Faults:

Nothing mechanical. Quartz clock not working, but haven't investigated it. It might only be disconnected.

General Comments:

Well built car that goes surprisingly well and can keep up with modern traffic.

I'm lucky enough to have seen this car for sale with only 21k miles on it, full service history, no rust and a fresh mot. It's in superb condition, given it's 37 years old. I picked it up and drove it 430 miles home and it never missed a beat.

It also returned 42 mpg over the journey that was at 60 to 65 mph on the motorways.

To say these cars are French is an understatement. They've long travel suspension, plenty of body roll and it glides over bumps and road imperfections in a manner that would make any Citroen or modern car jealous. It uses a torsion bar suspension at the front with coil springs and trailing arms at the rear.

The seats are soft and comfortable in the way French cars used to be.

These cars were badged as Simca's in France and Talbot's elsewhere in Europe. Peugeot who had taken them over wanted to revive the Talbot brand. Right hand drive models were built in England and left hand models built in France, Spain and Finland.

Rust ravaged early models and it was only the series 2 models from 1982 that received better rust protection. Even so, there's only a handful of these cars left throughout Europe in regular use.

The Horizon is really a rebodied Simca 1100, with which it shares the chassis, much of the suspension and the drivetrains. The engines 1.1, 1.3 and 1.5 were Simca units built in Poissy in France and although sometimes criticised for being noisy and tappety (when neglected particularly) they're pretty much unbreakable and are overhead valve units with pushrods and timing chains. Peugeot used the 1.1 and 1.3 in the 309 and these 'Poissy' engines are better and longer lived than many of the Peugeot designed engines that later replaced them. Many Poissy engines did stellar mileages unheard of in their time, before needing overhauled.

The early Horizons used a 4 speed Simca gearbox, whilst the series 2 models had the 5 speed box used in the Citroen BX and the Peugeot 309. The 5 sp gearbox is much better.

These cars are very simple by French standards, which is a good thing as they're easy to service and work on and no need for special tools.

I had a Peugeot 309 with the 1.3 Simca engine and I drove it daily for 4 years and it was brilliant. To compare the 309 with the Horizon, the Horizon feels more solid (it is heavier) and feels more of a classic French car. It's better finished and the cost cutting that became the norm in the late 80s and early 90s is less obvious. The 309 had some plastic panels and was much more basic in finish. The 309 felt quicker (due to less weight), but the Horizon feels like a bigger, more substantial car, although size wise they're about the same.

If you can get a decent Horizon, I'd advise you to buy while you still can. They're every bit as French as a 2cv, yet more rare and about half the price at most.

Faults:

Valve work needed.

General Comments:

I enjoyed the car. It was the top of the range model. It was a good car, although I know many people had problems - I had few.

I liked the Disco look interior. I assume it was very American even though it was a French car.

Faults:

Electronic ignition failed twice. Eventually gave up and fitted mechanical ignition instead.

The distributor failed when the rotor arm came adrift from the shaft. After many calls to the nearest dealer, I fitted a distributor from a Simca (which has the same engine).

Ignition timing was always going awry.

Brake calipers replaced twice. Ignition timing needed constant adjustment.

Servicing always cost a fortune. All spare parts were almost unobtainable, even when the car was being made.

The paint quality and body protection was poor. By 1986 the body had rot everywhere.

General Comments:

It had its good points. It had big, comfortable seats, lots of room front and rear, and a big boot. This is important if you have two growing kids!

Loads of wheel travel and good damping made it ride pretty well, even on really lousy roads. One of the few positive memories I have is driving to a slate quarry in North Wales, where the road had bomb crater sized potholes which the Horizon just didn't seem to notice!

The tiny 1142cc engine seemed to cope reasonably well with lugging about nearly a ton of metal, but was very noisy, especially on the motorway.

The car had the agility of a charging bull and the stopping distance of a car ferry.

Body corrosion is an endemic problem with all Chrysler/Talbot vehicles of this era. When I part exchanged it for a Ford Escort, it was in borderline MOT pass territory.

My kids have cars of their own now, but remember the Horizon more fondly than I do. I think the body corrosion has killed them all (Horizons, that is).