Sunbeam Alpine

Under the name Sunbeam Alpine a series of sports cars of the British Rootes Group was sold.

• 2.3.1 The Sunbeam Tiger
• 2.3.2 The Sunbeam Harrington Alpine

Alpine Mark I / III

Sunbeam Alpine ( 1954)

The first model was released in 1953 and was the first car after the collapse of the STD group ( Sunbeam Talbot Darracq and ) alone again the name of Sunbeam. The Alpine was derived from its predecessor, the Sunbeam - Talbot 90 and was therefore called in common parlance, "Talbot- Alpine ". Initially, a two-seater sports roadster from the Sunbeam - Talbot dealer George Hartwell in Bournemouth is designed as a single piece for the rally competition, which had its beginnings as a convertible from 1952. Probably it got its name from Norman Garrad from the competition department of the work, which was heavily involved in the success of Sunbeam - Talbot in the Alps rallies in the early 1950s, where he used a sedan in the brand. The Alpine models Mark I and Mark III ( a Mark II was never there ) were handmade, as the offered 1953-1955 Cabriolet, which originated in the independent coachbuilder Thrupp & Maberly in 3000 copies. Presumably there are today which only 200 pieces. The car had a four-cylinder engine, but because it was built on a sedan chassis, he always had to suffer from compromises and stayed only two years in production.

Alpine Series I - V

Sunbeam Alpine Series V (1967 )

A second model of the Sunbeam Alpine was produced 1959-1968.

The engineers Kenneth Howes and Jeff Crompton were tasked in 1956 with a redesign of a sporty vehicle, which was primarily aimed at the U.S. market. The new car was aimed conceptually based on the niche that the MGA, the Triumph TR3A and the Austin -Healey 100 successfully occupied. The new Alpine was a compact two-seater roadster with an attractive body that looked from many viewing angles like the little Ford Thunderbird. This was of course not surprising, because on the one hand, the successful American design for other manufacturers offered as a model to ( so, for example, the Auto Union 1000), on the other hand, the Alpine engineer Ken Howes had worked for many years at Ford before joining Rootes Group came.

Since the Rootes Group reluctant dealt already in the 1950s with the development budget, took advantage of the new Alpine numerous components that have already been used in other models of the group. The bottom group and the internal structure of the building came from the Hillman Husky about II, while the driving technique was more or less unchanged from the Sunbeam Rapier. For this modular four-cylinder engines have been used with displacements between 1.5 liters and 1,725 ​​liters, which were heavily edited differently. As power transmission regularly served a manual four-speed transmission with optional overdrive; in a single series was also offered a three-speed automatic Borg Warner.

In the course of 1958, some prototypes were; one of them has survived.

Series production of the Alpine began in 1959. During the following ten years emerged a total of five series, which differed in some cases significant development steps of each other. The vehicles of the first series and the first models of the second series were built at Bristol Siddeley Engines, a body shop from Coventry, which was formed through the merger of the Bristol Aeroplane Company with the car manufacturer Armstrong Siddeley. Since the summer of 1962, the production was, however, in Rootes ' own investments in Ryton -on- Dunsmore.

The individual series

Series I

The vehicles of the series I were prepared from 1959 to 1960 exclusively in Coventry. They wore sharp designed tail fins with strong sloping tailgate and were powered by a 1.5 -liter four- cylinder engine delivered 78 hp.

Series II

After the show I was only made ​​for 15 months, appeared in the summer of 1960 a second series. The car received an enlarged 1.6 -liter four- cylinder whose power was increased to 80 hp while increasing the torque. Externally, the new model differed little from the first series. The base price for a Alpine Series II was £ 986 at its launch.

Series III

In the spring of 1963, the third series of the Alpine were presented. First two versions were on offer: the known, described now as Alpine Touring Roadster next to a version with fixed hardtop, which was named Alpine GT. The design of the Series II was taken over largely unchanged; Changes were mainly in the field of interior design, primarily here in the seats. Both versions of the Alpine were powered by the 1.6 -liter four- cylinder that made ​​77 hp Tourer in the 82 hp and the GT. The Series III was extremely short-lived; after only nine months, she was replaced by the Alpine Series IV.

