Unrestored 1967 Sunbeam Alpine Series V
In 1959, when Sunbeam produced the second generation Alpine, the best a frugal buyer could do if he wanted a roadster with weather protection was to suffer with side curtains. But the Alpine offered customers roll-up windows, outside door handles, and a top that could be erected swiftly in case of rain. With these luxuries, it joined the much more expensive Daimler SP250 – a controversial car with a poor sales record. Another three years passed before roll-up windows became commonplace. Aside from the advanced approach to interior comfort, the remainder of the Alpine was largely parts-bin construction, with a chassis from a Hillman estate and running gear from the Rapier. Girling front discs and independent front suspension aided overall performance, which was considered capable but not exciting. This example is listed here on eBay with a $4000 buy-it-now price. The new owner will need to trailer it from Brunswick, Georgia.
By 1967, the Alpine’s in-line four-cylinder engine was constructed with five main bearings, displaced 1725 ccs and breathed through twin Zenith-Stromberg carburetors. Output was up to 93 bhp. The gearbox was now all-synchro and overdrive was a popular option. Top speed was slightly over 100 mph. We contacted the seller to confirm that this engine has not run in about twenty years. He has not attempted to turn it. The car does roll and steer. It’s an abandoned father/son project that’s suffered some disassembly, but all the parts seem to be with the car. The underside is comfortingly greasy in all the right spots; this photo shows part of the “X” bracing that added stiffness to the Hillman chassis to make it suitably sporty.
Early Alpines had a silver-painted metal dash (which many owners have replaced with wood); later cars acquired safety padding on both upper and lower edges and a black plastic finish. Several gauges occupy nearly every available inch of space and the Series V cars have cabin vents both in the dash and the footwells. Oddly, the Alpine had no sun visors.
The fins on these later cars are not as extravagant as those on early cars, when the Alpine was in its purest Raymond-Loewy inspired form. But it’s still an attractive design, maybe even more so. This example has rust in one rocker – best to dig it out pronto. Other than that, the trunk, underside, top and bottom edges of the sheet metal look clean enough to repair without a welder. Many Alpines have been made into Tiger replicas, and others have seen engine swaps to V6s, even Mazda powerplants. If you’re shopping for an honest original example, this one deserves a look.
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Comments
This is a great write up Michelle. I always say I learn something new on here. My earliest memories of Sunbeams were watching Get Smart with his Sunbeam Tiger. I always thought it was an interesting alternative to a Cobra back then. Its a shame this thing has sat so long. Unfortunately this seems to happen a lot. But hopefully someone can pick this up and give it a new lease on life. Like you said the rust isnt too bad. Maybe it can be brought back to life without too much trouble.
It appears to be a very nice example. It sure could use a lot of love.
If I had room, it would be the next one.
It’s truly sad that so few stock Alpines remain. It’s a perfect example of the ruination caused by those that just have to have a bigger engine.
A friend of mine had a 63’ while I was overseas in the Army. I fell in love with that car, so when I got discharged and got home, I started looking for my own Alpine. Eventually I found a red 67’ just like this one.
I have to take exception to the max speed mentioned. On a lonely stretch of I-95 at 2:00 am one morning, I buried the accelerator and saw 120 mph easily. Now the speedo could have been out of calibration but I’m sticking with 120, lol.
The only problem I had with that car is it would eat throw out bearings (actually just a carbon faced surface pushing on the pressure plate. Every 6 months like clock work, I was dropping the tranny!!
Other than that I loved the car.
Didn’t realize Alpines were that long.
This looks like a very nice, solid Alpine. Good find! The engines on these are very robust and it isn’t unusual for them to fire right up – with patience, oil down the spark plug holes, etc. – after long hibernations. One correction to the listing above: Sun visors were an option and this car has them. You can see them in Photo #30. I don’t see the brackets anywhere, but they may be in one of the bags or boxes shown in the same photo.
Oh to be 30 yrs younger and have an empty garage.
Friend of mine had one when we were in high school. The Alpine was relatively gutless. It wasn’t as fast as an MGB and when the BMW 1600 came out it that was much quicker. The road holding wasn’t as good as an MG and it was stuck with relatively small wheels (13 inch) and if you put a lot more power in it you couldn’t really put it down, the life axle hopped badly. They were more of an also ran back in the day, there weren’t many hop up parts available so they ended up being a back bencher. The Tiger was never in the same league as the Cobra for those reasons. If you want to have a Sunday cruiser or take it to cars and coffee then go for it, but they really weren’t good at spirited driving. That’s the reason that they don’t command a good price even when restored. If you want to do a resto mod with a big engine and flares an decent meat’s and suspension work then you could have something pretty quick.
I had one same color a 1967 Alpine mine had the removable hardtop it was 1969 and was a junior in high school! Mine ran much better than what the other guys did. My car had overdrive and would churp the tires on the first to second shift! I surprised many a hot V8 car till top end of 3 rd gear. I had a lot of fun in that car. By the way I built me a Cobra kit car to play with now their is no comparison the Cobra is a beast.
I had a 65 from 66 till I went to VN in mid-68. I drove it from SF bay area to Atlanta the week before Christmas of 67 and then back in March of 68.
My only complaint was the starter which would stick. Get down and tap it with a hammer and it would work again.
My friend sold it for me when I decided to stay in VN for more than 6 months.
I have a 65 Alpine IV with an automatic. I like it, fun to drive and has very good road manners. With the auto the acceleration is not blinding but it does a decent job of staying up with modern traffic. This Alpine for sale is a good starting point a restoration. Get the car up and running and you can up date/restore items while you enjoy driving it. I would pull the trigger on this however I have a 65 Sunbeam Tiger that I’m just starting a restoration on.
I had a 65 with an autobox. It was a soft top with a nice running engine. I liked that the interior was spacious compared to the cramped interior of the Miata I briefly had. The one big problem with these cars was they had lots of rust issues. The rockers and wheel wells all were rotting out. If this car isn’t running, I’d offer less than 4K.