Bought a 3 year old Solara cheaply from the Austin Rover dealership I worked at for my father. This was because the engine was really noisy and the clutch slipped. I adjusted the tappets and put a clutch in it after work. When the sales manager saw it once it was done, he was really peed off, as he realised that he had sold it too cheap. My dad had it for about five years without any real problems.
My first proper car a solara 1.6sx with trip computer electric windows, central locking, veluuur seats, headlamp wash wipe action, super comfy and I loved it!
My uncle has a couple of these solaras , he ran a Peuegot Talbot dealership that closed in the mid 80`s and has some Peugeots too ths tar being a brand new 305GTX that still has the plastic on the seats !
Yet again ian you find cars that were fogetable. now remembered 👍..well done much better viewing than all those supercars at goodwood .....no disrespect to all concerned at goodwood..cheers from dave
@@paulbennell3313 Supercars are overwhelmingly remembered, discussed, written about and reviewed despite being ultra rare cars. Whereas ordinary and often unremarkable in their prime cars glow with interest today. Amongst us anyway. Funny isn't it?
Fantastic! My Dad had one (1.6) as a company car 1980-81, when he was dating my mum. Replaced with an Opel Ascona 2.0 S, as a wedding present from his boss!
That is the tidiest Solara I've seen since the 80's! My mate's mum had an Alpine 1500S. Superbly comfortable car and suprisingly quick. Suprisingly solid as well for a ten year old specimen. Engine sounded like it was about to fly apart but it just kept on going. Loving these videos Ian, top quality job as always from you.
spainter: For some reason the tappets always looked oil starved when you went to adjust them. Probably why so noisy. A right pain to do, with the engine tilted back to almost touch the bulkhead. These cars were total rust buckets! Mine fell apart in the end. One of the worst cars ever made!
Nice to see this rare Simca badged Solara. My father had a Talbot Solara GLS in 1983 complete with its two-tone red and silver paintwork. In addition to the two-tone paintwork, the GLS had power steering, the electric front windows, trip computer etc, all quite rare standard fit items at the time
@@MonkeyHunch1 He had the car from new so in this case, it did all work but the trip computer was a little optimistic with the average fuel consumption calculations.
I'm with you on the comfy ride. With today's roads what's the point of hard suspension and 35 profile tyres? All you get is headache, backache and buckled wheels.
Hi Ian I loved those things when I was a Y.T.S. mechanic because they NEVER broke down. Literally it's like they were built in a naval dockyard. Not very exiting to drive but got to be a contender for the most reliable car EVER.
Indeed the Rancho, my father loved it so much and was on the brink to sell it's Simca 1100 for it. My mother said, no, to funcky at the dealer. Why on earth a Rancho she said... same nose as their Simca 1100 incl. front interior, besides ofcourse the back and its great bodykit...
My friend had one the same colour. Took us to many rock concerts, great days. Reminds me for some reason of my dad's old Renault 30tx. Try and find one of those, sure it had 4x headlamp washers.
BRING BACK VELOUR! I think there should be a nationwide or ever worldwide campaign, to get manufacturers to return to using velour for their car interiors...and not just bland black either...
My knowledge of forgotten cars just keeps growing with each of your videos. This was close to being one my first car in 1983 but for 50 quid less I bought a Marina instead. If you could turn back time .........
Just a pity that whoever did the paint matching for the respray did not know what he was doing, different shades of green for different panels on the car.
It reminds me of a used Plymouth TC3 I bought in the early 90's. It had been designed by Simca. It was the most comfortable car I ever owned. Plenty of suspension travel combined with single-action gas shocks made it a pleasure to ride.
Some slight detail correction - the 5speed gearbox in this era of Solara was taken from the Citroën Cx, the Peugeot BE1 box arrived in 1982. This being a GLS - it would have one level below the top Sx spec which would have had the front headlamp wipers as standard. Very underated cars which suffered ultimately from a lack of continual development due to its complicated parantage.
Re comfort could not agree more, I’m sure all the manufacturers make the cars ‘handle’ like a race car to keep the journalists happy, when reality is most of us mere mortals just want something to be quiet and not fall over. Enjoyable as ever.
I had a 1985 Talbot Solar Minx. Great car and had power steering that was unusual at the time on a normal saloon. It did 176000 miles before I got rid of it and I always remember how tappitty the 1600 sounded even a couple of hundred miles after they were adjusted. The UK clutch pedal was straight too.
Thank you for your nice words about my Solara Ian. Rpm meter will be repaired next week Saturday I hope. I hope you will return again to testdrive my Peugeot 505 once it is restored, as my Peugeot 605. Regards from a Peugeot / Talbot freak that absoluty loves it that you appreciated my car, though it's old and has a lot of kilometers on it's clock already. For the interested people: Total money invested in this car is approx € 10000,= in total. Not worth it, but I like it too much to just throw it away. It's from 23-12-1980 indeed.
I had a red Simca 1300 saloon in the late 1970s when I was married with 2 young girls. It was a very comfortable family car that never let me down. Sadly it eventually succumbed to rust. The girls cried and so did I.
My dad had an Alpine. It was the first of his cars I drove. You couldn't hear the tappets over the noisy diff! The gearbox was on its last legs as it needed double declutching to engage second,a skill I rapidly learned! Nice video,keep up the good work.
I agree Paul. I´m not bothered about being animal friendly (in this situation) or the effect on the planet - I just do not like leather upholstery in a car. It used to be that when leather was standard the buyer could opt for cloth or velour instead but that is less common now. To me velour is far more luxurious and comfortable.
@@pauldavies6037 Nice one mate. I´ve never owned a SAAB but their velour upholstery was wonderful. Always used to dash to the SAAB stand at the motorshow to luxuriate in those great seats. A friend of mine had a Rover 3500 VDP with velour. I loved it.
When I recall the Golden Brown velour interior that Talbot did so well with the Alpine, Solara in the early 80s, I think that if they had achieved the sales success they deserved, Teddy Bears would have become an endangered species ;-)
I was lucky enough to have a ride in a solara back in the 80’s. My mum once did consider buying a Talbot-Matra Rancho as it did look like a rugged 4x4 but was actually just a 2wd with a funky body kit and spotlights, She ended up deciding on a MK2 escort which turned up to be full of filler. The Talbot was no worse than most cars on the road in the 80’s and it’s a real shame it’s such a rare site here today.
