As promised, here is British sports car company Armada's 1978 offering: the Talon.
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As part of a multitude of motorsport oriented relatively small outfits that popped up and struggled not to fade into the obscurity of history, Armada was frantically trying to convert from the big displacement V8s of the muscle car era, which it was fond of shoehorning into long swoopy Berlinetta bodies. With a tight production budget, the engineering department scrambled to find a solution to making something more durable and efficient, yet without sacrificing the overall grunt. In their most adventurous move yet, the Talon ended up with a 2.0L 18v i6... with a turbo. The whole unit was light enough to give the Talon a relatively good balance, yet packed enough punch to give the car a superior power to weight ratio (think 200bhp:ton), and having it shift through its 5 speed swiftly, with a 0-62mph time of under 7s, onto a quarter mile under 15s. And because the whole thing weighed less than a ton and had optimally balanced brakes featuring front discs, it boasted superior cornering and braking, too. The suspension was tuned for great responsiveness, with barely any understeer, but like all true sports cars, had knife-edge handling, with very little warning before the front wheels let go completely. Yet up to that point, the car was well planted, pliant, offering both sportiness and drivability in spades.
The downsides? Being a budget sports car, the trim is a little frugal. Think the basic seats, basic 8 track, basic safety. And it's a bit of a joke, trying to squeeze 2+2 in a coupe this shape. And there's no power steering, or ABS, for maximum sport feel, so to speak. Who am I kidding, most of the budget went into the fancy engine. Armada couldn't afford to develop any niceties in a car that was really supposed to be a showcase for its new powerplant.
Fri Apr 17, 2015 11:53 am 
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