Description
Imperial War Museum | Duxford, Cambridgeshire
Viewing: Tues 8th April from 12pm
Auction: Wed 9th April from 9am
1965 Sunbeam Tiger MK1
Rare, home market example and freshly restored
Estimate
£35, 000 - £40, 000
Registration No: BEH 504C
Chassis No: B9472725
MOT: Exempt
Understood to be 1 of just 3, 763 MK1 cars (the vast majority of which were built to LHD specification)
Acquired by the vendor, an accomplished engineer, as a stalled restoration project
Known to the Sunbeam Tiger Owners' Club for many years and pleasingly retains its original 260ci engine
Discretely uprated cooling system and 14-inch Minilite-style alloys but otherwise essentially stock
Credible but unwarranted 73, 000 miles
Accompanying history file includes photos of the restoration / reassembly
The Sunbeam Tiger was conceived in the West Coast of the USA and inspired by the success of the AC Cobra - the result of mating an American small block V8 engine with the British AC Ace. Rootes American Motors Inc. saw the potential for inserting the same powerplant - Ford's 4. 2-litre (260 cu in) 'Windsor' unit - into the nose of the stylish but rather pedestrian Sunbeam Alpine. Carroll Shelby was duly commissioned to build the prototype and the rest is history. The basic layout of the Alpine was retained and the car featured independent suspension at the front using coil springs, and a 'live' axle at the rear supported by semi-elliptic leaf springs. The 164bhp engine endowed the newcomer with a top speed of around 120mph and a 0-60 mph acceleration time of under eight seconds. A total of some 7, 085 Tigers were eventually produced, including 536 of the now very rare 4. 7-litre MK 2s.
More information to follow
