Vintage Car | Chrysler Alpine | Drive in | 1976

'Drive in' reporter Peter Hughes Puts the Chrysler Alpine through its paces
First shown: 30/03/1976
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Quote: VT13437

[@Vics251]

I was working in a Chrysler dealership at the time. It’s true the engines did rattle a lot, but they never fell apart. We never replaced an engine in the ten years I was there. The real weak spot was the gearbox, we were always rebuilding them.

[@Jonathansyoutube]

I had a talbot Solara, and it did rattle with the tappets. Eventually had them adjusted and the rattling came back after two weeks. The engine was incredibly reliable though.

[@stephenconway2468]

I had a Horizon and the gearbox taught a lot about double declutching

[@stuartwilkie4887]

I've always wondered Vic - and you seem to be the one to ask. Why did they make that rattling sound? And what could you realistically do to cure it? I believe they were OHV units with push rods for the valves - something to do with the set up of those? Looking at the car here. The paint and panels of the car are very straight and free of imperfection. Shame they rusted so quickly....

[@andrewknight6853]

the engines were very noisy as you say but i never had any problems with them, i am surprised about the gearboxes you mentioned, because we didn't have any problems with them ether, it was rust that seemed to be the real problem with these cars!

[@rob5944]

I'd welcome a breakdown for a little peace and quiet!

[@richardparkin4930]

Great alternative to Leyland offerings. Unfortunately. Loved this era for cars….in fact loved the era. Was Tony Bastable ever really replaced. His presentations were top class and down to earth. Happy days.

[@kingfisherautomotif9884]

I love the way the bumpers are 'pre-faded' from the factory ;-)

[@darenliddle4411]

ye complete with rust

[@herrfister1477]

Agreed. Disgusting.

[@McVaio]

​@@darenliddle4411Plastic can't rust.

[@RayQuenched]

Just in case anyone is interested, this was filmed at what would have at the time been called the Road Research Laboratory in Crowthorne, Berkshire, more recently known as TRL. Sadly this great test track was recently bulldozed to make way for housing.

[@BillCarrIpswich]

Much like most of our industrial heritage. There is going to be plenty of places to put people in Britain, just not a lot for those people to do.

[@TheAllyMor]

Great shame....

[@gerrywatson261]

Yeah - that figures! I heard same thing going to happen to the airfield Top Gear use.

[@64bakes]

@InfiniteMushroom the majority of new housing is for middle class residents, not "Muslims" or "immigrants". Where on earth did you get that idea from? The fact that the housing proposals have been planned and put forward by Legal & General for "downsizers, young professionals and families" says a lot. Oh and by the way, the development includes plans for a care home too.

[@660einzylinder]

I think they used the track in an episode of Morse about a murderous driving instructor.

[@userwl2850]

1.30-140 excellent gearbox and engine???? 🤤 they rattled like a can of marbles and almost impossible to change into 3rd gear without a crunch.

[@richards9407]

Ah but they were ok when they were new, for about 2 weeks.....

[@Phaidrus]

lol

[@grahamariss2111]

I had several, Simca box was a little slow and could balk when engaging 1st, I never felt it crunch on the down changes, certainly as good as the maxi or Renault fwd boxes of the time.

[@Phaidrus]

Well, a certain degree of manhandling was required for proper gear shifting.

[@alunevans2002]

Christ

[@amigachris]

ancient engine sounded like a bag of nails.

[@craigstaggs8597]

True but you can't break them !

[@1hugeturdsundae]

1976; I can picture Benny Hill in one of these cars with all the strippers, nurses, cops, the voyeuristic perverts in the tree outfits, the little old guy he always speed-slapped across the head, and many others he pissed off in about a 20 second time frame, running behind the car, chasing after him. Hill, driving the car, and the very long line of people after him, are zigzagging on the road, peoples yards, through their house etc. in high speed motion with 'Yakety Sax' playing in an up-speed tempo: "Du du dudu du du du du, dududu du du dudu du du dudu dudu du du dudududu du du du dudu du du, du du du dudu du du dudu du dudu dudu du du du dududu du du dudu, dudu du du du du dudu du du du du du du du du dudu du du du du dudududu."