Your mum made the right choice, the Matra Simca Rancho was hopelessly underpowered with its 1442cc Simca engine, essentially a bored out Simca 1100 unit, indeed the platform was from the very dated Simca 1100. The Alpine actually was quite quick particularly with the 1592cc unit; although that only had 84bhp, it was in an era when most family cars were not much more than 1,000kg.
I bought a Talbot Alpine 1-6 LS from a car auction years ago, it was one of the comfiest cars I ever owned, it went like a bat out of hell and was good on fuel. I think mine was the only one that didn't have any tappet rattle. It would start from cold without problem but once warmed up it could be a problem, I found the best way to do it was to not touch the throttle and spin the engine over and then just ease your foot down and away you'd go. I kept it for ages until the usual rust bug took over and then it had to go. My son still talks about that car with great affection saying it was one of the most comfortable cars we ever had.
After a relative died my wife was given one in late 80s with 8.000 miles on the clock, kept it for 5yrs one water pump one back exhaust, what a stifling car, if you did the tappets every day lol.
Nice to film this in my home country with this wonderful car. My father had one, and the previous also were Simca's/Talbots. I love them all, especially the 1100 and 1308 and Rancho/Bagheera/Mureno..
Quick correction from your friendly car pedant; the 5 speed gearbox was a Citroën CX unit, the more modern Peugeot box was fitted when the car received a mild update in late 82. There was a more luxurious version than the GLS, badged SX which had a trip computer and possibly headlamp wipers. I saw a mint one in Bordeaux recently.
I had 3 alpines and a solara in the 1980's, all were the 1442cc engine with the distinctive "ticky Talbot" rattle. The first one cost me 200 pounds and lasted a year till it failed its MOT big time, the second I kept for a few months and traded in for a Princess... then the third Alpine was a brown GLS model that I kept 2 years until it failed the MOT and was uneconomic to repair.... the last of all I had a Solara in metallic red. I sold it to my mate who wrote it off in a head on collision in which nobody was seriously hurt. Lots of memories in these, they were easy to service and reliable.
We used to build these in Finland too. At the SAAB factory in Uusikaupunki. We equipped ours with seats from SAABs. We even made a petroleum fuelled version that stank...
My first car was a white Talbot Solara GLS. I remember that it was a dream to drive in the winter too. It stuck to the icy roads like nothing. I also remember starting it up in minus 20 Celsius after it had not been driven for like a week, and the engine started immediately with no issues, which surprised me, really. In the end we had to scrap it because the automatic windows stopped working, and they fell down in an open position, and there was no spare parts to get hold of.
My Dad almost got a two tone Alpine when his long serving Hillman Hunter estate came to the end of its many years faithful service. Instead he was tempted by a Toyota Corolla (quite rebellious in the eyes of the local yokels at the time). After noticing the huge leap forward in quality he never regretted his decision and stuck with Toyota for donkeys years.
Nothing wrong with the sandals, they are what they are. Rattling engines, but good performance, remember them well from my early job in a garage in Camden Town.
Ride comfort is harsher these days because we use less coils to 'wind up' the spring wire in less movement. We also are using a different type of steel to get away with this... which is also why, unlike in the past, we have to change so many coil springs on modern cars. With the sophistication of suspension geometry we now enjoy, it would be quite easy to return to old fashioned comfort without quite the levels of lean that were extant in these cars.
I agree with what you say about modern springs, I had a 2006 Fiesta ST from new and had to replace both front springs before 20k miles as they broke in two.
Very interesting, I've broken a few front coil springs in my time and a back one or two. They seam quite brittle although I've not broken aftermarket coilover's.
My Dad had an Alpine. Great car. Loads of space - decent turn of speed and good economy. Heavy steering and ropey gearchange though. There is a great Chris Goffey old Top Gear report on these on You Tube - the one featured at the end of that report takes a bit of starting up too !
My 2nd car was a Talbot Solara GL (also with 5s gearbox), it was 10 years old when I bought it for only 450 Guilders (about €200) in 1994. I loved it! Comfortable, quite powerful for a 1.6 liter engine and great fuel economy too!
Following my comment the other day, I dutifully ordered HubNut beanie hat and car sticker. They came in literally a couple of days, super service. Sticker now proudly in the car and hat ready to be worn 👏🏻👏🏻. Great service Ian/whoever has been left in charge of the shop in your absence
My mums 1978 Alpine ... taught me to double declutch, and how to just put up with noisy tappets. Apparently they were self adjusting using some weird ratchet setup ... which meant actually they could never actually be in adjustment. And that gear lever ... stirring coconuts in a barrel with a broom handle .... but it went like the clappers when I was 17 & it was 6 years old. took all my camping gear and cider to surf trips to north Devon - great memories of the Alpine. And yep ... hideous sandals....
I had the hatchback version in the early 80s as a company car. Mine was an automatic very comfortable drive and due to its typical French suspension it would cruise over speed bumps at speed
I had the Simca 1100 in dark metallic green, bought from the local car auction with rent and a ticket for £40!!! Ran it for two years and sold it for £100!! Everyone took the p155 but it was bombproof and took us all over the country.
My Dad's Solara was one of the last, made in 85 registered in 86. It was the final facelift model, which included a body coloured grill with fewer but larger slats, body coloured bumper aprons, steering wheel from the later 305 and stalks from the early 309 with a 309 gear lever. Bit of a parts bin special. A very underrated car which was lovely to drive if somewhat tappety but only had a couple of minor surface rust issues. Should have kept it really considering how few remain.
The engines couldn't be easily be converted to run on Unleaded fuel as they didn't have hard valve seats which is possibly why that one is running an lpg conversion. I saw a B reg Rapier for sale about 12 months ago on one of the classic car sights, it was a car local to you with an EJ registration complete with Original Lyn Davies, Gwrthynt Garage, Aberaeron dealer sticker and plates.
