Sunbeam Tiger MkI

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A muscle car version of the Rootes Group’s Sunbeam Alpine Roadster, the Tiger was dreamed up not in Ryton-on-Dunsmore but on the West Coast of America.

Inspired by the success of Carroll Shelby’s AC Cobra which saw a big American V8 shoehorned into a dainty British roadster, Rootes Group’s American Competitions Manager, Ian Garrad, persuaded Shelby to weave the same magic with the humble Alpine. The result was the Thunderbolt, a Shelby-designed prototype which was shipped back to England for further development by the boffins at Rootes.

The fruit of this collaboration was the Sunbeam Tiger which was launched in 1964 with a 4.2-litre Ford V8, later to become a 4.7-litre in the MkII version of 1967. Hand-built by Jensen in West Bromwich, the Tiger was a totally different animal to its Alpine lookalike with extensive structural modifications to accommodate the size and power of the V8, a Panhard rod to better locate the rear axle and more precise rack-and-pinion steering. Underbonnet space was so limited that some of the spark plugs were only accessible from inside the car via a hole in the bulkhead, the fuel pump was relocated to a compartment under the rear seats and the battery was in the boot.

At first the Tiger was only available in left-hand drive for the American market, the 260ci engine producing a relatively modest 164bhp (good for a top speed of 120mph and a 0-60mph time of 8.6 seconds), although dealers offered modified versions with up to 245bhp for an additional $250. The right-hand drive version was not launched to the British public until the Motor Show of March 1965. A more powerful 289ci MkII version followed in 1967 although this was only ever available to the US market and just 633 were produced.

By the time Rootes Group’s new owners, Chrysler, pulled the plug on the project in late-1967, only 7,083 Tigers had been made in total, all but around 700 in LHD for the American market, and survivors are increasingly sought after today.

As the Rootes Archive Centre certificate confirms, this Tiger was built in May 1965 and was despatched to Anchor Motor Co of Chester, being sold to first owner Renee Carnecote of Middlewich in May 1966. Originally British Racing Green with black trim, it was initially registered as KFM 471D but then became 2 AGW, a number it retained until 1996 when it was re-registered as JJN 534D. It then had four further keepers before being acquired by Brian Postle of the Sunbeam Spares Company in 2011.

One of the world’s leading Tiger experts with unrivalled knowledge of the model, Brian set about a total nut-and-bolt restoration which was to take three years to complete and included several useful modifications to address known weak points of the car, all documented in many invoices and photos on file.

The exact spec is too detailed to list in full here but highlights include: rebuilt engine with new pistons and 4-barrel Holley carb; rebuilt gearbox; uprated brakes with vented discs and 4-pot calipers; uprated suspension with Spax adjustable shocks; fuel pump relocated to the spare wheel well instead of above the exhaust (!); new loom with all wiring rerouted out of the engine bay and behind the inner wings for improved heat shielding; uprated aluminium radiator with twin electric cooling fans and mesh front grille; new hood, hood cover and tonneau, the original three-box hood stowage compartment ditched in favour of the superior single aperture as found on later Alpines; five genuine Minilite 15” alloys, 6” wide at the front and 7” at the rear with new tyres of the correct size to keep the speedo accurate; new stainless steel exhausts; full interior retrim; superb bodywork with excellent panel gaps; bare metal repaint in period Volvo Orinoco Blue.

Our vendor, another Tiger expert with over 25 years experience of working on the model, managed to prise JJN 534D out of Brian Postle’s hands in 2013 and has improved it still further, including fitting electric power steering, invisibly installed and adjustable from the cabin depending on the amount of assistance desired.

Since the restoration was completed the car has covered only 5,300 fine weather miles and remains in outstanding condition throughout, winning “Best Rootes Car” at the Imp National Meeting at Hatton in 2016. The vendor reports that it drives as well as it looks with none of the overheating issues that can plague this model, sitting in a jam on the M40 in last summer’s scorching heat for over an hour with no problems whatsoever.

Due to have a new MOT in time for the sale, it comes with a large history file including much technical literature about the model and an original sales brochure. Beautifully finished and expertly modified, this Tiger is as good an example as we have ever seen and you would be hard pressed to find a better one anywhere.