I own a very rare talbot solara 6 wheel motorcaravan.manufactured at Chrisler uk.1977. Its not a kit.Its got a 1.8 disel engine.I bought it from an old polish guy who cudnt speek much english .it looked like scrap ,but it was all there .i rebuilt it in a month now me and the missis have traveld over 10 thousand smiles .its ready for its second MOT since 1991.no work needed.i could do with some alloy wheels to finish it off.
I owned a 1980 Talbot Alpine 1.4GL for 6 years (1990-1995), after buying it from my father, who owned and drove it for 7 years (1984-1990). When I purchased this magnificent vehicle, it had travelled 220,000km. My father had purchased it with 140,000km on the clock. The only engine maintenance ever required was at 180,000km when Dad put new rings and valve seats in it. When I sold it (tears, sniff, sniff), - I had to, as you could no longer obtain spares in New Zealand for it, this mighty Talbot had travelled 480,000km (thats nearly 300,000 miles to you fans of imperial measurements), and during that time, it had proved itself to be THE GREATEST car in transport history. No problem starting (always first time), driven everywhere at 140 km/h (85mph), NEVER used any oil!!! I always used Mobil 1 (changed every 20,000km), and drove on many brands of tyres, Michelin, Pirelli, Goodyear, Dunlop, and (shame) Firestone. Dunlop produced the best tyre, the Dunlop Daytona, 165/70x13 and this tyre gave excellent grip and wear. Firestone are THE MOST USELESS tyres ever made, and these did not suit this car at all!!! In fact, these tyres gave appalling handling, that even the Alpine's sublime chassis could not compensate for. I used several sets of Daytonas and was always impressed with their performance, especially as I didn't muck around while driving. The Alpine was fitted with Monroe shock absorbers by Dad in about 1986, to cure the rear-end sag that some of these models suffered from, and after that the handling become great beyond question. The car loved to be driven in a sporterised fashion, not thrashed or revved, but making speed by used of the car's prodigious amounts of torque, and momentum. It would deal to corners with quiet assuredness, and undulations and potholes would not hinder the rapid progress, or even be felt. You could drive this car for hours at a time, and alight feeling refreshed and composed, such was the comfort in travel provided by this icon of supreme engineering skill. Yes, this model was heavy steering around town, and had a clunky gearbox, but once out on the open road, the true dynamic character came to life, and this was (and I've driven a few) the easiest car to drive anywhere. It loved straights, turns, and twisty bits, where it could really show a clean pair of heels to other more powerful and expensive sports cars. What else? How about side intrusion beams and independent rear suspension? And headlights that were real tree burners? And crumple zones in the chassis, and down-draught carburettors? I know the yanks managed to squeeze a 6 cyclinder engine into the Dodge varient, and if it wasn't for the poor quality examples made by Chrysler UK, this manufacturer may have been able to continue, without the need to be swallowed by Purgeot/Citroen. Although, some of the Talbot magic still exists in the world today, Purgeot's 906 which won the Le Mans 24 hour race, was built by Talbot Motorsport, and the Purgeot 406 Mi-16 was engineered by these guys also. On a sad note, 6 weeks after my Talbot was sold, the idiot who brought it, wrote it off by gift-wrapping a powerpole with it. But, it's memory and my eternal love for this car lives on in my heart. God drives a Talbot.
Had mine since new in 1981 - still got it, but off the road. I had 16 years trouble free motoring at very little expense. Good mechanics but pity about the poor standard of bodywork!
Mine has 5 alloys and good tyres - anyone interested?
This car was older than a lot of people I work with - I've seen one other on the road. I used to drive to gigs in it,& it wouldnt have looked out of place with the afro on the roof. It had a high revving engine, & the turning circle was half a block, but it only broke down on me once - people either lover it or hated it, but everyone noticed it!
Bought one seven years ago for £50...just kept going and going. Had some rust on the doors but solid underneath. Had to scrap it last week due to engine failure (175,000 miles). Great workhorse
Owned for more than 5 years.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed September 2003.
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I had 3 Solaras & an Alpine, starting with my Dad's beat-up ex-taxis, but liking them so much I bought one for myself (only £300 & the best car I've ever owned - others have been a Metro, a Renault, a Volvo, a brand new Corsa & a 9 month-old Vectra). Good-looking outside, good looking inside, fast, economical for their time, comfortable & extremely spacious. OK, the engines were noisy, but the noise was distinctive & not unpleasant. The gearchange was slow, but some new cars are almost as bad. The bottoms of the doors did rust badly & we had several alternators that failed (usually in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night!), but otherwise they were exceptionally reliable: easily 2 or 300,000 miles, despite never being serviced & seeing a garage only for their MOT (my Dad did any necessary repairs & swore by them because they were so easy to work on). They even go on for weeks at highly illegal motorway speeds with nothing in the radiator except a large hole! If you've got one, don't make the mistake I made of scrapping it just because it's going to cost much more than it's worth to get it through the MOT - you'll always regret it.
Pete
Owned for more than 5 years.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed February 2003.
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A most underrated car, the clunky gearbox was misunderstood, it was, although delicate to the touch, a very smooth shift. Brisk performance, an exceptional driving postion with steeply sloping bonnet, I loved my Chrysler Alpine. A true orphan in New Zealand where the roads were at the time dominated by the bland Japanese and the agrarian GM's/Fords.
Owned for 3 years.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed February 2002.
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A 701 LHP, a 1984 Alpine GL never let me down. Apart from the usual bodywork niggles of ANY car from that era, the only let-down was the heater. I sold the car after 9 years with 124.000 miles on the clock
Owned for more than 5 years.
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