My father in law had a couple of these late 70s early 80s. The car was years ahead of its time ultra reliable and fantastic to drive. He clocked up many miles in both without any trouble, the only problem I can remember is the engine developing the Simca ‘Pea in a can’ top end rattle which never affected performance or reliability. The last one he had was badged as a Talbot sunbeam and it had Rapier side badges ?? One other thing to this cars credit.. I was an apprentice at Vauxhall motors Luton where they were building Magnums and the like, many Vauxhall employees bought the Alpine even though they were entitled to employee discount at Vauxhall. Great car which like you Ian I regret never owning, mind you at the time I couldnt afford one, spent my time and money keeping my Rover P6 going !!
Cheers for another great one Ian, loving the Croatia series and Congrats on 40 thousand! It’s been fun watching the subscribers grow over the years just keep hubnutting and they’ll keep coming 👍
I had one of these in the ealy 90s. Had a lovely ride. Used to oversteer slightly on right handers just to add some fun. I agree that modern cars are way too harsh. It's got to the point that rather than have optional sports suspension, they need an option of comfortable suspension to replace the standard set up. Even Citroens no longer ride properly.
It's always the marketers and sales people that seems to bestow on the public that you need a car that handles like a Ferrari around the Nuremberg ring even though it's an economy car. If you like a car, you like a car. I've learn a long time ago to never listen to others try to tell me what cars to avoid. That's where Hubnut comes into play. He lets us love what we love. And i love Tasmanian Green on a Talbot. French cars for the win!!!
awesome to see a C6 car finally on the channel! I love Solaras even though I've only ever seen one (that said, i do have my Alpine so maybe my love comes from that!). You should definitely keep your eyes peeled for one, they can still be had at decent prices & from my experience restoring Annie, there are plenty of people willing you sell, if not, give you the parts you need to make the car perfect. The Simca club is the best place to go as they are very helpful, they have been to me & I'm not even a paid up member! Maybe that'll change. Wish you all the best with your big adventure!
Had one of therein 1987 the 1.6 le if I remember correctly. We had one of the worst winters I can remember but nothing stopped the Solara just ploughed through it. Gear leaver not good infact the linkage came off as I remember. Nice one. Thank you 🙂
Ah, fond Alpine/Solara memories here for me. My Grandfather had a silver Alpine after his lovely orange Marina... Anyway I don't recall much about the Alpine other than it being silver, obviously. He then had a C Reg beige Solara "Minx" runout model, presumably Minx being stolen from Rootes history somewhere. He had that until 1995ish when it really was very rusty indeed. Even though it probably wasn't, it seemed so much posher than my parents mk2 Vauxhall Astra (and just as rusty). He eventually changed it for a Peugeot 405 (another fine car)
Nice footage, brought back a few memory's, I had actually forgotten my Dad owned a mid Blue Alpine GLS, everything you pointed out rang true about his car especially comfortable suspension and seating. Also had a mate who worked as a Talbot junior salesman for a while, and regularly used part ex cars or demo cars as his company transport, I remember he had a mk1 Alpine for a quite a few weeks, brown metallic with cream vinyl roof " I know !!, very tasty looking motor ", If I recall correctly my Dads power steering mount broke, he was told it was a common fault, not sure of the validity of that fact though . Have fun and keep up the good work
My dad had a metallic grey one with the Talbot badge. We borrowed it for skiing holidays and kinda wrecked it in the Ardennes near Bastogne. We limped to a closed nearby garage and spent the night in the two damaged cars ( yes we hit our friend's car). It was m8nus 15°C.....The next morning they mounted some kinda fitting light units and we went on to France. Our dad wasn't too delighted when we returned his car later on. Oh yeah, nice comfy car it had.
That K-car was a a legendary saviour and it's thinking was well ahead of its time - B(L)MC was always cheating, rebadging the whole car but these guys took a single architecture and fit completely different bodies on them - way ahead of VW. Iacocca was a damned exceptional motor exec., only making one major error at the end of his tenure.
Love the car, my uncle had one, also a GLS and looked so posh in that time. Many people turned their heads when you passed by. I guess my love for French cars started in that time when my father drove a hatchback Simca 1100 and my auntie a Simca 1000. After Since / Talbot almost half of my family changed either to Renault or Peugeot. What a time.
What a nice car. Surely everything you need in a family vehicle. Nice example too and a good review as always Mr HubNut. (Liked the child-powered windmill as well.)
This is another car that I'm learning of thanks to Ian -- never saw or heard of it before :). I was impressed by how spacious it was and that it had electric front windows -- I would have thought such feature was fairly uncommon in anything but a premium class car in the beginning of the 80's. I really liked the quirky interior and how spacious the car appears, especially in the back.
Had one of those Glass coolant bottles in my Horizon... It was part of my regular "under the bonnet" detail tasks to empty out the yellowy grey sludge and put fresh water in it... made a big difference LOL !!!
i had a 1972 buick electra 225 for a while. it was a serious land yacht, but it rode like you were sitting in a cloud. you felt nothing from the road, no matter how rough. it got around 10 mpg, and would cruise at 80 mph like it was standing still. every creature comfort you could imagine, except fully reclining seats, as that was really unheard of in the us at the time. plus, you could fit a family of four in the trunk, and still have room for luggage. i had a 2 door chevette that didn't have as much interior space as that trunk. it could've doubled as a nyc efficiency apt. lol!
Yes I love these and the Tagora. Sweet. My mum's brother worked for Chrysler UK take over era. I remember as a kid seeing loads plus the alpine, ranchos and Peugeots. There was a dealer in galashiels and Hawick so loads 😀 i love them all. The primary school street was lined with horizons samba and 305 petrol. The wall of noise as the owners went off to work in the morning. Just amazing how Fiat DNA is inbeddes in this models. Simca having a Fiat connection. The 309 Peugeot being the last Talbot badged model.
My grandfather had Talbot one from 1984 I suppose. Made in valmet automotive here in Finland. The first car I drove by my self around the age of six or seven years old. I remember the funny seatbelts from it that locked just the belt to a hook.
Body roll is brilliant and hilarious. We need more, not less! During the 1990’s there was a car called a Citroen Xantia Activa that apparently almost eliminated body roll. I thought ‘Why the hell would you want that. No fun at all!’ 😂😂
I worked at the Ryton Plant between 1978 - 1989 in the BIW and Paint as a body repairer/tinsmith. I remember working on the Alpine, Solara and Horizon . Then the Peugeot 309 and 405. Loved the GTI 1.9 and the 405 MI16! All gone now!!
