Talbot-Simca 1610

Talbot
	Chrysler 160
160/180/2 liter / 1610
Production period:	1970-1981
Class :	Middle class
Body versions :	Limousine , station wagon
Engines:	; Petrol engines : 1.6-4.0 liters ; (59-121 kW)
Length:	4525 mm
Width:	1730 mm
Height:	1430 mm
Wheelbase :	2665 mm
Empty weight :	1065-1130 kg
successor	Talbot Tagora

Rear view

The Chrysler 160/180/2 Liter - also Chrysler Simca 1610/2 Liter or Talbot-Simca 1610/2 Liter - was a passenger car of the upper mid-range of the car manufacturer Chrysler Simca .

The background

The main Simca plant in Poissy originally belonged to Ford Société Anonyme France ( Ford SAF ). When Ford withdrew from the French market, the Simca company, which emerged from the Fiat general agency, acquired the Poissy plant and with it - among other things - the rights to MacPherson struts, which were used in the Vedette, which was built by Simca but still developed by Ford. French art drivers used the Vedette for their acrobatic masterpieces until they later switched to the Simca 1000. The French President also drove Simca for a while in the 1950s, including a Simca Vedette Présidence . These were even available as Chambord Presidential Cabriolets, also intended for the French President.

In 1958, the American company Chrysler acquired shares in Simca.Thus, Chrysler was represented in Europe with three main pillars: In addition to Simca in France and Barreiros in Spain, it also held considerable shares in the British Rootes group , which in 1967 became fully owned American ownership passed. In the first ten years of its European commitment, Chrysler did not even begin to harmonize its branches. The British and French pillars in particular acted more or less independently of one another until the late 1960s. There was no networked development and no synergy effects; Rather, Simca in France and Rootes in Great Britain regularly developed independent cars that competed in the same market niches and sometimes also directly competed with one another. This applies, for example, to the French Simca 1300 on the one hand and to the British vehicles on the Arrow platform on the other hand, but also to the Simca 1000 and the Hillman Imp . Since the late 1960s, Chrysler has tried to replace this uneconomical coexistence with an effective coexistence by developing uniform cars for the British and continental European markets in the future. The Chrysler 160/180/2 Liter was a first step on this path.

The history of development

In both the British and French markets, the Chrysler brands needed a new vehicle for the upper middle class in the 1960s: Simca had not served this market in France with their own cars since the Simca Vedette (Beaulieu-Chambord ) and its four-cylinder variant Ariane had been discontinued. Instead, the American-designed Dodge Lancer , Plymouth Valiant and Dodge Dart were offered, which were assembled by AMAG Automobil- und Motoren in Switzerland and sold through the Simca sales network in France. In Great Britain, the Rootes Group initially offered the Humber Hawk , which was presented in 1957, but it was getting on in years and was finally canceled in 1967 in order to be replaced by the Chrysler Valiant from Australian production.

Concepts

Both Simca and Rootes worked on their own cars for the upper middle class in the second half of the 1960s:

The project 929 was created in France , a smoothly drawn limousine with a body design by Simca, Bertone and Chrysler.

The Rootes group, however, under the direction of Roy Ax developed the so-called C-Car, an enlarged version of the B-Car that became known as the Hillman Avenger . The C-Car had an American-inspired design, comparatively bulky lines and a relatively high belt line that swung over the rear wheels (“Coke-Bottle-Line”). Rootes envisaged three versions: a base model for the Hillman brand , a sporty version for Sunbeam , and a luxury version with a six-cylinder engine, which was to be sold as the Humber . As with Rover, a De-Dion axle was provided for the rear suspension and the car was to have a five-speed gearbox.

Both projects were well advanced when the American Chrysler management realized that it made little sense to develop two competing models for parts of the European market. In spring 1969, after analyzing both concepts, Chrysler decided to pursue the development of the British C-car alone; the French Simca 929, however, was abandoned.

