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Talbot Samba
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The Talbot Samba is a supermini car manufactured by the PSA Group in the former Simca factory in Poissy, France and marketed under the short-lived modern-day Talbot brand. Based on the Peugeot 104, it had the distinction of being the sole Talbot to be engineered by PSA alone (not inherited from Chrysler Europe like other Talbot cars), the last new Talbot to be launched and the last to be produced. Its demise in 1986 was effectively the end of the Talbot brand for passenger cars.
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The Talbot Samba is a supermini car manufactured by the PSA Group in the former Simca factory in Poissy, France and marketed under the short-lived modern-day Talbot brand. Based on the Peugeot 104, it had the distinction of being the sole Talbot to be engineered by PSA alone (not inherited from Chrysler Europe like other Talbot cars), the last new Talbot to be launched and the last to be produced. Its demise in 1986 was effectively the end of the Talbot brand for passenger cars. Launched initially as a three-door hatchback, it was also for some time the only supermini available in a factory-ordered cabrio body style and at one time the most economical car in Europe.
Development
Background
When the PSA Group (formed in 1976 after Peugeot bought out its competitor, Citroën) took over the former Chrysler Europe in 1979, one of its first decisions was to rebrand all the models manufactured in the French and British factories to Talbot. Among the models inherited from Chrysler was the Scotland-built rear-wheel drive Talbot Sunbeam, the sole supermini in the lineup.
The Sunbeam was originally conceived by Chrysler as a stopgap model, developed to keep the Linwood works running (it was based on the running gear of the earlier Avenger made there), while helping the company maintain a foothold in the growing supermini market. Aware of the fact that a more modern car was needed to compete with upcoming front-wheel drive rivals, Chrysler did undertake some development work on a shortened version of Chrysler Horizon (which had the development code C2), dubbed C2-short, but it was stopped due to Chrysler's financial woes and plans to divest Chrysler Europe.
After the takeover, PSA decided that the Linwood operations would be unprofitable to maintain and thus that the plant should be closed, which meant an end to both the Avenger and Sunbeam model lines. This further emphasized the need for a new supermini in the Talbot lineup. On the eve of the 1980s, PSA's supermini lineup consisted of models based on the veteran front-wheel drive 1972 Peugeot 104, which came in a shorter three-door and longer five-door version. Citroën rebadged the short-wheelbase 104 as Citroën LN, while the long-wheelbase chassis formed the base of the five-door Citroën Visa.
Decision
In 1979, PSA decided that the new small Talbot will also be based on the 104 rather than the Horizon. Keeping the common underpinnings allowed the new model, known internally as project C15 (later renamed to T15 to reflect the brand change from Chrysler to Talbot) to be launched as early as 1981, in time to replace the Sunbeam when Linwood would close. In order not to create too much internal competition with the Horizon and Peugeot's planned 104 replacement (which later became the Peugeot 205), the shorter version of the 104 platform was chosen. This made the projected model slot in size slightly below popular superminis, such as Ford Fiesta, but above smallest cars, including the about-to-be-launched Austin Metro.
Styling
As with previous Talbot and Chrysler Europe models, styling of the T15 was the responsibility of the British design centre in Whitley, Coventry. The stylists were limited by the need to retain the entire body structure of the 104, and allegedly were given Peugeot's own proposal of a 104 facelift to start with, yet the car emerged as different and more modern-looking enough than its progenitor. Only the bonnet and tailgate were actually shared, and the car got a distinctive front end in Chrysler/Talbot "international" style.
Launch
Production of the new car started in October 1981, and it was officially launched as the Talbot Samba in December. Unlike the Horizon, 1510/Alpine or Solara, which were made simultaneously in France and England, the model was assembled only in Poissy. The engine lineup included three versions of the four cylinder PSA X engine, which the Samba shared with its Peugeot and Citroën siblings, coupled with three trim levels. The base LS came with the 954 cc XV, the GL with the 1124 cc XW and the top-of-the-line GLS with the largest 1360 cc XY. The GL came across as "Europe's most economical car" according to the official EEC fuel consumption figures, bettering the previously triumphant Renault 5, but later lost the title to the Austin Metro.
Cabrio
In order to make the vehicle stand out in the market of similar cars (including in the first place its own cousins), Peugeot added a more glamourous body style to the standard three-door hatchback—a two-door cabriolet. Announced at the hatchback's launch, it only arrived in 1982, being designed and built by the famed Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina, who had been building open-top Peugeots since the 1960s. It came only with the 1360 cc engine, in two versions, producing either 53 or 59 kilowatts (72 or 80 PS) (the latter was dropped after 1984). At the time of launch, it was the only cabrio supermini available straight from the manufacturer, though other models joined the segment created by the Samba later on, including PSA's own Citroën Visa Decapotable. In total, Pininfarina built 13,062 Samba cabriolets.
Rallye
Following the rallying successes of Simca 1000 and Talbot Sunbeam, PSA launched the Samba Rallye. Fitted with the 1219 cc XW version of the "X engine", delivering 66 kilowatt (90 PS), it came in either white or red, with a hood scoop and side stripes. In 1985, a version with the 1360 cc unit producing 59 kilowatt (80 PS) was launched, albeit this time without the stripes. A special rallye-only Group B model, officially called Peugeot Talbot Sport Samba Rallye preceded the later Peugeot 205 T16, with a 1285 cc, 96 kilowatt engine (130 PS).
Later developments
In 1982, the "Talbot Group" was merged into Peugeot within PSA, and the responsibility for the model was now lying entirely in France. The Whitley design studio was dissolved, with some designers crossing over to British Leyland, joining their former boss Roy Axe. Already in 1982, PSA started working on the upcoming replacement for the Samba, which was to be based on the Citroën AX. A few prototypes (essentially rebadged AXs) were created in 1983/84. The Samba sold reasonably well through 1982 and 1983, but later sales suffered not only due to the model's aging, but also the launch of the very popular Peugeot 205, which created powerful (and successful) internal competition for the little Talbot.
In order to maintain the interest in the Samba, PSA launched a few concepts and special versions of the Samba in the later period of the model's lifecycle. The Copacabana was a Samba-based concept car, featuring body elements painted in garish colors. It preceded the 1984 Samba Sympa production model, targeted at "young buyers", which came in silver metallic paint, with a choice of yellow, red or blue highlights and either a radio or a sunroof. In 1985, the sunroof became standard and only yellow highlights were available. The Samba Bahia (marketed as Samba Trio in the UK) was a 1985 model, also targeted at younger customers. It came with the 1.1 litre engine, denim-covered seats, and a sunroof, and was painted in metallic blue.
Samba was not the only Talbot model that saw customer interest faltering - in fact, as the 1980s progressed, all Talbots began to sell rather poorly and the range was gradually phased out. Finally, PSA grew ready to pull the plug and kill the Talbot brand altogether. The Citroën AX was eventually launched without a twin, and the only other Talbot in development, the Arizona family hatchback, was launched as the Peugeot 309. The Samba Style model was launched in the UK, which had both the radio and sunroof as standard (but not the colorful highlights) essentially to facilitate the sales of the last Samba series. After the production ended in 1986 at 270,555 Sambas made in total, the Talbot brand for passenger cars ceased to exist. It was, however, retained until 1992 for the Talbot Express, one of the Sevel Sud vans.
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