Wow , great car . I never knew the history , so thanks. My brother had a couple of ailing Simca 1000's as daily transport in the late 70's and my neice had one as her first car ,circa 1985 which she loved !
In the 1980s, our sales people had Horizons as company cars and the sales manager had a Solara. Back in the day, they were terrible - the windscreen on the Horizons would pop out (body flex?) and the sales reps got used to bashing them back in with a fist. Then there is the well known 'bag of nails' tappet rattle. My mother in law had a Solara - hers was a good one which went quite well and had very soft and comfy seats. Despite the fact that they made Allegros look good when they were new, still great to see a survivor - now a lovely old car......
The Solara 1.6 engine also found its way to the Matra Murena. Using a Bagheera inlet manifold with dual carburettors and some tweaking made it happily deliver over 100 bhp.
Very underrated cars in the day. I believe that these were built in Colombia and badged as a Dodge. Not sure if it was the Alpine or Solara? Amazing! Loving your trip to the continent.
A lecturer at college had one. Light blue with colour coded bumpers as I remember. For some reason I think of this car as the first one I ever saw with plastic non-metal bumbers. Could be wrong though, but I remember it being a smart looking car.
I had a Solara as a company car. The LS so no power steering so the steering was very heavy. It was slow and after about 60000 miles things started going wrong but up until then it had been reliable. The engine was crude and rattly. The big plus was it was very comfortable and soaked up bumps. Handling was not really an issue as it didn't really go fast enough to encourage chucking it about. Overall I was glad to see the back of it
There can't be many Talbot's of that era left on the roads now. I used to own a 1980 Talbot Horizon 1.3 GL and apart from sounding like a sewing machine it was fairly responsive and very comfortable. It started to rust when it was about 18 months old and for some reason it used to break throttle cables regularly. I got used to driving home using the manual choke as the accelerator. Everywhere is within driving distance, if you have the time! I still think it was one of the nicest looking cars I ever owned!
Goodness this takes me back,i bought a 2 year old Chrysler Alpine S in 1979,i ran that car for about 3 years & it racked up 90k miles,in all that time it never missed a beat,despite supposed mods for adjusting the tappets they never worked the 1442cc engine sounded like a "bag of nails" when i bought it & sounded the same when i sold it,one thing id remember it was very comfy,typical of French cars of the period.
Lovely! I’ve been rather fond of the indicator sound as a kid already. Such a joyous sound 🥰 Great video! Speaking of the indicator: Indicating left, if you wish to exit a roundabout on the left, is only done in the UK, not on the continent. You only ever indicate (right) upon leaving the roundabout 😊
I had one. The suspension was great and really comfortable. The big problem was the door handles. When you pulled the handle it would jam and lock you out. Apart from that, great car.
Loved seeing you test this and you are spot on, it's a real classic. I had an early Alpine in space hopper orange. It was incredibly spacious with the transverse engine and the suspension was fantastic. It had long torsion bars on the front. Iirc the Peugeot 205 was the first car to have anti roll bar drop links. VW copied the Alpine body design to create the Mk1 Passat. But they made it very Germanic under the skin.
![TALBOT TAGORA : L'Enfant non Désiré [AUTOKULTUR]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/sbzLSyPc-I0/mqdefault.jpg)
This guy knows his stuff. Refreshing that someone is so enthusiastic about a car like this.
Bought a 3 year old Solara cheaply from the Austin Rover dealership I worked at for my father. This was because the engine was really noisy and the clutch slipped.
I adjusted the tappets and put a clutch in it after work. When the sales manager saw it once it was done, he was really peed off, as he realised that he had sold it too cheap.
My dad had it for about five years without any real problems.
My first proper car a solara 1.6sx with trip computer electric windows, central locking, veluuur seats, headlamp wash wipe action, super comfy and I loved it!
My uncle has a couple of these solaras , he ran a Peuegot Talbot dealership that closed in the mid 80`s and has some Peugeots too ths tar being a brand new 305GTX that still has the plastic on the seats !
Exactly how my grandfather had it in the early eighties 🙂
Yet again ian you find cars that were fogetable. now remembered 👍..well done much better viewing than all those supercars at goodwood .....no disrespect to all concerned at goodwood..cheers from dave
I always prefer to see the cars that were knocking about when I was a nipper. Supercars have never done it for me.
@@paulbennell3313 Supercars are overwhelmingly remembered, discussed, written about and reviewed despite being ultra rare cars. Whereas ordinary and often unremarkable in their prime cars glow with interest today. Amongst us anyway. Funny isn't it?
Fantastic! My Dad had one (1.6) as a company car 1980-81, when he was dating my mum. Replaced with an Opel Ascona 2.0 S, as a wedding present from his boss!
I remember the talbots back in the day which were easily identified with their trademark tappety engines you could hear coming down the street.
Tin can full of nails! Even after you set the tappets!!!
That is the tidiest Solara I've seen since the 80's! My mate's mum had an Alpine 1500S. Superbly comfortable car and suprisingly quick. Suprisingly solid as well for a ten year old specimen. Engine sounded like it was about to fly apart but it just kept on going.
Loving these videos Ian, top quality job as always from you.
That tinny sounding engine was very distinctive
@@JuiceTerry87 I'd still recognise that sound with my eyes shut.
I always remember Talbots of this era by their sound, they were quite distinctively tappety - even as a child it was very obvious!
spainter: For some reason the tappets always looked oil starved when you went to adjust them. Probably why so noisy. A right pain to do, with the engine tilted back to almost touch the bulkhead. These cars were total rust buckets! Mine fell apart in the end. One of the worst cars ever made!
@@janicewatts5888 utter clown… they were actually class leading. A 1442cc `Alpine was way better than the `cortina `mk4
I had the Alpine 1.5, one journey was Sicily to Portsmouth in 22 hours. Great performance, great ride, best new car I ever bought
My late father had one of these, lovely to see one again. Still looks good
Nice to see this rare Simca badged Solara. My father had a Talbot Solara GLS in 1983 complete with its two-tone red and silver paintwork. In addition to the two-tone paintwork, the GLS had power steering, the electric front windows, trip computer etc, all quite rare standard fit items at the time
And none of it worked i bet lol
I think that was the SX.
