Talbot Sunbeam-Talbot 90 History

Built by the Rootes Group's Sunbeam-Talbot division, the 90 was launched in June 1948 as Rootes' first all-new post-war model and its first car with an overhead-valve engine. Offered as a saloon and a Thrupp & Maberly drophead coupé, it was a stylish, sporting mid-size car.

It evolved through Mk I, Mk II, and Mk IIA versions (engine growing from 1,944 cc to 2,267 cc; coil-spring independent front suspension added from Mk II), and from 1954 continued as the Sunbeam Mk III — at which point the 'Talbot' portion of the name was being phased out by Rootes. Strong results in the Alpine Rally gave the model its greatest legacy: those successes led directly to the Sunbeam Alpine sports car of 1953.