Sunbeam-Talbot 90 MkII

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Launched in 1948, the Sunbeam-Talbot 90 was a sporting car built by the Rootes Group in Ryton, Coventry and was the last car to bear the Sunbeam-Talbot name.

The body was completely new and available as a four-door saloon or two-door drophead coupé. The saloon featured a ‘pillarless’ join between the glass on the rear door and the rear quarter window and went through three versions before production stopped in 1954.

By 1950 the MkII version got a new chassis with independent front suspension using coil springs while the engine was enlarged to 2,267cc and the cylinder head changed to overhead valves. Power was up at 70bhp. A coupé version tested by ‘The Motor’ in 1952 had a top speed of 85.2mph and could accelerate from 0-60 in 20.2 seconds. They were sporting cars in their day and were very successful in International Rallies, driven by Shelia Van Damm amongst others.

This splendid 1951 Mk II comes with lots of history, in fact there are MOTs back as far as 1964, which would tend to suggest that the indicated 26,500 miles is in fact genuine.

There is a buff logbook and current V5C which confirm that it has had six previous owners and it appears to have spent a long time in storage.

It has been thoroughly restored in the hands of its current owner, although the bodywork was in pretty good order to start with. It has been resprayed its original shade of silver, had lots of rechroming done and retrimmed (most beautifully) with black leather and new carpets which cost £3,000.It even has seatbelts in the rear...

Fitted with a sunroof from new, the headlining is lovely, as is the original tool kit in the boot which is complete and a delight to behold. These cars are great to drive, nice and dainty and beautifully finished. The 2.3 engine has plenty of pep and we don’t think you will find a nicer example any time soon.