@@MonkeyHunch1 He had the car from new so in this case, it did all work but the trip computer was a little optimistic with the average fuel consumption calculations.
@@nick2203 Trip computers on modern cars are still the same they all tell more lies then Theresa May.
@@nick2203 yup the fuel consumption was optimistic to say the least :)
I'm with you on the comfy ride. With today's roads what's the point of hard suspension and 35 profile tyres? All you get is headache, backache and buckled wheels.
Hi Ian I loved those things when I was a Y.T.S. mechanic because they NEVER broke down. Literally it's like they were built in a naval dockyard. Not very exiting to drive but got to be a contender for the most reliable car EVER.
@@TomAlter1000 driven French for 30 yrs
The color of the Solara is camouflage grass green at the end. Nice that there are enthusiasts who keep this type of car alive.
Ian I don't care about the sandals but absolutely love the oil encrusted finger nails! Shows you are a true car nut! And your dedication to Elly!
I remember the days! Samba, Horizon, Alpine, Solara, Tagora and Rancho. Great range of cars. How could I forget the Sunbeam Lotus??
The Rancho nice memories
Indeed the Rancho, my father loved it so much and was on the brink to sell it's Simca 1100 for it. My mother said, no, to funcky at the dealer. Why on earth a Rancho she said... same nose as their Simca 1100 incl. front interior, besides ofcourse the back and its great bodykit...
Murena , 3 seated coupé
My friend had one the same colour. Took us to many rock concerts, great days. Reminds me for some reason of my dad's old Renault 30tx. Try and find one of those, sure it had 4x headlamp washers.
BRING BACK VELOUR!
I think there should be a nationwide or ever worldwide campaign, to get manufacturers to return to using velour for their car interiors...and not just bland black either...
I will sign up to your petition straightaway. I think velour is much nicer and plusher than leather.
My knowledge of forgotten cars just keeps growing with each of your videos. This was close to being one my first car in 1983 but for 50 quid less I bought a Marina instead. If you could turn back time .........
That metallic green looks surprisingly gorgeous out in the sun.
Just a pity that whoever did the paint matching for the respray did not know what he was doing, different shades of green for different panels on the car.
It reminds me of a used Plymouth TC3 I bought in the early 90's. It had been designed by Simca. It was the most comfortable car I ever owned. Plenty of suspension travel combined with single-action gas shocks made it a pleasure to ride.
Some slight detail correction - the 5speed gearbox in this era of Solara was taken from the Citroën Cx, the Peugeot BE1 box arrived in 1982. This being a GLS - it would have one level below the top Sx spec which would have had the front headlamp wipers as standard. Very underated cars which suffered ultimately from a lack of continual development due to its complicated parantage.
Well said pal,had two plus an alpine and we're great cars.if they had updated with the pug engine would have been even better later.
Re comfort could not agree more, I’m sure all the manufacturers make the cars ‘handle’ like a race car to keep the journalists happy, when reality is most of us mere mortals just want something to be quiet and not fall over. Enjoyable as ever.
I had a 1985 Talbot Solar Minx. Great car and had power steering that was unusual at the time on a normal saloon. It did 176000 miles before I got rid of it and I always remember how tappitty the 1600 sounded even a couple of hundred miles after they were adjusted. The UK clutch pedal was straight too.
Thank you for your nice words about my Solara Ian. Rpm meter will be repaired next week Saturday I hope.
I hope you will return again to testdrive my Peugeot 505 once it is restored, as my Peugeot 605. Regards from a Peugeot / Talbot freak that absoluty loves it that you appreciated my car, though it's old and has a lot of kilometers on it's clock already. For the interested people: Total money invested in this car is approx € 10000,= in total. Not worth it, but I like it too much to just throw it away. It's from 23-12-1980 indeed.
I had a red Simca 1300 saloon in the late 1970s when I was married with 2 young girls. It was a very comfortable family car that never let me down.
Sadly it eventually succumbed to rust. The girls cried and so did I.
My dad had an Alpine. It was the first of his cars I drove. You couldn't hear the tappets over the noisy diff! The gearbox was on its last legs as it needed double declutching to engage second,a skill I rapidly learned! Nice video,keep up the good work.
My father had a Chrysler Alpine and then a red Talbot Solara SX. Loved those cars as a kid!!
Another lovely car from the eighties bring back velour interiors instead of boring black leather and make cars have a comfortable
ride again !
Yes, the roads are awfully poorly maintained yet we don't get a reduction in road tax for them failing to keep their end of the bargain.
I agree Paul. I´m not bothered about being animal friendly (in this situation) or the effect on the planet - I just do not like leather upholstery in a car. It used to be that when leather was standard the buyer could opt for cloth or velour instead but that is less common now. To me velour is far more luxurious and comfortable.
@@almal378 I had a Saab 9000 with gold like velour everybody said it was the nicest interior of a car they ever seen
@@pauldavies6037 Nice one mate. I´ve never owned a SAAB but their velour upholstery was wonderful. Always used to dash to the SAAB stand at the motorshow to luxuriate in those great seats. A friend of mine had a Rover 3500 VDP with velour. I loved it.
When I recall the Golden Brown velour interior that Talbot did so well with the Alpine, Solara in the early 80s, I think that if they had achieved the sales success they deserved, Teddy Bears would have become an endangered species ;-)
I was lucky enough to have a ride in a solara back in the 80’s. My mum once did consider buying a Talbot-Matra Rancho as it did look like a rugged 4x4 but was actually just a 2wd with a funky body kit and spotlights, She ended up deciding on a MK2 escort which turned up to be full of filler. The Talbot was no worse than most cars on the road in the 80’s and it’s a real shame it’s such a rare site here today.
Your mum made the right choice, the Matra Simca Rancho was hopelessly underpowered with its 1442cc Simca engine, essentially a bored out Simca 1100 unit, indeed the platform was from the very dated Simca 1100. The Alpine actually was quite quick particularly with the 1592cc unit; although that only had 84bhp, it was in an era when most family cars were not much more than 1,000kg.
