Developed from the Simca 1100, the Chrysler Horizon was launched in France as the Simca Horizon in January 1978. The old Simca 1118cc and 1294cc engines were offered, with the larger engine being detuned from the Simca 1100 TI 82bhp. The body was dimensionally almost exactly the same as the Simca 1100 on which it was based but designer Roy Axe gave it 3inches more width. UK launch followed as the 'Chrysler Horizon' in October 1978, and the Horizon won the Car of the Year Award in 1979. Peugeot took over Chrysler Europe and rebranded the cars as 'Talbot Horizon' in 1979. There were American versions sold as Plymouth and Dodge but the similar looking cars had no panels in common with the European versions. A Series II Horizon went on sale in 1981 and in 1983 was revamped with a higher parcel shelf and consequently black-painted lower part of the rear screen. A further update was made in 1985 and increasingly Peugeot-sourced components were being fitted, so that its replacement Peugeot 309 was mechanically similar.