbot
in 1980 and 1981. Also, the current Ferrari Formula 1 Team Manager, Jean
Todt, was a co-driver for fellow Frenchman Guy Frequelin when he narrowly
missed out on being the Driver's World Champion in 1981.