[@notroll1279]

That's best of British in the 1970s: Happily testing a thouroughly cheesy car - and finally bringing up the main criticism that it isn't actually that British at all. Aaarrghh….

[@CaptHollister]

It's always good to be reminded that before Volvo and some Japanese brands offered them, rear wipers on hatchbacks and wagons were not considered normal equipment even on mid-range cars.

[@nicnak4475]

Great value cars second hand to buy in auction at the time and always sold fast , engine rattled if not serviced correctly but were very strong , very spacious , was a time when the car trade was fun .

[@bogfinken]

Oh the rattling sound of the engine brings back memories of these automobiles.. My parents had a well abused copy, very soft comfortable sofa seats, very noisy engine and a rumbling exhast sound, crazy body roll and the gearbox was just terrible! But the tin-worms just loved the all of the body panels unconditionally!

[@bonkeydollocks1879]

I had two for my first two cars , simca engine rattled its t*ts off , rusted with enthusiasm , must have worn out three MIG welders in total but could not kill it , even as my first cars . great for shagging in also . fits one petite redhead in the back nicely.

[@richards9407]

:) :) :)

[@darrenwilson8042]

one petite readhead endorses this message - ha ha ha ha ha

[@johnparkinson881]

i had one for my first car too (pvh657t) was ok i guess but i soon upgraded to a ital 1.7 in jps black n gold lurrvly

[@davidfarmer2049]

A little bit too much information there, mate.

[@garyrothwell1914]

is the redhead still going?

[@mindoza44]

overhead carmsharft (his pronounciation not mine) . never ohc. rattly auld school pushrodder. 11

[@mikemartin2957]

Aye , he dropped a Clanger there! It remained a push rod unit well into the late 80s & 90s when Peugeot used it in the smaller engined 309.

[@edkennedy6120]

chrysler ruined the rootes group of cars when the took over in the mid 60s , they to went belly up.

[@phil955i]

Pre sun-faded bumpers ;-)

[@trefod]

All hail the valve clatter. They sounded distinctive that's for sure.

[@k.m.4611]

now it's clear what the Moskvich 2141 was cloned from...

[@kyle8952]

Wasn't much of a clone. Soviet auto minister walked in with a blurry photo of one, said "build me one like that" and walked right back out. Biggest shared part between them is the lightbulbs.

[@benwilliams6081]

I had noticed 5he resemblance...

[@PanProper]

Z całym szacunkiem ale,... jedzie pan po niewłaściwej stronie jezdni...🤭

[@volvo480]

I remember those as a Chrysler-Simca 1307/1308 and their subsequent Talbot versions on the Dutch roads, they were everywhere because they were relatively cheap. I say relatively because like most cars of the seventies they were rusting really, really badly (bad steel, poor corrosion protection), I remember a newspaper article that calculated the average lifespan of a Simca to just 8 years. The engines sounded like a typewriter but went on forever. Of the tens of thousands sold in the late seventies, less than 20 are roadworthy today.

[@stuwhite2337]

It's not overhead cam and the gearbox is bloody awful! I think a brown envelope may have been involved 😂

[@harrydawes6188]

I remember working in a talbot dealership in 79 ,the Alpine sunseeker looked great in white with black decals and alloys,quite sporty and went well.

[@regplasma7906]

Looks like a serial killers car.

[@davidmorland4046]

My Dad owned the Talbot Alpine & drove many thousands of miles in it each year the only replacement part it needed other than normal servicing was a waterpump it was TOTALLY RELIABLE and very economical they were very underrated cars.

[@MarkAtkin]

That's filmed at the Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL) in Crowthorne, Berkshire. Its now been privatised, and is TRL limited.