Series IV

The work presented in January 1964 Series IV brought ( the first time ) a significant stylistic revision of the famous model. As with other vehicles of the Rootes Group, had also the eye-catching tail fins removed and replaced by a vertical wing degree with standing oval taillights. At the same time the line of the trunk lid was raised significantly, making the boot volume grew considerably. The front end was essentially taken; special feature of the fourth series was a chrome-plated cross bar in the otherwise unchanged grille. Also on the drive side, there were modifications: While the well-known 1.6-liter four-cylinder remained ( with 82 hp ) unchanged in the program; However, a three-speed automatic Borg Warner was the first time available. The division started with the Series III in a GT and a Tourer model accounted for introduction of the fourth series; Alpine was offered under a single name.

Series V

In the summer of 1965 appeared with the V series the last modification of the Alpine theme. She remained nearly three years - one for Rootes ratios unusually long time - unchanged in the program. The series V did not differ externally from the models of the series IV, the drive side but there was a noticeable upgrade: The Alpine now received a 1,725 ​​-liter version of the in-house four-cylinder engine that gave 92 hp. So the car was 98 miles per hour fast, a veritable value with which all previous Alpine series were exceeded. Nevertheless, the reputation of the Alpine Series V suffered to have (almost ) missed the prestigious brand of 100 mph and thus lag behind the MGB and Triumph TR4/TR4A.

The automatic transmission in the Series IV option offered was no longer available for the V series.

Production data

Derivations

The Sunbeam Tiger

Between 1964 and 1967 Rootes offered under the name of Sunbeam Tiger on a variant of the Alpine with an American eight-cylinder engine from Ford. The Tiger Series I based on the Alpine series IV and V, the Tiger II produced only in 1967, which featured a larger engine, based on the Alpine Series V. All Tiger versions were produced at Jensen Motors.

The Sunbeam Harrington Alpine

Between 1961 and 1963, the company hired Thomas Harrington Coach Builders Ltd.. from Sussex some hatchback versions were based on the Sunbeam Alpine ago, which differed from each other by different roof designs, and certainly sold side by side at times. A total of nearly 400 units were built. There are reports that also some Sunbeam Tiger were subsequently remodeled by Harrington fastback coupe. The design concept of Harrington was taken up in 1966 by the Triumph GT6.

Sunbeam Alpine in motorsport

The Alpine was used in different versions repeated in motorsport. The team Sunbeam Talbot announced two modified Alpine Series II ( with hardtop ) for 24 - hour race at Le Mans in 1962. A vehicle was moved by Peter Harper and Peter Procter, another of Paddy Hopkirk and Peter Jopp. Harper and Procter laid back 268 laps and was 63 laps behind the overall 15th counted; Hopkirk and Jopp, however, had to retire due to a technical failure after 187 laps.

In addition, the Sunbeam Alpine was also occasionally used in rallying and club races. One of the prototypes was manufactured in 1958, driven by the well-known racers on British sedans, Bernard Unett.

Sunbeam Alpine in the film

• A blue Alpine Mark III Roadster can be seen in the film Over the roofs of Nice by Alfred Hitchcock in 1955, in which Cary Grant and Grace Kelly to play the main roles. In this car, which is driven by Grace Kelly, there will be a rapid chase across the French Corniche.
• A red Alpine Series I is driven by Elizabeth Taylor in the film Butterfield 8 of 1960.
• A blue Alpine Series II is by Sean Connery in the first James Bond film James Bond - driven 007 Dr. No (1962).
• A red Alpine Series IV can be seen in the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Commando of 1985. There, the car is destroyed.

New Alpine

Rootes led the 1967 model Arrow, which was widespread in the four - and five-door versions Hillman Hunter, Singer Vogue and Humber Sceptre. In addition, there was also a coupe version, the distribution of the brand Sunbeam were reserved. 1967 launched the sale of the Sunbeam Rapier said model. 1969 the Rapier was a cheaper, slightly slower and more fuel-efficient version - still a sporty model - set aside, for which the term Alpine was used. All models had the 1725 cm3 engine of the group with five - bearing crankshaft. The simpler Alpine had a single Stromberg 150 CD carburettors, while the Rapier had two. The fast Rapier H120 had two Weber DCOE 40 carburetors. 1975, a year before the New Rapier, the New Alpine was discontinued without replacement.

Use of the name by Chrysler / Talbot

The name Alpine 1976 was taken over by Chrysler, the then owner of the Rootes Group, for a car that had nothing to do with the Sunbeam Alpine: the version of the Simca 1307 for the UK market, a process developed in France family car with tailgate. The car was initially Chrysler Alpine and then finally Talbot Alpine, after Chrysler Europe was taken over in 1978 by Peugeot.