Finished in Forest Green, this 1967 Sunbeam Tiger was sold new in San Diego, California, and is one of just 536 MkII examples built between December 1966 and June 1967. Under the hood, a 289 CI V-8 engine is backed by a 4-speed manual transmission, the entire scene very racy, a true icon of ’60s motorsports. Fitted with the egg-crate grille and polished, original 13-inch Minilite wheels wrapped in new Kumho tires, it also features a new black soft top with a matching black interior. Passengers will adore the leather-wrapped Lecarra steering wheel, bucket seats, center console and woodgrain dashboard with Jaeger instruments. Complete with the tool roll, owner’s manual, restoration records and photos, and a Certificate of Authenticity from the Sunbeam Tiger Owner’s Association, the open-top motoring season is fast approaching. Using a Hillman Husky chassis to underpin it, Barney Roos with Loewy Studios designed the Sunbeam Alpine Series I roadster for 1959. The Alpine joined the legion of open-air, two-seater, smaller-displacement sporting convertibles flooding the market from Europe, but had a kind of distinctive American flair. Finned and handsome, it bore a slight resemblance to the 1957 Thunderbird but delivered just comparable performance to the competition, which thwarted sales as its price was higher than most contemporary roadsters. Rootes Group, which owned the Sunbeam Car Company, knew something had to be done—more power had to be delivered. They spoke with Ferrari about using their 4-cylinder engine, but that didn’t work out. Then, Jack Brabham and Stirling Moss, using an Alpine at the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix of 1962, discussed the idea of dropping a Ford V-8 into an Alpine with Norman Garrad, Rootes’ Competition Manager. Working with both Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles, two prototypes were built and one was sent back to England for Lord William Rootes to examine and test drive. Word was, when he found out what was going on in the USA with the Alpine, he was very unhappy. The Alpine, packing a re-engineered chassis, a 260 CI V-8 engine and a 4-speed manual transmission, arrived and he was thrilled. He loved the drive and immediately signed off on production. The Series I would arrive in showrooms in 1964 and be known as the Tiger. It would have a slightly restyled body and, of course, the small-block Ford V-8 under the hood. Sustaining production through 1967 with multiple improvements, just over 7,000 would be built.