[@hutchie5972]

I had one just like this. Drove beautifully and was ideal for the five of us except for - bits fell off and it rusted in front of your eyes. I traded it in for a Talbot Alpine. The body was perfect but the engine blew up.

[@morrismckinnon6047]

Tailgates rusted on these like nothing I've ever seen before! I went to open the hatch on my mates car in the 1990's and the bottom part lifted with a crispy crunch but the frame and glass stayed down! Good cars, bad quality metal.

[@richardrichard5409]

Well, to be fair, it could of been over 20 years old by then😉

[@philcampbell3168]

They really did have some god awful cars in the 70s

[@derekevans8266]

I had one of these for a couple of years around 1976 but it was badged as a sunbeam. It was quite reliable I only remember one problem the oil pressure light would flicker on on tick over. I dropped the sump changed the oil pump one night it was fine after that. The gearchange was awful though. I bought it second hand and found that when I went over about 50mph on the motorway the whole car started to shake violently, I took it back and the garage they did all the checks but couldn't find the problem. It had one of those insurance warranties I think it was called silver shield so I took it into the main agents in Leigh, the engineer put it up on the ramps and said straight away that one of the drive shafts needed changing. Apparently there was a fault with the drive shafts they were out of balance when they were new and it should have been recalled and replaced. It was replaced under warranty and it was fine after that. Nice car but noisy.

[@fatbhoy2002]

Look at how parched the landscape looks. 1976 enjoyed a very hot and dry summer in the UK and here in Ireland; it looks like it's been filmed in Spain or something.

[@alfamonk]

those bumpers! i remember hearing theses rattling around in the 80s

[@sauluribe7082]

Looks like a Volkswagen Passat chassis. In the states it was called "Dasher" the Volkswagen that is.

[@tanglewood777]

had one in 85 great car better than any shitty ford of the day

[@kevodowd5282]

Mine rusted and fell apart!

[@SG3-wd40]

I had one of these after I passed my test in 1987 me and my dad were doing something to the exhaust one, day as we banged something the headlight fell out and smashed ,I was fuming but my dad was crying with laughter. It was just a deathtrap rustbox...but aaah the great memories 🤣

[@matthays716]

In 2018 there only 5 left in the uk

[@BANAANISOSE1789]

I LIKE IT AND THE CARS FROM THAT ERA

[@alanoconnor6921]

Luckily enough Morris marinas all came with a complimentary bus timetable,

[@diegoyanesholtz212]

This car remembers a lot the VW passat. Did they copied the designe from this car?

[@marcushmp]

I had one of these as my first car, it was the 'S', not what I would describe as sporting.

[@johnstairs]

Agree I worked for Leyland at the time of the Triumph Acclaim launch,yes it was a re badged Honda Ballard but was streets ahead of the Maxi and Maestro just needed to be a five door.

[@rob5944]

Once again, I can see the benefits of joining the EEC.........doh!

[@hjp1hjp22]

There are no more than 40 Chrysler Alpine hatchbacks and the later Talbot badged Alpines from 1980 including the saloon version called Solara still running in Britain today.

[@video99couk]

It was a much more advanced car than the Avenger but nothing like as much fun to drive.

[@aidy2073]

I was just born 😂wot a pile of 💩

[@theobster]

We had a yellow one, 1300, engine sounded like a bag of spanners but it was completely reliable, the only thing I remember being replaced was the clutch and front wheel bearings. As a child I remember it being big and comfy, it used to swallow all our camping equipment easily. It was written off after a truck smacked into the drivers side front wheel and literally pushed the engine 6 inches to the left, It was trailered home and somehow managed to drive under it’s own steam onto the scrappers lorry! I remember my mum crying as it drove away, she loved that car!

