Not Sold. Please contact us
“In the Alpine the needs of a sports motorist with a young family are met. It is attractive, stable, safe, and unquestionably fast in spite of the emphasis placed on long-distance comfort. The world’s markets are overdue for such a car.” The Autocar, 4th September 1959
Praise indeed and well deserved especially when one factors in the meagre development budget at the disposal of the Sunbeam engineers in the austerity of the 1950s. Faced with exactly the same challenges (a lack of budget) and opportunities (the Sports car hungry “world market”, specifically the USA) as their rivals at BMC, their solution was not dissimilar. The demand for quirky (but not too quirky for the mass market both companies needed to crack) British roadsters from returned Second War forces personnel was immense but necessity being the mother of invention meant some clever lateral thinking was needed in lieu of the sort of funding required to bring a clean sheet of paper design to fruition. Instead, the engineers took a walk through the Rootes Group’s Ryton-on-Dunsmore factory stores and helped themselves to anything they needed off the shelf so to speak. Pre-existing components from albeit well engineered mainstream products such as the Rapier and Husky were blended into a cocktail aimed squarely at the Americas right down to its tail fins and generous (by plain-jane Brit standards) amounts of chrome plating. This left enough in the piggy bank to splash out on the performance goodies such as disk brakes and a new alloy cylinder head with twin choke carburettor which ensured the Alpine had the stop and go of a true sports car.
With the likes of The Autocar praising the Alpine’s dynamics - its relatively short wheelbase making it a wieldy device while 78 BHP ensured the magic 100 MPH was within touching distance (Motor fell just 0.5 short, The Autocar managed a 101 one way best) - its style credentials were endorsed when it became the very first Bond car, appearing in 1962’s Dr No as the hire car of choice for the Too Cool For School 00 agent; some might argue its ability to duck under inconveniently placed cranes also helped with its selection but its impact had been made.
Competition has always been a strong suit for Sunbeams going back to the ‘1000 HP’ Land Speed Record holder of 1927 and the previous generation Alpine (the clue is in the name) acquitted itself admirably in 1950s rallying in the hands of, among others, Stirling Moss and Sheila van Damm. The 1959 onwards series of Sunbeam Alpines continued to have some rallying success despite larger engined competition from Austin Healey and Triumph, with Rosemary Smith’s Coupe des Dames win on the 1963 Tour de France most notable. International circuit racing highlights include winning the Index of Thermal Efficiency at Le Mans in 1961 while multiple successes came in the Sports Car Club of America’s production oriented series’. Back in Blighty, Bernard Unett secured the prestigious pinnacle of club racing ‘Fredy Dixon Challenge Trophy’ in 1964 with his ex-Works prototype.
The Alpine was offered in two forms, the ‘Gran Turismo Hardtop’ with luxuries such as a walnut dashboard, wood rimmed steering wheel and hard top (but no soft top) all standard equipment, while the ‘Sports Tourer’ model made do with more functional trim but importantly it had an excellent soft top arrangement complete with a very neat metal lidded cubby for the hood, similar to the Mercedes SL. Given the UK’s weather, removing the hard top and venturing out with no protection from the elements at all was always something of a gamble (Mercedes rolled the dice in much the same way with the SL ‘California’, the clue being in the title…).
With five distinct ‘Series’, the Alpine saw service until 1968 utilising the same basic building blocks with tweaks to its styling and mechanical specification. On reflection, it is perhaps a blessing that production ended before the accountants pinched the pennies and the world had a taste bypass, saving the Alpine from the moulded plastic dashboard, deck chair seats and rubber bumpers that ultimately sullied the good name of its toe-to-toe rival, the MGB.
The Series IV, as so ably represented here, benefited from a good few years of model development and hence enjoyed the most powerful iteration of the sweet-spot of the range 1600 engine, better resolved rear suspension and the lower tail fins more appealing to the European market.
Registered on 24th November 1964, according to the V5C on file this Alpine has had just three owners from new, the last since 2011. Prior to that it was owned by a Miss Beverley Jones of St Neots, Cambridgeshire who acquired it in April 2009 suggesting its original owner retained it for some forty-five years.
We have sold a few Alpines and have to say this is one of the nicest with pretty much the best ‘stance’ of any of them. While wire wheels are generally considered de rigueur as far as 1960s sports cars go, in our view they tend to look a little contrived in the 13” diameter as fitted to Alpines and the slightly wider ‘Mini Lite’ alloys on this example suit it perfectly. First impressions out of the way, a critical look at the body shell indicates it is in exceptionally good condition with very good to excellent panel gaps all round. A hybrid of monocoque body shell with belt and braces cruciform chassis welded to the floor pan, the Alpine has stood the test of time far better than many separate chassis or less well-built unitary construction machines. That’s not to say they can’t rust for fun, it is just that this one seems to have been particularly well looked after.
The paintwork is of a similarly good standard with just a couple of small chips to areas such as the trailing edge of the driver’s door, the boot lid and adjacent to said lid’s hinges; please see the photo gallery. A really good depth and shine has been achieved and of course red really is the colour for a car such as this.
