Talbot Horizon / Born: 1977 - Died: 1985: The Horizon was designed by the European division of Chrysler as a 5-door hatchback to replace the popular but aged Simca 1100. Because it was built on a shortened Chrysler Alpine chassis, it was wide in track for its class, giving it a rather pleasing and even powerful look.
It was designed to be a "world car", for use both in Europe and America, and though the products on either side of the Atlantic looked very similar, they were in fact quite different.
It got a good start when launched, winning the European Car of the Year 1978 title. But that was also an inauspicious year for Chrysler Europe, which collapsed and its assets were bought by Peugeot. The French company couldn't use the Chrysler name - and rebadged the car as a Talbot, a brand which had long been buried by Peugeot.
Early models were built in France, but soon production was also inaugurated in Britain. The Horizon in Europe used the proven and reliable Simca-designed 1.1-, 1.3- and 1.5-litre engines. A tendency to rust was the only early problem in the body area, and it was a serious enough one, although rust occurred in most mass-produced cars at the time. In the meantime, its cousin across the Atlantic was to sell well in a time when compact cars were gaining in popularity following a series of oil security shocks. In fact, it could be argued that it pulled Chrysler USA back from serious trouble because it didn't have other suitable cars for the time.
It was marketed under Plymouth and Dodge brands, as the Omni in the latter. The panels looked the same, but were not interchangeable with the European versions. And under the metal, the American cars used the newer McPherson strut suspension instead of the torsion bar set-up inherited from the Simca 1100. They also used larger engines, sourced in America. Initially these were 70hp 1.7-litre VW units designed as Golf powertrains, and subsequently 1.6-litre Peugeot engines which were actually an original Chrysler design. Later a 2.2-litre was added to the US variant, and by the third year of production most of the US cars had this engine.
A Series II Horizon was introduced in Europe in 1981, with minor improvements. One major one, though, was better rustproofing. Other refinements included a 5-speed gearbox and headrests on all but the base model. But because it was selling in a very hotly-contested small family car segment, with key competitors including the Renault 16 and the VW Golf, sales in Europe were falling. The Horizon has one footnote in automotive history which is interesting in the light of today's high use of diesel engines in Europe. In 1982 it was offered with a 1.9-litre diesel engine, the first to be designed for use in a car; up to then, any diesel power in cars came from van engines.
In 1985, Peugeot killed the Horizon and sold the moulds to Volkswagen, which continued to build the car as a VW model in South America. In the US, versions were built until around 1990, when it was discontinued, largely because it fared poorly in crash tests against the competition of the time.
A replacement for the Horizon had in fact been developed when Peugeot decided there was no more percentage in the Talbot name. It became the Peugeot 309, and if you look closely you can see style cues that indicate from where it evolved. Although not remembered kindly in Europe, mainly because of those noisy engine valves and some transmission difficulties, the Horizon sold over its life some 3 million, a respectable performance. It deserves its place in automotive history for one other reason: without it in the US, it is quite possible that there would be no Chrysler brand today.