Sunbeam Tiger Limited Edition Extra 1964-1967

Ł13.95

What a brilliantly simple idea: take a neatly styled British sports car (the Sunbeam Alpine), remove its anaemic four-cylinder engine and stuff in a 260 cubic inch (4.2 litres) OHV V8 from Ford. Voila, instant tyre shredding performance! And who was responsible for this reincarnation? Why, Carroll Shelby of course. The transformation of the Alpine has his fingerprints all over it. However, Shelby was not alone in this—there were some performance-hungry people at the Rootes Group's West Coast distribution centre who were looking for a way to spice up the Alpine's performance and a collaborative effort was quickly agreed between the two parties. From the moment the Sunbeam Tiger was announced in 1964 the Rootes dealers and the media were extremely enthusiastic because the price was right ($3499 POE West Coast), and the performance was exciting (0-60 mph in 7.8 seconds, maximum speed 120+ mph). In fact, it was something of a performance bargain. Three years later, in 1967, the Tiger II was released with the slightly larger 289 V8 (4.7 litres) and even more grunt. Ostensibly built to satisfy the demands of the vast American market, small numbers of the Sunbeam Tiger were sold in the UK and Australia. In total, from June 1964 until June 1967, only 6495 Tiger Is were built, and, depending on what source you read, between 536 and 633 Tiger IIs. It was a fascinating and exciting chapter in the life of the much under-rated Sunbeam Alpine family of sports cars from the staid Rootes Group. Collectors today prize the V8-engined Tigers for their staggering performance for the era and their rarity. Caroll Shelby was contracted to work his magic on Sunbeam’s sporting Alpine. The outcome was the Tiger, powered by Ford’s V8 260 & 289 engines. The story of this car is told through 37 articles which include road tests, model intros, long term reports & give advice on buying & restoring a used Tiger. 128 pages. SB. SKU: SUNTX2 ISBN: 9781855206854