I bought a Talbot Alpine 1-6 LS from a car auction years ago, it was one of the comfiest cars I ever owned, it went like a bat out of hell and was good on fuel. I think mine was the only one that didn't have any tappet rattle. It would start from cold without problem but once warmed up it could be a problem, I found the best way to do it was to not touch the throttle and spin the engine over and then just ease your foot down and away you'd go. I kept it for ages until the usual rust bug took over and then it had to go. My son still talks about that car with great affection saying it was one of the most comfortable cars we ever had.
Remember my dad having a red Solara when I was a kid. Interesting times.
After a relative died my wife was given one in late 80s with 8.000 miles on the clock, kept it for 5yrs one water pump one back exhaust, what a stifling car, if you did the tappets every day lol.
Ian, you have a very listenable, instructional delivery...keep it up! Ta Nige
Nice to film this in my home country with this wonderful car. My father had one, and the previous also were Simca's/Talbots. I love them all, especially the 1100 and 1308 and Rancho/Bagheera/Mureno..
Quick correction from your friendly car pedant; the 5 speed gearbox was a Citroën CX unit, the more modern Peugeot box was fitted when the car received a mild update in late 82. There was a more luxurious version than the GLS, badged SX which had a trip computer and possibly headlamp wipers. I saw a mint one in Bordeaux recently.
I had 3 alpines and a solara in the 1980's, all were the 1442cc engine with the distinctive "ticky Talbot" rattle. The first one cost me 200 pounds and lasted a year till it failed its MOT big time, the second I kept for a few months and traded in for a Princess... then the third Alpine was a brown GLS model that I kept 2 years until it failed the MOT and was uneconomic to repair.... the last of all I had a Solara in metallic red. I sold it to my mate who wrote it off in a head on collision in which nobody was seriously hurt. Lots of memories in these, they were easy to service and reliable.
We used to build these in Finland too. At the SAAB factory in Uusikaupunki. We equipped ours with seats from SAABs. We even made a petroleum fuelled version that stank...
My first car was a white Talbot Solara GLS. I remember that it was a dream to drive in the winter too. It stuck to the icy roads like nothing. I also remember starting it up in minus 20 Celsius after it had not been driven for like a week, and the engine started immediately with no issues, which surprised me, really.
In the end we had to scrap it because the automatic windows stopped working, and they fell down in an open position, and there was no spare parts to get hold of.
my neighbour had a 1977 alpine in gunmetal grey when i was a kid, remember the tappety engine with a smile!
plymtube1 so did my parents: rust caused MOT failure at just 7 years.
OMG my dad's car! Thank you so much for reviewing it! He had a red Solara SX
Yet another first class review!
My Dad almost got a two tone Alpine when his long serving Hillman Hunter estate came to the end of its many years faithful service. Instead he was tempted by a Toyota Corolla (quite rebellious in the eyes of the local yokels at the time). After noticing the huge leap forward in quality he never regretted his decision and stuck with Toyota for donkeys years.
Nothing wrong with the sandals, they are what they are. Rattling engines, but good performance, remember them well from my early job in a garage in Camden Town.
Jesus!
......He wore sandals.....
A good rattle can be a good at dislodging stuff!
Great sandals! Fairmont sandals!
Ride comfort is harsher these days because we use less coils to 'wind up' the spring wire in less movement. We also are using a different type of steel to get away with this... which is also why, unlike in the past, we have to change so many coil springs on modern cars. With the sophistication of suspension geometry we now enjoy, it would be quite easy to return to old fashioned comfort without quite the levels of lean that were extant in these cars.
I agree with what you say about modern springs, I had a 2006 Fiesta ST from new and had to replace both front springs before 20k miles as they broke in two.
Very interesting, I've broken a few front coil springs in my time and a back one or two. They seam quite brittle although I've not broken aftermarket coilover's.
In the late 80s I was a car hire manager all we had were alpines and solara
A Talbot. A first for me and I want it. So simple and elegant, what a way to drive to work.😀
My Dad had an Alpine. Great car. Loads of space - decent turn of speed and good economy. Heavy steering and ropey gearchange though.
There is a great Chris Goffey old Top Gear report on these on You Tube - the one featured at the end of that report takes a bit of starting up too !
My 2nd car was a Talbot Solara GL (also with 5s gearbox), it was 10 years old when I bought it for only 450 Guilders (about €200) in 1994. I loved it! Comfortable, quite powerful for a 1.6 liter engine and great fuel economy too!
Following my comment the other day, I dutifully ordered HubNut beanie hat and car sticker. They came in literally a couple of days, super service. Sticker now proudly in the car and hat ready to be worn 👏🏻👏🏻. Great service Ian/whoever has been left in charge of the shop in your absence
My mums 1978 Alpine ... taught me to double declutch, and how to just put up with noisy tappets. Apparently they were self adjusting using some weird ratchet setup ... which meant actually they could never actually be in adjustment. And that gear lever ... stirring coconuts in a barrel with a broom handle .... but it went like the clappers when I was 17 & it was 6 years old. took all my camping gear and cider to surf trips to north Devon - great memories of the Alpine.
And yep ... hideous sandals....
I had the hatchback version in the early 80s as a company car. Mine was an automatic very comfortable drive and due to its typical French suspension it would cruise over speed bumps at speed
I had the Simca 1100 in dark metallic green, bought from the local car auction with rent and a ticket for £40!!! Ran it for two years and sold it for £100!! Everyone took the p155 but it was bombproof and took us all over the country.
Great. Not seen one in years, think I remember my uncle having a beige Solara in about 1987. Nice too see, cheers essdeewon.
Love the funky dash board buttons with the missing lettering
My Dad's Solara was one of the last, made in 85 registered in 86.
It was the final facelift model, which included a body coloured grill with fewer but larger slats, body coloured bumper aprons, steering wheel from the later 305 and stalks from the early 309 with a 309 gear lever. Bit of a parts bin special.
A very underrated car which was lovely to drive if somewhat tappety but only had a couple of minor surface rust issues.
Should have kept it really considering how few remain.