[@RickB50SS]

Had 79 model in NZ in 87. Rattle and Rust. The later 1981 5 speed had a lucky dip gearbox, were as much $ as a cheap house andxwere all rusted out by 1990. Garbo overated quality, a waste of a good design concept. Computer was a joke.

[@80sfordman]

He forgot to mention the front parking sensors in his review 😂

[@Larryloafer488]

It was a sad car, however, the presenters coat is still mint

[@ryszard68]

Flawed design. If it wasn't for the completely uneccessary inner wheel arches or those pesky shock absorbers there'd be more room for stuff in that boot.

[@luviskol]

The way those things rotted that wasn't an issue for long

[@nikamota]

Colin Pollock 😆

[@nlpnt]

IIRC they did better with the Horizon. I moved my aunt across town in two trips in my '81 Omni, took everything except the couch and bed.

[@mariog4707]

“a complete absence of roll” - well not looking at it cornering in this video. Maybe he’s comparing it to an Austin Maxi.

[@area51isreal71]

Here in Australia, Chrysler were looking to replace the Centura (Chrysler 180) and they had an Alpine here for evaluation. Apparently the engineers loved it but it was ruled out because of costs and memories of the nightmares of trying to assemble the French sourced Centura properly. They went with the Mitsubishi Galant instead, called it a Sigma and sold every one they could assemble.....and then some.

[@seanoconnor6832]

area51isreal m

[@caribbeancarchannel2]

My father had the similar Simca 1510. it was a very modern car, looking like an aircraft inside. Other brands like Audi havent been on that high interiour level...

[@laurentivanez2955]

Simca 1307

[@julesviolin]

My Father had one. Bloody awful car. Very noisy tappets engine and body rusted away in no time. Fairly reliable though. We soon went back to the Triumph marque for luxury and styling. Dolomite Sprints and 2500S TR6 and Stags. Ran these for years. Check the prices out now !!!

[@CORRIGEEN71]

Love these crap car reviews priceless! 😊

[@stephenbedworth3404]

Had five of these noisy rattly engine head gasket problems but generally reliable, never had one where the heater worked properly !!!!!!!!

[@andysaunders3708]

We had these in NZ, and the "Avenger Alpine", which was a rocket at the time. But naming 2 cars the same??? Few instruments? Are you blind??? More gauges than a thing with lots of gauges. Very odd comment.

[@oliveroneill1388]

is that angus deaton , on the vox,

[@RETROCAM73]

These Drive in programs are really good you need to show the whole program I love the older cars 1976 I was 3 😊

[@garydunn3037]

In 76 I was 18 and my father sold these, amongst others for a living. MostEuropean cars of that era looked really drab. We used to go to car Auctions and I much preferred the look of many of the American cars of that era, if only they had made them a bit smaller for our roads. Loved the little Mustang 11 as used in Charlie's Angels, it was the size of a MK4 Cortina,but looked far better,

[@thomash2806]

How have Chrysler, Ford or GM (owner of Vauxhall from 1925) ever been British???

[@660einzylinder]

Because, as you point out GM bought a British company and kept it as a separate, British operation. Ford of Britain was again a separate operation (after 1932) to Ford America and Ford Europe. Chrysler bought the old British Rootes Group and tried to operate it as a British only business for some years. OK the owners may not have been British, but the operations, designs and factories were. By the time this film was made there was some cross over with all three and their respective European operations.

[@RB747domme]

4:34 panel gaps & ill fitting rear door.. Oh dear oh dear oh dear.

[@johnazhderian5734]

A typical 1970's non-Japanese car.

[@howellstevens9622]

Neatly styled,but that engine & white bumpers!

[@hughwaddell5772]

It is still a British car to an extent it’s a descendent of the Rootes group! Which originated in Coventry! And operated in Coventry until 2007! Except where they built in France not Coventry?!

