Talbot Sunbeam Ti - Any left?

[RedStrat]

I had a white one of these from 1986 - 1988 (MAC347V) but I haven't seen one for years. At the Classic Car Show last year all they had on the Avenger/Sunbeam Owners Club stand was an Avenger Tiger and a Sunbeam GLS. Does anybody know of a Ti still in existence anywhere? They were pretty lairy for the day with twin Weber 40's, but a pain to get balanced up properly.

[aeropilot]

RedStrat said:

I had a white one of these from 1986 - 1988 (MAC347V)

Snap

I had a black Series 2 Ti (MPL 995W) from Feb '86 to Jul '88.

RedStrat said:

They were pretty lairy for the day with twin Weber 40's, but a pain to get balanced up properly.

Mine was a bit breathed on. Previous owner had the engine rebuilt (was a high mile car) with Group A head/cam and pistons etc but he put the original and knackered factory carb setup and exhaust on and was very disapointed with the car so was selling to get a Lotus-Sunbeam.
I got it cheapish as I realised the carbs were knackered, so bought a brand new pair of normal 40DCOE's with K&N's and a Group A exhaust manifold and system from Skip Browns. Took the car up to Pete Baldwin's rolling road and after a bit of fiddling he had it perfectly balanced and putting out 115bhp at the rear wheels

I later fitted Bilsteins to it as well. It really flew for it's day, and I still fondly remember it. Group 4 ins was a bonus as well, which was the reason I bought one, after losing my no-claims when my RS2000 had been knicked.

I can't imagine there's too many left TBH, they weren't easy to find 20 years ago!!

Edited by aeropilot on Friday 28th August 21:27

[anonymous-user]

Don't know much about the Ti specification of the car and certainly haven't knowingly seen one for decades. Not exactly a collector's item I wouldn't have thought.

The Sunbeam Lotus version which IIRC had the 2.2 litre Lotus Esprit engine is the one which gets all the attention (such as that attention may be). I'd guess build numbers were pitifully small as Chrysler was in deep trouble and sold out to the French about that time.

[CatherineJ]

Blimey I remember those. My mum had a horizon at the same time the Sunbeam Ti was out, I always wished she had one.

[Pothole]

http://www.talbotspares.com/cars.htm

Cars for Sale

£
MG Metro 2 litre r.w.d. – all Ford Escort Group 4 running gear, etc. – road registered – tarmac and sprint use
6,000
Talbot Sunbeam – Lotus engine/box – competition specification – ready to use
3,000
Talbot Sunbeam 1.6 rally car – Ti engine/box, full cage, bucket seats, Bilstein suspension, LSD axle, vented discs, etc. – needs paint and time to finish
1,995
Talbot Sunbeam Ti LHD – 140 bhp engine, close ratio gearbox, stripped out inside, roll cage, bucket seats – ideal rally base or track day car
1950
Talbot Sunbeam Ti – minor work for MOT
750
Talbot Sunbeam rolling shell in primer, non arched, complete with roll cage
500
Talbot Sunbeam – A reg., rolling shell
450
Talbot Sunbeam 1.6 GLS, automatic, original specification – minor work for road use
350

[aeropilot]

5 USA said:

Don't know much about the Ti specification of the car and certainly haven't knowingly seen one for decades. Not exactly a collector's item I wouldn't have thought.

On the contray, very collectable now they are so rare now, but finding one is the problem, as there are so few left. I seem to recall possible fewer numbers than the similar mechanical spec Avenger Tiger, even though there were actually lots more Ti's made than Tiger's and more than the Sunbeam-Lotus

5 USA said:

The Sunbeam Lotus version which IIRC had the 2.2 litre Lotus Esprit engine is the one which gets all the attention (such as that attention may be)

The Lotus version does get more attention, probably for obvious reasons, although, in fact the Ti as a Group A car actually had a more succesful competition life than the Lotus version.
And, the 2.2 Lotus 911 engine in the Sunbeam wasn't an Esprit engine, it was developed specifically for the Sunbeam, and it was afterwards that Lotus used this development to fit the 2.2L versions of the engines into their own cars.

Edited by aeropilot on Friday 28th August 22:14

[RedStrat]

Astonishingly the Talbot Horizon won Car of the Year, they were awful things!

My Ti had the multi-spoke Lotus alloys and is the only car I've ever owned that got numerous appreciative comments from girls! 'Wow, is this yours' and the like. I didn't get that with the Escort Mk2 1.1 Popular that preceeded it!

[aeropilot]

RedStrat said:

My Ti had the multi-spoke Lotus alloys

So did mine. And the Series 2 cars had the Lotus-style Piccadilly striped seat trim as well.
I fitted a quick shift kit as well. The one thing that was a PITA, was the glass hatch locks used to break and the hatch used to spring open on one side all the time.
Funnily enough, I never had the same problem in the Lotus-Sunbeam, even though I'd built up a large stock of new catches in anticipation

[BIGDAI]

I had one too from about '82 to '85 - MKM102W - red with black stripes. Spent an absolute fortune on upgrading the engine with Skip Brown motors in Tarporley - wish I'd spent something on the brakes/suspension!! DVLA seems to say it hasn't been taxed since 1989 so I guess it's dead.

[Loteuk]

I soundly believe these are the rarest cars on the planet............. I had XTC 90V!
Not seen one for 20 years! In the current climate of £15k escorts these have to be 10 x that for rarity alone?
st handling ands hit fuel economy................

[Trakkielad]

RedStrat said:

I had a white one of these from 1986 - 1988 (MAC347V) but I haven't seen one for years. At the Classic Car Show last year all they had on the Avenger/Sunbeam Owners Club stand was an Avenger Tiger and a Sunbeam GLS. Does anybody know of a Ti still in existence anywhere? They were pretty lairy for the day with twin Weber 40's, but a pain to get balanced up properly.

Not seen one, but they are beautiful cars no contest bro

[grumpy]

Wow, thread started August 2009.

[m8rky]

Fond memories, my first go at Motorsport was in my Ti. Would be a shame if they are all gone.

[lofty 1946]

i have a talbot sunbeam ti mk1 in blackhad it from new,rotted usual places anybody interested

[Phil Dicky]

lofty 1946 said:

i have a talbot sunbeam ti mk1 in blackhad it from new,rotted usual places anybody interested

Could you post some pictures up

[lofty 1946]

having probs uploading pics have to wait for g/child to do it wont take long

[lofty 1946]

[moribund]

The first time I saw a Ti it was being hand-brake turned perfectly into a space in a snow covered car park at university - back as teenager in 1987 it make quite a good first impression. Still envious of the drivers skills!