I’m not sure how to treat this one. The seller has a history of restomodding old classics to a high standard; the predecessor to this project brought $55,000 at an auction in 2008. So unlike some of the butchered results out there, this car has actually had modifications partially completed to a high standard. Now they are passing it on as an incomplete project. It’s located in Springfield, Missouri and is up for sale here on eBay, where bidding is less than $1,000 but the reserve hasn’t been met yet. Thanks to Charles H. for this intriguing find!
I’m sure some readers tuned out at the word restomodding in the paragraph above, and that’s fine; I respect that. But there are times when an old car is just that, an old car, and I think it’s okay for some restomodding to take place. I’m not sure this one fits that for me, but I’ll let you judge that for yourself. The seller has created a custom nose to resemble a BMW 328. It looks like they have also written out their plans for finishing the car directly on to the body.
On the left, you see what this car would have looked like originally. On the right, you see the original Sunbeam Alpine, which was based on the Talbot but with a sleeker two seat body. It appears the seller has attempted to perform similar modifications on the rear of this car.
You can see from these time lapse photos what the seller did to the rear of the car. It actually does look very similar to the Alpine, although the Buick wheels ruin the effect.
It will be interesting to see if someone is interested in finishing this car. The seller mentions that the original drive train has been removed but does not say if it is still available, so my guess is it isn’t. Which leave the question where does one go from here? The body certainly looks to be in pretty decent shape; would you continue with the restomod plans, or try to restore the car? Or something else all together?
This is a Talbot – not to confused with a French Talbot,in which
the last t is silent.
We had one at our import car show here in Eureka,CA today.
Greetings All,
angliagt, I see a Volvo, A Bentley and possibly an Alpine, but no Talbot.
If it sells for under, say $3000 it could afford a slew of opportunities to turn it into soemthing really cool. A twin-cam straight 6 mimicking an old BMW maybe? Could be fun
Stick a 454 in there that would be fun
Poor thing.
I’d say follow through with the sellers concept I’d however would put in a 60’s/70’s gm inline six with a 4 speed on the floor behind it. I’d want at least the 250cid may be with fuel injection on it. I’d paint it emerald green with charcoal gray fenders. Finally some wire wheels. This would be a fun car to finish.
The Buick wheels make it look suspiciously cheep.
I would say a BMW 6cyl, not an M engine.
Wire wheels would be cool.
Make a nice touring car, not a hotrod.
These are great platforms to produce something very cool. Small block Ford or Chevy, 4-speed. Bag it, lower it, etc
. Greetings All,
This works as long as the reserve isn’t set too high.
The work already performed, a little suspect, at least looking at that grille opening with rivets holding it together.
Shudder to think of the other work performed with these type of skill sets.
Lose the BMW/Bristol grill. And the Buick wheels. Follow through with the Alpine conversion and source a proper set of steel knock-offs. Is there space enough for a 260 Ford? A Tiger badge would be overdoing it, though.