[@Gilerajohannes]

My grandmom had one and the thing that killed it was rust, but manny cars did suffer from rust, the car before this was an Hillman Avenger with the hocky stick rear lights, and my grand moms last car was an Opel kadett 1,6i I liked that car but it suffered from poor manantinace, if I remember right after some years when it got a new owner the engien was worn out but the paint allso suffered from discolouration it was parked outside and not in a garage how rust did not kill it I don't know

[@Wizerud]

"you get an overhead camshaft, a cross flare alloy cylinder head, and a twin choke carburetor" today's car-buyers: 🤪

[@jackdaw339]

I always liked this car.Love the way the engine sounds too.

[@brianfearn4246]

One of the worst cars ever built by man. The only thing they had in common with other cars was thay had round wheels. Even the gear lever looked like a bogbrush.

[@johnstairs]

Horrible cars these. Shocking gearbox and rattling engines.

[@bigkev8949]

These were used in my city as taxi`s in late seventies, very rattly engines and horrible gearboxes....not well liked.

[@davewilliams1414]

Sounded like a bag of spanners and rotted so fast you couldn't keep.with it...

[@Sww1975]

What happened to the bumpers??

[@paulcan58]

I knew when my wife was coming home from streets away in the Alpine 😅

[@christopherhulse8385]

Pile of junk! I'll have a Cortina or if my money can stretch, a Granada!

[@robertneptune8456]

overhead camshaft , in my opinion simca has overhead valves not overhead camshaft!!

[@leonshackleford9585]

I ❤the Chrysler Talbot Alpine in Grasshopper Green & Navy Greens

[@motowade29]

I think Chrysler would have been better off selling the Reliant K over there rather than that POS.

[@darrenmeears4667]

A load of rubbish engine sounds like a bag of spanners

[@andysaunders3708]

Yep. The gearbox was piss-weak, sadly.

[@fransam1961]

Nails in engines.horrid engine. Better to have used the avenger engines....

[@fasthracing]

European car of the year I believe

[@TherymasterWidnes]

Jeez, Mr Hughes is thrashing this heap to within an inch of its life!

[@thedr.feelgood]

We had one , when I was a kid. WTD 411T

[@whodeanimania712]

i had on in red BET 469T.. Ls 1440cc got it in 1985 (paid £995..died in 1989....was my first car.. quite big as i remember..twin webber,nippy.. but rust was faster,and engine cracked,due to an oil leak

[@vicfulcher9834]

When did you last see one of these

[@thebitlot]

Looks somewhat like a cheaper Rover SD1

[@cyborgbadger1015]

my dad had an orange one with brown bumpers and tinted windows n stripes.

[@nwoerad3806]

Good description of a dirtbox.

[@RoadCone411]

Like so many British (and British-designed) cars from the 1970s, this car had a great package but the execution was lacking, if I'm kind, and downright terrible if I'm brutally honest. The Alpine was a technological leap forward versus the beloved Hillman Hunter it replaced in the UK, and overall it was modern if not ahead of its time as far as the five door hatchback packaging. There were crumple zones designed in, and the car should have been quite economical with the small engines and a decent shape/aerodynamics. However, any desirable functionality the car may have had was negated by the awful build quality, the horrifying propensity to rust, and the agricultural engine/gearbox relationship. It was uncomfortable and unreliable, and overall was nowhere near as good as a Golf, and probably worse than all of its 'rivals' as mentioned. Not helping matters at all were the financial woes of its parent company, Chrysler, meaning there was a lack of meaningful investment for replacement or even further development beyond small running changes. On the British market, the outgoing Hunter was seen as a robust, traditional and sensible car, everything the Alpine was not. Much like the Austin Allegro which replaced the 1100/1300 series, the Alpine was seen as a worse car than the vehicle it was designed to replace. Perhaps all that criticism is a lot to put on one car, and history tends to judge these things more harshly. But the facts are that just three years after the car was launched, Chrysler Europe would cease to exist and just six or seven years after that, all remnants of what used to be the traditional Rootes Group (Humber, Hillman, Singer) and SIMCA in France would disappear from the passenger car industry forever as Talbot rationalized into the PSA Group. It's kind of sad, actually, but this car had a lot riding on it for its various makers. Unfortunately quite a bit more quality and investment was required for the Alpine to truly have a chance at saving Chrysler/Talbot in Europe.