The development of the new car

This paved the way for an Americanized external form. In return, Simca was commissioned to design the interior and, above all, to develop the technology under the sheet metal. Simca then largely pushed through its own ideas. This was primarily noticeable in the choice of engines. While Rootes had provided 1.8-, 2.0- and 2.5-liter engines - the latter was a specially designed six-cylinder V-engine, the development of which had already cost 30 million pounds - Simca took part in the decision View of the displacement-dependent French vehicle tax for four-cylinder engines with 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 liters displacement and overhead camshaft made in France and a four-speed gearbox. Versions of this engine were later also available in the Talbot Matra Murena 2.2 , Talbot Tagora 2.2 , Peugeot 505 Turbo and in the Citroën BX TC . From 1977 they were equipped with transistor ignition .

The 160 had a 1639 cc engine with 58 kW (79 hp) (from mid-72 with 59 kW (80 hp)) and a top speed of 155 km / h . The 160GT and the 180 had an 1812 cc engine and they reached 170 km / h. For the Chrysler 2 liters, the displacement was increased to 1980 cm³ ( bore / stroke 91.7 mm / 75 mm), compression ratio 9.45: 1, 110 SAE-PS at 5600 min ⁻¹ .

The construction of the rigid rear axle on four trailing arms and Panhard rod came from Simca and corresponded to that of the Simca 1300 , which appeared in 1963 . The front wheels were individually suspended on MacPherson struts with wishbones. There was also a rack and pinion steering.

The body range was limited to a four-door notchback sedan. Other variants were not implemented. A five-door station wagon and a two-door coupé were created in individual pieces; however, they were never intended for series production and rarely left the factory premises.

Model chronology

the initial situation

The heavily Americanized Chrysler France models developed in Coventry appear in August 1970 and were introduced at the Paris Salon in October 1970. In France the car was marketed as Chrysler-Simca and was initially called 160 , 180 and 2 liters ; in the UK, on the other hand, the car was only called Chrysler. This was unusual in that the Rootes Group had numerous well-established brands and so far no car produced in Europe had received the name of the parent company as a brand name.

The modifications in detail

During the eleven years of production, the Chrysler 160/180/2 liters experienced almost no model updates. At first sight there was a lot of movement; However, these were largely changes to equipment and engines. There was neither a meaningful further development of the technology nor was the design revised.

The model names changed frequently in the individual years, although a particular logic was not always recognizable. While the model designations initially corresponded to the cubic capacity of the engine used, a combination of cubic capacity and (French) tax formula was introduced later, and in the last few years of production the model designation was partly completely detached from the engine size. For example, the British Chrysler 180 was equipped with a 1.6 liter engine from 1977. This model was called Chrysler-Simca 1610 in France, but from year of construction 1980 (with the 1.8-l engine) it was not, as the name indicated, in tax bracket 10, but in tax bracket 11. The (according to its own system) The correct name of this car should have been "1611" from 1980; however, such a vehicle has never been sold.

Chrysler 180

Only in Spain: Chrysler 180 Estate

The Chrysler-Simca 160 presented in October 1970 had a gray radiator grille , disc brakes on the front wheels and a dashboard with three round instruments; the GT with 97 hp engine, which was delivered to Germany until July 1972, had disc brakes on the rear axle as well. The 180 was initially the top model from Chrysler France, which the radiator grille with the two red horizontal stripes and the bumper horns made recognizable. In 1973 an inexpensive two-liter car was added ( Chrysler 2L ). The two-liter Chrysler was delivered exclusively with a TorqueFlite automatic transmission purchased from Chrysler USA . With the 180, the automatic cost extra, but came from BorgWarner .

From September 1, 1971, the name SIMCA was replaced by Chrysler France . The new trademark completely replaced the individual SIMCA letters on the cars. The Simca 1501 was still being produced for export to use up supplies of parts, but was reintroduced in France due to poor sales of the Chrysler 160/180. The Chrysler 180 was also exported to Australia. There the model is called Chrysler Centura.

In mid-1972 the Chrysler 2L was presented to the public at the Amsterdam Auto Show . It was available from January 1973. This luxury car was only offered with an automatic transmission and had a vinyl roof .