The engines couldn't be easily be converted to run on Unleaded fuel as they didn't have hard valve seats which is possibly why that one is running an lpg conversion.
I saw a B reg Rapier for sale about 12 months ago on one of the classic car sights, it was a car local to you with an EJ registration complete with Original Lyn Davies, Gwrthynt Garage, Aberaeron dealer sticker and plates.
The later models were better rustwise, but by that time sales were on the wane and Talbot's days were numbered. 😰
My father in law had a couple of these late 70s early 80s. The car was years ahead of its time ultra reliable and fantastic to drive. He clocked up many miles in both without any trouble, the only problem I can remember is the engine developing the Simca ‘Pea in a can’ top end rattle which never affected performance or reliability. The last one he had was badged as a Talbot sunbeam and it had Rapier side badges ?? One other thing to this cars credit.. I was an apprentice at Vauxhall motors Luton where they were building Magnums and the like, many Vauxhall employees bought the Alpine even though they were entitled to employee discount at Vauxhall. Great car which like you Ian I regret never owning, mind you at the time I couldnt afford one, spent my time and money keeping my Rover P6 going !!
Cheers for another great one Ian, loving the Croatia series and Congrats on 40 thousand! It’s been fun watching the subscribers grow over the years just keep hubnutting and they’ll keep coming 👍
Brilliant video again 👍 How many of us panel beaters are cringing at the memories of removing the bumpers from old Talbot's. ?
Ah, the car of my youth. My father had a red Solara SX. We had many family trips with this car and the Rapido caravan.
I had one of these in the ealy 90s. Had a lovely ride. Used to oversteer slightly on right handers just to add some fun. I agree that modern cars are way too harsh. It's got to the point that rather than have optional sports suspension, they need an option of comfortable suspension to replace the standard set up. Even Citroens no longer ride properly.
It's always the marketers and sales people that seems to bestow on the public that you need a car that handles like a Ferrari around the Nuremberg ring even though it's an economy car. If you like a car, you like a car. I've learn a long time ago to never listen to others try to tell me what cars to avoid. That's where Hubnut comes into play. He lets us love what we love. And i love Tasmanian Green on a Talbot. French cars for the win!!!
awesome to see a C6 car finally on the channel! I love Solaras even though I've only ever seen one (that said, i do have my Alpine so maybe my love comes from that!). You should definitely keep your eyes peeled for one, they can still be had at decent prices & from my experience restoring Annie, there are plenty of people willing you sell, if not, give you the parts you need to make the car perfect. The Simca club is the best place to go as they are very helpful, they have been to me & I'm not even a paid up member! Maybe that'll change. Wish you all the best with your big adventure!
Had one of therein 1987 the 1.6 le if I remember correctly. We had one of the worst winters I can remember but nothing stopped the Solara just ploughed through it. Gear leaver not good infact the linkage came off as I remember. Nice one. Thank you 🙂
Ah, fond Alpine/Solara memories here for me. My Grandfather had a silver Alpine after his lovely orange Marina... Anyway I don't recall much about the Alpine other than it being silver, obviously. He then had a C Reg beige Solara "Minx" runout model, presumably Minx being stolen from Rootes history somewhere. He had that until 1995ish when it really was very rusty indeed. Even though it probably wasn't, it seemed so much posher than my parents mk2 Vauxhall Astra (and just as rusty). He eventually changed it for a Peugeot 405 (another fine car)
Nice footage, brought back a few memory's, I had actually forgotten my Dad owned a mid Blue Alpine GLS, everything you pointed out rang true about his car especially comfortable suspension and seating. Also had a mate who worked as a Talbot junior salesman for a while, and regularly used part ex cars or demo cars as his company transport, I remember he had a mk1 Alpine for a quite a few weeks, brown metallic with cream vinyl roof " I know !!, very tasty looking motor ", If I recall correctly my Dads power steering mount broke, he was told it was a common fault, not sure of the validity of that fact though .
Have fun and keep up the good work
My dad had a metallic grey one with the Talbot badge. We borrowed it for skiing holidays and kinda wrecked it in the Ardennes near Bastogne. We limped to a closed nearby garage and spent the night in the two damaged cars ( yes we hit our friend's car). It was m8nus 15°C.....The next morning they mounted some kinda fitting light units and we went on to France. Our dad wasn't too delighted when we returned his car later on. Oh yeah, nice comfy car it had.
The late Lee Iacocca apparently came away impressed by the Alpine after trying it during development of the k car.
That K-car was a a legendary saviour and it's thinking was well ahead of its time - B(L)MC was always cheating, rebadging the whole car but these guys took a single architecture and fit completely different bodies on them - way ahead of VW. Iacocca was a damned exceptional motor exec., only making one major error at the end of his tenure.
Merv Stent Not before he’d taken all the good designs
Love the car, my uncle had one, also a GLS and looked so posh in that time. Many people turned their heads when you passed by. I guess my love for French cars started in that time when my father drove a hatchback Simca 1100 and my auntie a Simca 1000. After Since / Talbot almost half of my family changed either to Renault or Peugeot. What a time.
Thanks for this one . My first car was an 82 Alpine. Rust got her in the end even after all my tinkering.
I blame the likes of Top Gear for the obsession with over firm handling. I had a Seat Leon which felt like it had no suspension at all.
I had an (ex) girlfriend that liked firm handling!
You might need a new spine and a better car than a Seat
Motor journalists in general however Jeremy Clarkson complained quite a lot about cars with a spine shattering ride
James May hated hard suspension
I have an Infiniti Q50 and, despite the low profile tyres, the ride is very good. And yes, sure enough, the UK reviewers hated it.
What a nice car. Surely everything you need in a family vehicle. Nice example too and a good review as always Mr HubNut. (Liked the child-powered windmill as well.)
The owner of the Solara thanks you for calling it a nice car. Much appreciated. Only 6 in the Netherlands with a valid MOT currently.
This is another car that I'm learning of thanks to Ian -- never saw or heard of it before :). I was impressed by how spacious it was and that it had electric front windows -- I would have thought such feature was fairly uncommon in anything but a premium class car in the beginning of the 80's. I really liked the quirky interior and how spacious the car appears, especially in the back.