Continuing the high standards set by the more immediately visible parts of the Alpine, its underside is not only very well protected but one can clearly see how good the structure itself is. Seams are sharp and even with absolutely no sign of corrosion and as far as we could see it has never been welded. Mechanically, the back axle is a little moist but no more than that and it is nice to see an original ‘Shell’ tag still attached advising (actually insisting) which of their products should be used. The engine and gearbox appear to be admirably fluid tight for a machine of this era. Some suspension components are a little ‘road use’ grubby and there is some surface rust on the front disc brake shields; on the upside, at least these oft abandoned items are present and more than serviceable. The front brake callipers look to be relatively new or recently overhauled and a top quality Double S stainless steel exhaust system still has its maker's labels attached. A new starter motor dated 2020 is also present.
The Sunbeam’s American influenced styling means there is plenty of chrome-work and this is for the most part more than acceptable though there are some imperfections and evidence of corrosion in a couple of places, again these are shown in the photo gallery. Period wing mirrors are a nice touch and these are in good order as are the myriad badges which leave observers in no doubt that this is a Sunbeam Alpine Series IV.
Mini Lite alloy wheels wear barely worn examples of the excellent Vredestein Snowtrac all-weather tyres encouraging year-round use of the Sunbeam.
The relatively new hood is for the most part in excellent condition though there are a couple of slight marks to the window which would probably polish out. There is also a very slight nick in the vinyl as shown in photo gallery. It fits well with just a few very light wrinkles which might well disappear with higher ambient temperature - spring had clearly been delayed when we photographed the car.
The windscreen and side windows are all in good condition with no major chips or scratches and the lights, be they glass or plastic, are also very good.
With the hood up, the more square shaped windows of the later cars made for ease of ingress and exit. To Sports Tourer rather than GT specification, the interior of the Alpine is still a very nice place to be without the need to gild the lily with items such as a wooden dashboard or steering wheel (to be clear, it does have a steering wheel but it contains no wood). The well-shaped seats look to have been expertly retrimmed with no scuffs or tears, their appearance lifted by smart red piping. The carpets are relatively new though there is a small section of edge binding coming away as shown in the photo gallery. Original items such as door handles and window winders are of very good quality and remain in nice order. The well stocked dash houses a full complement of Jaeger instruments (just that bit classier than Smiths’ versions) with both metric and imperial markings an indication of the importance of the export market and particularly the USA for the Alpine.
The engine bay is very neat and tidy with the inner panel-work correctly finished in body colour. The temptation to over polish the alloy rocker cover has been resisted with instead time and money spent on ensuring the mechanical components are ‘au point’, as evidenced by the twin choke Weber carburettor in place of the original Solex item, an effective and widely approved of upgrade.
The capacious boot area is super solid and its paint finish is almost as good as the engine bay’s, despite the majority of if normally being hidden behind trim panels and a ribbed rubber floor mat. It contains the correct jack and original looking centre zipped tonneau cover.
The engine fired easily with a little choke on a chilly morning and it settled into an even idle, though the 2,000 rpm indicated on the Sunbeam’s tachometer is clearly overstated (an apparently surprisingly common characteristic of Alpines). With a little heat in the system, 55 psi showed on the oil pressure gauge. The slim rimmed steering wheel is ideally weighted, perfectly matched to the period and character of the Sunbeam; communicative with just the right balance of ‘heft’ and delicacy. The Borg Warner three speed automatic gearbox is easily controlled by the ‘T’ topped shifter and on the move it quickly and smoothly changes up through the gears.
Taut and torquey, supple and sprightly the Alpine could teach some modern sports cars a thing or two about on the road driveability, never mind style and sheer fun. Generous tyre sidewalls easily dispatch road surface imperfections you’d normally be clenching our teeth traversing making one wonder if ‘low profile’ is something of a marketing fad rather than a feature that offers any sort of performance benefit in the real world.
The history file contains a number of bills from the likes of the Sunbeam Spares Company, Woolies and Classic Sunbeam Auto Parts in the USA with some highlights being a carpet set, hood and brake servo. A copy of the Sunbeam Alpine Golden Jubilee booklet is also present along with the current V5C and a selection of old MOT certificates.
Back in the 1960s it may well be that Sunbeam slightly misread its potential customers, or perhaps they were getting a little obsessed with the US market when they offered a sporting model with an automatic gearbox. On the other hand, maybe they were just sixty years ahead of their time as today manually equipped sportscars are becoming an increasingly endangered species. Either way, the automatic option box was rarely ticked and the number of self-shifters thought to have been produced seems to vary from as few as eighty-seven to perhaps as many (many being a relative term) as four thousand, though with such a wide range most aficionados seem to be happy with a figure of a few hundred. Given total Alpine production of just under 70,000 cars, this makes an automatic Alpine rarer than a poultry dentist.
So, here’s a thought. The press, be it popular or specialist, have noted an increasing demand for affordable classics driven (pun intended) by their stylish two fingered salute to the ever-increasing number of Ultra Low Emission Zones and other ‘clean air’ initiatives. With generally increasing levels of traffic congestion making progress more stop start than ever before, an automatic classic car could be the, er, automatic choice for the hipster urbanite, even if they don’t have a pied-à-terre in Hoxton. Grace Kelly? Headscarf? Basement Jazz Club? Nice!
Can you let me know whether this vehicle is still for sale please and what price are you looking to achieve? Many thanks. T. Matthews
May 04th at 08 : 09 AM
COMMENTS