Sunbeam Alpine Tiger

Here's a great car that never got enough recognition! Starting production in 1964, the Sunbeam tiger was a great little British sports car, with a Ford smallblock. Sound like a Cobra? Well they were both done by Shelby... Actually, the Cobra was done by a team of Ford engineers and staff(ahem cough).

They used the original Windsor smallblock, first a 260, and later a 289.
So any 5.0 go fast goodies bolt right on! There was one guy running a 347 EFI stroker in his Tiger...

http://www.sunbeam.org.au/gallery/rallytiger.jpg
http://www.catmbr.org/Dyn1105c.JPG

Nobody's going to comment on this remarkable car from the 60s? They went racing with great success, winning many rally events, and doing 160+mph at Lemans in a fastback coupe...

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~rick_harrison/mypic10.jpg
http://www.classictiger.com/pictures/Barkers/LMLHFront1.jpg
http://www.able-solar.co.nz/sccnz/articl1.jpg
http://www.myauction.com/Auctions/119/Images/MO01_072_1.jpg

What a beautiful machine... If only the back end was a little more sedan like. It would be perfect if the roofline didn't go the whole length of the car, I mean if it ended 4 inches before the back of the car, and had the original roadster tail lights.

The bare-metal one looks to be aluminum. I have found that they are not incredibly popular because they lack the high horsepower of other period sports cars. Also, I dont recall it ever getting a truly good finish at LeMans.

I will have a relook at these cars, though.

Originally posted by Chris
I have found that they are not incredibly popular because they lack the high horsepower of other period sports cars. Also, I dont recall it ever getting a truly good finish at LeMans.

Are you kidding? They had excellent power from the Ford 289, and you could easily increase that at any speedshop! Today, with the aftermarket the 5.0 has, it is a great platform. In SCCA GT2, there is a Sunbeam Tiger that has won quite a few races.

http://www.deepthrottle.com/Photo/01_runoffs_photo_25.shtml

It's true that they never had any real success at LeMans, it was an ill fated project, and they didn't have enough money to be competitive.

They did have great success at the drag strip, often running 12s or better, with their light weight and good power.

My dad had ones of those, and we used to go to picnics in it! It was an ultimate car, in british racing green wiht cream leather seats.

Nice! Glad to see someone has had experience with one of these little gems!

I having experience means sitting in the second seat, then I agree!

I might try to track one of these down, it could be fun :D

Originally posted by Cbass
I might try to track one of these down, it could be fun :D


Several in the club newsletters for sale every month. Not mine, of course...:bandit:

Sadly, getting a 924 on the road is stretching my finances right now :(

One of these days, I might build a project car to look like that Fastback... oh so beautiful!

Originally posted by Cbass

One of these days, I might build a project car to look like that Fastback... oh so beautiful!

I understand that it's been done -- a replica of the three LeMans Tigers.

I'm fortunate enough to have sat in one of the three cars a few years bac -- although the owner didn't offer to let me drive it. Whew! I thought my car was loud...

Also, a website with my car on it:


http://www.onlineshowoff.com/index.asp?section=profile&username=Tiger

Looks like that server is having problems, Tiger...

Can you give me any more info about those replicas?

Originally posted by Cbass
Looks like that server is having problems, Tiger...

Can you give me any more info about those replicas?


Uh, the "Tiger" at onlineshowoof.com is mine.

The "replica" of a LeMans Lister-built Tiger was a one-off -- I'll see if I can find any info from the builder.

i am new to the forum and i have a '66 sunbeam tiger 260 .... i am rebuilding the motor and going to place a small block 302 with rocker and the whole bit pumping out around 370hp then i want to put a supercharger on top of that!--- any thoughts? i know i will need to strap a few 1000lb led weighs in the trunk to keep the car on the ground!

Really the only thing Im thinking is will you need a hood scoop to fit a superchargers perched on top of the engine. Either way, sounds like a great plan. And since the new engine you are putting in is pretty close in weight to the old one, the cars balance wont be thrown off:smile:

yeah i was going to get this hood....http://www.usbody.com/60-67%20Sunbeam-Tiger.htm the L.A.T. hood what do u think?

yeah i was going to get this hood....http://www.usbody.com/60-67%20Sunbeam-Tiger.htm the L.A.T. hood what do u think?

I think the LAT hood looks great -- and sometimes I wish I had one on my car -- but it won't buy you much more underhood room.

You know, my dad'd had one of these back in the 60's and i remember seeing his face when we sat in the honda S2000 ( reobtaining that youthful feel of a roadster ) and i could clearly see he wanted his sunbeam back. and then recently when i was watching Dr.No and saw sean connery cruising in one it made me think. He doesn't want to rebuild cars that im interested in working on like a muscle car perhaps, or working on a tuner car maybe. not such typical things i suppose he is interested in, but i really think he'd appreciate it if i found a sunbeam alpine online that he and i could buy and work on. I haven't had much luck but if anyone knows where i may be able to find one ( outside of england, lol ) please let me know. Thanks!

If you are interested in Alpines, you should start by visiting sunbeamalpine.org, the website of the Sunbeam Alpine Owners Club. It is a great site for Alpine enthusiasts, full of helpful information and helpful people. You should also keep an eye on eBay. Alpines appear there quite regularily. Finally, if you are interested in something more powerful than a stock Alpine, you will find lots of information on the site re: Alpine V6 conversions. Ford 2.8 V6 engines fit very nicely in the Alpine (there is a conversion kit available), and give you a car said to have almost as much power as a Tiger, and superior handling.