Classic Sunbeam Cars for Sale

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Tiger (6) Alpine (4)

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Dealer

Jacksonville, FL

1969 Sunbeam Alpine

$30,995 183,939 miles

Dealer

United States

Frequently Asked Questions about Classic Sunbeam

John Marston founded Sunbeam in Wolverhampton, England. A maker of japanned metalware, he began building bicycles in 1887 and registered the Sunbeam name in 1888. His firm, John Marston Ltd, built its first experimental car in 1899 and put its first production model, the Sunbeam-Mabley, on sale in 1901. In 1905 the car business was set up as a separate firm, the Sunbeam Motor Car Company.

The Sunbeam name came from John Marston's bicycles, which predated his cars. By the traditional account, his wife Ellen saw the sun reflected in the high-gloss finish of one of his first bicycles in 1887 and suggested the name. Marston registered Sunbeam in 1888, and his Paul Street works in Wolverhampton became known as Sunbeamland. The name carried over to the cars his company began building later.

Sunbeam changed hands several times after John Marston's era. In 1920 it was merged with Darracq to form S.T.D. Motors, the initials standing for Sunbeam, Talbot and Darracq. S.T.D. failed and the Rootes Group bought Sunbeam in 1935. Chrysler bought 30 percent of Rootes's ordinary shares in 1964 and took control in 1967, then sold its European operations to Peugeot in 1978.

Sunbeam cars were first built at the Moorfield works in Wolverhampton, England. Under Rootes, Sunbeam-Talbot production started at the former Talbot plant in London and moved after World War II to Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry. The first Series Alpine roadsters of 1959 were assembled by Armstrong Siddeley before that work also went to Ryton, the Tiger was assembled by Jensen in West Bromwich, and the last Sunbeams came from Linwood, Scotland.

Sunbeam was known in the 1920s for Grand Prix racing and land speed records. Henry Segrave won the French Grand Prix at Tours on July 2, 1923 in a Sunbeam, the first Grand Prix victory for a British car and a British driver. On March 29, 1927 Segrave drove the twin-engined Sunbeam 1000 hp to 203.79 mph at Daytona Beach, Florida, the first car to exceed 200 mph.

The Sunbeam Tiger was a V8 version of the Sunbeam Alpine roadster, built from 1964 to 1967. Rootes West Coast sales manager Ian Garrad had Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles each fit a Ford 260-cubic-inch V8 into an Alpine as prototypes, and Jensen assembled the production cars in West Bromwich, England. The 1967 Mark II used Ford's 289. Production ended that year after Chrysler, by then in control of Rootes, would not keep building a car with a rival's engine.

The Alpine name first appeared on a Sunbeam built from 1953 to 1955. The better-known Alpine roadster was made from 1959 to 1968 in five series, with 69,251 built. Series I used a 1,494 cc four-cylinder, enlarged to 1,592 cc for the 1960 Series II and to 1,725 cc for the 1965 Series V. Series I through III cars have pronounced tailfins, which were cropped starting with the Series IV of 1964.

Sunbeam ended as a car marque in 1976, when Chrysler discontinued the brand and rebadged its remaining British models as Chryslers. The name returned in 1977 as a model, the Chrysler Sunbeam hatchback built at Linwood, Scotland. After Peugeot bought Chrysler Europe in 1978, the car became the Talbot Sunbeam in 1979, and production stopped in 1981.

The 10 Sunbeam listings on Classic Cars Arena right now are priced from $5,100 to $99,995, with a median asking price of $59,200. These are the prices sellers are asking today, not sale prices, and the figures change as cars are listed and sold.

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