In 1979, Peugeot took over the European division of Chrysler/Simca and renamed it Talbot on both European and French markets. It continued to produce the Chrysler-developed Sunbeam , 1510 (Alpine in UK), Solara and Horizon models as well as the Hillman Avenger. But at the beginning of 1982, Peugeot replaced the Talbot Sunbeam with the three-door Samba which was basically a reworked Peugeot 104 fitted with 1.1 L and 1.3 L petrol engines.

The Talbot Samba was very much the same as the Peugeot 104 and Citroën LN/LNA on which it was based, smooth ride, good handling, low asking price and cheap running costs. It sold reasonably well in Britain and France until it ceased production in 1986. In that year, Peugeot discarded the Talbot name for passenger cars although it was retained until 1991 for the Talbot Express van.

A convertible version was produced by Pininfarina from 1984. A concept car Talbot Samba Copacabana was also shown.