Had one of those Glass coolant bottles in my Horizon... It was part of my regular "under the bonnet" detail tasks to empty out the yellowy grey sludge and put fresh water in it... made a big difference LOL !!!
i had a 1972 buick electra 225 for a while. it was a serious land yacht, but it rode like you were sitting in a cloud. you felt nothing from the road, no matter how rough. it got around 10 mpg, and would cruise at 80 mph like it was standing still. every creature comfort you could imagine, except fully reclining seats, as that was really unheard of in the us at the time. plus, you could fit a family of four in the trunk, and still have room for luggage. i had a 2 door chevette that didn't have as much interior space as that trunk. it could've doubled as a nyc efficiency apt. lol!
Yes I love these and the Tagora. Sweet. My mum's brother worked for Chrysler UK take over era. I remember as a kid seeing loads plus the alpine, ranchos and Peugeots. There was a dealer in galashiels and Hawick so loads 😀 i love them all. The primary school street was lined with horizons samba and 305 petrol. The wall of noise as the owners went off to work in the morning.
Just amazing how Fiat DNA is inbeddes in this models. Simca having a Fiat connection.
The 309 Peugeot being the last Talbot badged model.
I have both of them, both do have their own charms!
I remember fondly my uncle's Alpine which was Blue with a Gold Starsky stripe
My grandfather had Talbot one from 1984 I suppose. Made in valmet automotive here in Finland. The first car I drove by my self around the age of six or seven years old. I remember the funny seatbelts from it that locked just the belt to a hook.
What a fantastic car
Body roll is brilliant and hilarious. We need more, not less! During the 1990’s there was a car called a Citroen Xantia Activa that apparently almost eliminated body roll. I thought ‘Why the hell would you want that. No fun at all!’ 😂😂
I worked at the Ryton Plant between 1978 - 1989 in the BIW and Paint as a body repairer/tinsmith. I remember working on the Alpine, Solara and Horizon . Then the Peugeot 309 and 405. Loved the GTI 1.9 and the 405 MI16! All gone now!!
Good to know this sir! If you fancy it, I could use some welding repairs at my Tagora! Regards of the owner of this Solara!
@@gti505 Can help but only if you live local to Coventry. Really liked the Solara, drove many in the plant but could not afford one!
I'll have to watch this again to see the car as I was totally blown away by the beautiful countryside!
My family used to have a Simca-Chrysler 1308 GT, and it was an amazing car for its time
Wow , great car . I never knew the history , so thanks. My brother had a couple of ailing Simca 1000's as daily transport in the late 70's and my neice had one as her first car ,circa 1985 which she loved !
B78SHP was My Talbot Solara Minx..I loved it, everybody else hated it . It was so Comfy
In brown, I don't remember that colour! That car's tax was last due April 2000. Sad...
In the 1980s, our sales people had Horizons as company cars and the sales manager had a Solara. Back in the day, they were terrible - the windscreen on the Horizons would pop out (body flex?) and the sales reps got used to bashing them back in with a fist. Then there is the well known 'bag of nails' tappet rattle. My mother in law had a Solara - hers was a good one which went quite well and had very soft and comfy seats. Despite the fact that they made Allegros look good when they were new, still great to see a survivor - now a lovely old car......
The Solara 1.6 engine also found its way to the Matra Murena. Using a Bagheera inlet manifold with dual carburettors and some tweaking made it happily deliver over 100 bhp.
Very underrated cars in the day. I believe that these were built in Colombia and badged as a Dodge. Not sure if it was the Alpine or Solara? Amazing! Loving your trip to the continent.
That's where the K-cars come from, the Simca Solara. Check it out...
A lecturer at college had one. Light blue with colour coded bumpers as I remember. For some reason I think of this car as the first one I ever saw with plastic non-metal bumbers. Could be wrong though, but I remember it being a smart looking car.
I had a Solara as a company car. The LS so no power steering so the steering was very heavy. It was slow and after about 60000 miles things started going wrong but up until then it had been reliable. The engine was crude and rattly. The big plus was it was very comfortable and soaked up bumps. Handling was not really an issue as it didn't really go fast enough to encourage chucking it about. Overall I was glad to see the back of it
Quite a decent motor of the era , from same group of companies and a good looking car Chrysler 180 not seen one for at least 20 years
We've had 2 alpines, one a pre-facelift 1979 T reg GL and a facelift a X reg GLS both were 1442cc and carried us all over. Loud but comfy.
There can't be many Talbot's of that era left on the roads now. I used to own a 1980 Talbot Horizon 1.3 GL and apart from sounding like a sewing machine it was fairly responsive and very comfortable. It started to rust when it was about 18 months old and for some reason it used to break throttle cables regularly. I got used to driving home using the manual choke as the accelerator. Everywhere is within driving distance, if you have the time! I still think it was one of the nicest looking cars I ever owned!
That happened to me with a classic Mini. It could do 40mph on the flat with the choke.
Goodness this takes me back,i bought a 2 year old Chrysler Alpine S in 1979,i ran that car for about 3 years & it racked up 90k miles,in all that time it never missed a beat,despite supposed mods for adjusting the tappets they never worked the 1442cc engine sounded like a "bag of nails" when i bought it & sounded the same when i sold it,one thing id remember it was very comfy,typical of French cars of the period.
Lovely!
I’ve been rather fond of the indicator sound as a kid already. Such a joyous sound 🥰
Great video!
Speaking of the indicator:
Indicating left, if you wish to exit a roundabout on the left, is only done in the UK, not on the continent. You only ever indicate (right) upon leaving the roundabout 😊
Another one I’ve never heard of. I like the way it looks.
I had one. The suspension was great and really comfortable. The big problem was the door handles. When you pulled the handle it would jam and lock you out. Apart from that, great car.
"is this button the headlights?"...*click*..."no, is this button the headlights?"....*click*...TURBO BOOST!
Loved seeing you test this and you are spot on, it's a real classic. I had an early Alpine in space hopper orange. It was incredibly spacious with the transverse engine and the suspension was fantastic. It had long torsion bars on the front. Iirc the Peugeot 205 was the first car to have anti roll bar drop links. VW copied the Alpine body design to create the Mk1 Passat. But they made it very Germanic under the skin.