From August 1976 the Chrysler 180 was renamed Chrysler-SIMCA 1610 , the Chrysler 2L was renamed Chrysler-SIMCA 2 Liters . The SIMCA emblem reappeared on the car. The Chrysler SIMCA 1610 replaced the Chrysler 180 while production of the Chrysler 160 was discontinued. In Germany the car has since only as Chrysler Simca 2L, optionally available with manual or automatic. The automatic transmission represented the standard equipment, while the manual transmission was delivered at a reduced price on customer request.

In the summer of 1978, the newly founded PSA group took over Chrysler Europe and with it the Chrysler-Simca brand. Chrysler Europe was given the name Talbot , which was also used for the individual vehicles from summer 1979: the Chrysler-Simca 1610 became the Talbot-SIMCA 1610 , the 2L models were renamed Talbot-SIMCA 2L . The Talbot nameplate appeared on the hood, but the Chrysler Pentastar remained in the center of the grill. In the last full year of construction 1980 there was now a manual transmission.

Production of the 1610 / 2L ceased in July 1981 in France. Only in Spain, where it was also offered with a diesel engine from Barreiros , did production continue for some time, because there the car sold very well as a taxi. There was even a station wagon version called Estate .

Production of the Talbot Tagora later started on the production line of the 2L.

In summer 1980 the successor Talbot Tagora , developed as Chrysler Projekt C9 , was presented, but was discontinued in autumn 1983 due to low demand. In June 1986, PSA discontinued the Talbot brand entirely.

Reception in the market

The big Chrysler sedans generally sold poorly. Neither on the British nor on the continental European market could they prevail against their competitors. There were different reasons for this. In extensive tests, the press found no particular weaknesses, but also no outstanding strengths of the car. As MOTOR magazine wrote in early 1971, it was “an average car in every respect”. In addition to the lack of special features, the fact that the new, large Chrysler was not accepted as a local vehicle in France or Great Britain due to its development history, but was perceived as a foreign model in all markets, which was also reflected in the European taste, had a negative effect unfortunate design documented. The first year marketing didn't help support the car's position. The advertising initially supported the impression of arbitrariness. At the presentation, the new car was presented as "An American From Paris".

Chrysler Centura

A variant of this model was the Chrysler Centura, which was built in Australia from mid-1975 to late 1978. There he should add a car below the Chrysler Valiant to the model range . Since larger engines were preferred in Australia, the Centura received the 1980 cc engine of the European 2 liter as its base engine . In addition, it was also available with two six-cylinder engines with 3,500 cm³ and 140 hp (103 kW) or 4,000 cm³ and 165 hp (121 kW) taken from the Valiant. In order for the larger six-cylinder engines to fit into the car, the front end was lengthened and redesigned compared to the French model. He took up the - primarily established at Ford - design motif of the Knudsen nose . The Centura also received other rear lights. Chrysler Australia also made some attempts to fit a 5.2 liter eight-cylinder American production into the Centura. Although the engine was located in the engine compartment of the Centura, the body structure was not strong enough to reliably support the heavy engine. Therefore, the idea of an eight-cylinder Centura was abandoned after the production of individual prototypes.

The introduction of the Centura on the Australian market, planned for 1973, was delayed because the Australian trade unions had called for a boycott of all French goods because of the French atomic bomb tests in the South Pacific. As a result, the parts imported from France could not initially be unloaded in the Australian ports. When the Centura was finally on sale in the summer of 1975, it was criticized in the press as an already outdated model. Even more problematic was the fact that many metal parts that had been stored in Australian ports for up to two years had corroded during the waiting period and had to be installed in a clearly rusted condition.

The Centura was not a success and was removed from the range at the end of 1978. A total of almost 20,000 copies were made.

swell

Automobil Revue , catalog number 1973 (for technical data)
Graham Robson: The Cars of the Rootes Group. London 2007, ISBN 978-1-903088-29-6 .

Web links

Commons : Chrysler 160 - collection of pictures, videos and audio files