Sunbeam-Talbot
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| Private unlisted company | |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | incorporated October 11, 1902 in London, England |
| Founders | Clément and Talbot |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
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Key people
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William and Reginald Rootes |
| Products | Cars |
| Brands |
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| Owner |
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Sunbeam-Talbot Limited was a British motor manufacturing business. It built upmarket sports-saloon versions of Rootes Group cars from 1935 to 1954. As Clément-Talbot Limited it had made Talbot cars since 1902. It was bought by Rootes brothers in early 1935 and re-organised to make Rootes Group cars also branded Talbot.
In 1938 after some years of consideration the Rootes brothers dropped plans to make large luxury cars branded Sunbeam, added the name Sunbeam to Talbot and put the extra name on both the cars built in North Kensington and the company building them.
After the Second World War Sunbeam-Talbot production was resumed in London then in Spring 1946 it was moved to Rootes' new factory at Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire and Clément-Talbot's North Kensington works became a Rootes administration and service centre.
Until acquired by Rootes in 1935 this North Kensington business had manufactured "thoroughbred" high quality Talbot cars and limousines. When it began in 1902 the company's name was Clément-Talbot Limited and it kept that name until 1938 when it was changed to Sunbeam-Talbot. Initially an independent public listed company on the Clément-Talbot was bought in 1919 by A Darracq and Co. Later, in 1920, Darracq bought control of Wolverhampton's Sunbeam Motor Car Company Limited but kept all identities quite separate. In August 1920 Darracq was renamed S T D Motors Limited to recognise the gathering together of Sunbeam Talbot and Darracq under one ownership.
in late 1934 S T D Motors was obliged to sell Wolverhampton's loss-making Sunbeam and North Kensington's then profit-making Talbot and they were bought by the Rootes brothers. A provisional agreement with Rootes Securities was reached in January 1935 and from that point Rootes controlled Clément-Talbot. In the summer of 1935 Rootes Securities announced they had bought Sunbeam Motor Cars. Sunbeam designs had not been brought up to date and Wolverhampton's production ended. During 1937 Humber Limited, controlled by Rootes, bought Clément-Talbot Limited and Sunbeam Motors Limited, which continued to build buses, from Rootes Securities Limited.
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