IXO-MODELS - TALBOT - SUNBEAM LOTUS (night version) N 16 RALLY MONTECARLO 1981 G.FREGUELIN - J.TODT

A surprise victory, the one clinched in the 1981 World Rally Championship by Talbot. Thanks to the continuity of the results obtained during that season, the British company clinched the Makes by betting everything on the Sunbeam Lotus which had debuted in '79, winning the following year the home race of the RAC with Henri Toivonen. Although Talbot scored only one win, in the Rally of Argentina with the Frenchman Guy Fréquelin in 1981, it clinched the success among the manufacturers, finishing six more times on the podium. The Sunbeam Lotus, campaigned until 1983, was a 3-door sedan homologated in Group 2. Powered by a 4-cylinder in-line 16-valve engine of 2,174 cm³ positioned at the front (like the traction) and with a power of 250 hp at 7,000 rpm, this sedan with a steel load-bearing structure used a 5-speed ZF gearbox plus reverse. The front suspension was with McPherson independent wheels and rigid axle with longitudinal arms in the rear. The weight was 1,015 kg, while the wheelbase measured 2,415 mm.