Report on Dayton Sunbeam Convention

New from David Townsend at Sports Car Art has released an art print of the Sunbeam Tiger Targa Florio. The #192 Sunbeam Tiger that ran the 1965 Targa Florio may possibly be the most famous Sunbeam Tiger on the planet. Immortalized in the Castrol film Mountain Legends, the Rootes competition prepared Tiger finished a respectable 14th in the grueling Sicilian race. Starting with a stock 1964 Alpine, the legendary Carroll Shelby was brought in to modify the Sunbeam by the addition of a Ford 289 Hi-Po V8. The small-block Ford was chosen for the modification due to its small profile and the relative ease with which it could be installed into the Alpine chassis. Most of the other modifications—large fuel tank, oil cooler, a few special additions for the navigator—were pretty typical fare for the era. One of the more interesting changes was the […]

The Rootes Group, although only achieving a 10-12 per cent market share, were the sixth largest British car manufacturer: more importantly, during the 1950s, more than half the cars they produced were exported. Rootes Cars of the 1950s, 1960s & 1970s – Hillman, Humber, Singer, Sunbeam & Talbot by David Rowe is a new reference to these cars. With every model produced from 1950 onwards featured in full colour and with detailed information – including colour schemes, optional equipment, technical specifications, plus other manufacturers’ cars built using Rootes components – this is the ultimate book for all Hillman, Humber, Singer and Sunbeam enthusiasts. Cars produced by Chrysler/Talbot and Peugeot after their acquisition of the Rootes Group are also included. This book includes hundreds of original photographs, taken by the author at many car shows over a number of years, and […]

We are going a little more rare and esoteric this week, though when they were new they weren’t that odd.  Our Video of the Week returns again to the BBC series The Car’s the Star with an episode on the Hillman Imp. The Hillman Imp was also badged as the Sunbeam Imp, and there were other variations as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jEzkfjPtEE The Hillman Imp is a small economy car made by the Rootes Group and its successor Chrysler Europe from 1963 until 1976. It was the first mass-produced car with the engine block and cylinder head cast in aluminium. Being a direct competitor to the BMC’s Mini, it used a space-saving rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout to allow as much luggage and passenger capacity as possible in both the rear and the front of the car. It used a unique opening rear hatch […]