The Sunbeam Tiger, the
car driven by agent Maxwell Smart in the latest
Get Smart movie, came out of the Rootes Group, which was later purchased by Chrysler Corporation.
Sunbeam started in 1899, merging with Darracq in 1920; the original Sunbeam Tiger was built by this merged company in 1925. It was originally named Ladybird, perhaps an odd name for a V12 four-liter racing car. The Sunbeam Tiger, a one-off vehicle, was the first car to exceed 150 mph and had the smallest engine of any car ever to hold the World Land Speed Record.
The combined company went bankrupt in 1934, and the remains were purchased by Rootes Group, which closed the factory, dropped the existing Sunbeam designs, and called the cars Talbot-Sunbeams for a while before placing Sunbeam at the top of the Rootes luxury order, modifying existing cars to take the Sunbeam name.
Postwar Sunbeams were raced in road rallys; one model in particular, the 90, was exceptionally successful. A new two-seat roadster called the Sunbeam Alpine, based on the 90, was made from just 1953 to 1955, but it too was very successful in racing, as was the new-for-1955 Sunbeam Rapier (whose four door version was the Hillman Minx and Singer Gazelle).
The next Alpine was a two-door convertible based on the 1959 Hillman Husky, using Rapier running gear. Carroll Shelby-prepared Alpines were entered in Le Mans in from 1961 to 1963, though in two of the three years neither Alpine made it to the finish line. The Sunbeam Alpine was powered by 1.5 liter four-cylinder engines connected to four-speed
manual transmissions with an optional electric overdrive, using front disc brakes with rear drums.
The Alpine was, as befitted a Sunbeam, a comfortable car for driving and a success on the rally circuit. However, as time went on, the MG and Triumph entries began to dominate, with their bigger engines; and Rootes Group was on a tight budget, with capital short (the Chrysler infusions were still in the future). A small American V8 turned out to fit into the Alpine with little modification; a revised transmission and rear end were needed, along with rack and pinion steering, new exhaust, and additional cooling.
The Sunbeam Tiger was essentially an Alpine, powered by an American V8 engine; it was introduced in 1964, and was assembled not by Rootes but by custom luxury automaker
Jensen, later known for its use of Chrysler
V8 engines and bodies. Coincidentally, in 1964, Chrysler bought a third of Rootes Group, taking full control in 1967; the cash infusion was very welcome at the time, as Rootes was rapidly failing.
The Sunbeam Tiger was relatively inexpensive for its performance; still, fewer than 7,000 were made over its four model years. It was billed as the world’s fastest production car for under $3,500 (steep but not excessive for 1965). The Sunbeam Alpine, in contrast, was just $2,400. By 1967, it was billed as the world’s
fastest car under $3,700 (the price having moved up) and was sold in the United States by Chrysler dealers, sold as the “Rootes Sunbeam.”
In racing, the Sunbeam Tiger started running at high speeds, running with Jaguars rather than MGs, and setting an AHRA national record with a quarter mile of 12.95 seconds in 1965; and winning the 1964 Geneva Rally, the 1965 Scottish Rally, the 1965 International Police Rally, and (within its class) the 1965 Monte Carlo rally, where it placed around fourth or fifth outright. The Shelby-prepped V8s failed the cars when commpeting in LeMans, just as the Shelby Alpines failed; but a Shelby prepared car in the U.S. won an SCCA Class B race in the U.S. The Tiger’s racing success was limited in 1967 by rules which eliminated the ability to use nonproduction performance items in SCCA racing; and in 1966, the Tiger was largely replaced in racing by the Imp Sport, a version of the Hilllman Imp.
A Sunbeam won the index of thermal efficiency, the second highest award at LeMans outside the outright winner. (Thanks, David at PR Strategy Consulting).
The first 3,763 Tigers were the Mark I, with the next 2,706 being Mark IA, the primary differences being the doors (round vs square corners),
convertible top covers (metal vs vinyl), fresh air ventilation (added in the IA), and door seams (lead filled vs unfilled); finally, there were a small number of Mark II items, which had a slightly larger V8, and a revised grille, with chrome side trim removed.
A proposed update of the Alpine and Tiger was cancelled, though new Alpine and Tiger models would later appear — the Tiger name being applied to the
Hillman Avenger. The closest Sunbeam would come to replacing the Tiger would be the later Ti, a stripped-out base model with alloy wheels, big spoilers and a 1600c version of the Avenger Tiger engine (with twin 2bbl Weber carbs) giving 100hp, 0-60 in 9 seconds, and 106mph for those who could stand the noise, harsh suspension and poor
fuel economy.
The mid-1960s Sunbeam Tiger was on Hemmings’ list of the top ten collectible cars, and there are still regular
Tigers United events.
The new Sunbeam Tiger
In the late 1990s, another company purchased the rights to the Sunbeam name and posted a Web site to sell their new Sunbeam Tigers and other vehicles. Mike Sealey investigated and wrote:
The SUV I cannot place, except for headlights coming from the Opel Frontera. It might be a Polish Tarpan/Daewoo or perhaps a vehicle from India.
The Tiger sports car is the Swedish JC Indigo 3000, built around 1997-98. Production totalled less than 40, a great car that deserved to have achieved more. They are even using JC’s own photos.
We sure could use more personal impressions and photos.
Navigation
http://www.allpar.com/cars/adopted/sunbeam/tiger.html
Read more at http://www.allpar.com/cars/adopted/sunbeam/tiger.html?ktrack=kcplink
Read more at http://www.allpar.com/cars/adopted/sunbeam/tiger.html?ktrack=kcplink
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The Rootes family had been building Hillmans and Humbers since 1935. William (knighted in 1959) Rootes led the company with his younger brother Reginald. William's sons, Brian and Geoffrey, were in charge of sales and marketing. Lord Rootes was a man who believed in rugged, reliable transportation and his cars were constructed that way - no individuality, but solid.
Sales never went through the roof. You see, Chrysler had bought Rootes Group in 1963 and the Tiger was sold through their dealership network. What we had here was a British car powered by a Ford engine sold at a Chrysler showroom. Customers worried about who would honor the warranty if the engine seized, etc. Besides, even at $3600 the Tiger wasn't cheap. A new Corvette could be had for that price and an XKE was just $1500 more. The Tiger was just in the wrong place at the right time.