[@07wmtc]

SIMCA disappeared due to Chrysler's financial situation in the US, they sold the company to Peugeot to get some cash in 1978 (Then Peugeot changed the name to Talbot). SIMCA didn't disappear due to the Alpine (European car of the year 1976). I had golfs MK1 and II (the MK2 I had, was a total POS), and if I had to compare, the Alpine was way more comfortable and had a better road handling (Its direct competitor was the passat and not the golf). Alpines were prone to rust, but they weren't unreliable, I know one which had 750 00KMS (468750 miles) on the original engine, the gearbox issues were due to linkage, which in the long run can cause synchro problems (My VW MK2 had the gearbox replaced too).

[@judethaddaeus9742]

Wasn’t this car more in the B1 Passat size class? Dimensionally, the Alpine had a much longer wheelbase, and was a bit longer overall than the VW. The Passat also came with 1.3, 1.5, and 1.6L engines, similar to the Alpine. The Horizon, and the Simca 1100 before it, was Chrysler/SIMCA/Talbot’s Golf competitor.

[@judethaddaeus9742]

@@07wmtc Chrysler also badly mismanaged the two companies and severely hamstrung SIMCA’s ability to turn a profit by royally screwing up the top-rung 180 series and then failing to put it right, keeping the 1000 in production far too long without a supermini replacement, launching all-new models in the Horizon and Alpine series without the body variants necessary to compete, and keeping the ancient pushrod engines far too long.

[@07wmtc]

@@judethaddaeus9742 Chrysler Wanted max profit without investing a lot, but Peugeot litteraly Killed simca by many ways...

[@judethaddaeus9742]

@@07wmtc By the time Peugeot took over SIMCA, they had nothing in their product pipeline except the Tagora and a shortened Horizon to replace the Sunbeam. SIMCA had nothing going for it that the Peugeot and Citroën marques weren’t already set to offer. As it was, not enough customers wanted a quirky, utilitarian Citroën, and hardly anyone was buying the big 604, either. The Tagora was the wrong car with the wrong styling at the wrong time and almost no one bought it. The Horizon and Alpine were set to be replaced by a single model, and the Samba set to be replaced by a rebadged Citroën AX. Logistically, there was never going to be much of a future for the company once they fell into PSA’s hands because those hands were too busy propping up Citroën at the time. Maybe if Renault hadn’t struck a deal with AMC, they would have taken SIMCA in and pushed their own brand slightly upmarket to give SIMCA some room to live. But even then, the cars would eventually just become low-rent Renaults anyway.

[@jon-ie4li]

OHC i don't think so, listen to it, rattles like a pig.

[@fredsshed266]

Pre-faded bumpers from factory. Great.

[@lunes-1]

Great video,keep it up!₩13

[@jeroenjansen2709]

Any car will appeal to Marina survivors.

[@johnduqu4392]

What a piece of shit that Dodge 1500!!!!!

[@johnstairs]

Nice brown flares!

[@Kiinell]

The white bumpers were a horrible idea.

[@bangtwister]

Tappets need adjusting, I still have the special tool as well!

[@bigvinny333]

I adjusted the tappets on mine with the door key. They key ring slot fitted perfectly over the slightly rectangular valve adjuster top allowing for a spanner on the securing nut.

[@stupossibleify]

Well, I'm sold.

[@ST-ur7oh]

Did people actually talk like this ?

[@speedmachine69]

Have a word with his trousers!

[@gazookerman1328]

Let's be honest..,these cars were shite!!

[@mrsneaky2010]

Usual 70’s crap, was a bad era for cars...