Sunbeam Tiger - The Cobra in the Sable

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Sunbeam Tiger - The Cobra in the Sable

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Created on August 20, 2021

Text:

Bruno von Rotz / Paul Krüger

Photos:

Bruno von Rotz

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Karissa Hosek - Courtesy RM Auctions

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Pepper Yandell - Courtesy RM Auctions

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Matt Jacques - Courtesy RM Auctions

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Patrick Ernzen - Courtesy RM Auctions

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Archiv Reinhard / Max Pichler

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Archiv

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - British road holding meets American V8 power

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - With retrofitted Slot-Mag wheels

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - Two exhaust pipes reveal the eight-cylinder engine

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - The flank decoration has been completely removed

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - With plenty of torque for the country road

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - Still with the old radiator grille

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - Wide front track, narrow rear track

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - Dives deep into the rear when accelerating

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - burl wood dashboard with seven round instruments

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - Large wooden steering wheel with two spokes

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - It doesn't get any greener than this

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - Beautifully drawn Jaeger instruments. The number of cylinders in the rev counter is curious

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - with 4.3-liter V8 from the Ford Falcon

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - Well-filled engine compartment

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - Chrome-plated quick-release tank cap

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - Door handle with covered lock

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - Trunk lock difficult to access

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - nameplate with chassis, engine and color number

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - while the first series featured a "260" badge, the later ones carried a "V8" emblem

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - visually hardly distinguishable from the weaker Alpine

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - one of the fastest cars of its time, you had to pay considerably more for equally good driving performance from the competition

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - the additional emblem "V8" draws attention to the powerful engine

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - the Tiger differed from the Alpine by having two exhaust tips

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - elegant and certainly not ostentatious

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - be more than it seems

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - Wooden steering wheel and wood veneer for the dashboard

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - the interior was covered with plastic ex works

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - reclining seats were standard

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - well-fed specimens took the needle to the end of the scale

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - there were many tuning options for the Ford engine from the Cobra range

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - the V8 engine comes from Ford

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - not visually different from the weaker Alpine model

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - Sunbeam trademark

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - Spare wheel under the trunk floor

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - two exhaust pipes were only available on the V8

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A (1967) - steel wheels and hubcaps

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Sunbeam Alpine GT (1964) - visually almost indistinguishable from the Tiger

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Sunbeam Alpine (1965) - elegant convertible

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Sunbeam Alpine G.T. (1967) - provided the basis for the Tiger

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1964) - rally driver Keith Ballisat and Rosemary Smith

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1964) - the fast version in the steep curve

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Sunbeam 260 (Tiger) (1965) - has already proven itself at rallies in Geneva and Monte Carlo, American V8 in the pretty dress of the Sunbeam Alpine IV - Geneva Motor Show 1965

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Sunbeam 260 Rallye (1965) - later called Tiger, the fast version of the Sunbeam Alpine, here with additional clocks for use in rallies - Geneva Motor Show 1965

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1964) - presented at the motor show with tiger skins

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Sunbeam Alpine 260 (1965) - in test operation

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Sunbeam Alpine 260 (1964) - the 4.2-liter engine from the Ford Falcon

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Sunbeam Alpine 260 (1964) - attractive interior with wooden dashboard

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Sunbeam Alpine 260 (1965) - 164 hp at 4400 rpm - some adjustments had to be made in the engine compartment for the V8 engine

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Sunbeam Alpine 260 (1965) - at the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally

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Sunbeam Alpine 260 (1965) - in charming company

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Sunbeam Alpine 260 (1965) - seats covered with plastic

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Sunbeam Alpine 260 (1965) - modified Alpine interior with wide cardan tunnel

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1966) - the transmission, like the engine, comes from Ford

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1966) - the name "Tiger" already adorned a Sunbeam in 1926, the number 260 refers to the cubic capacity in cubic inches

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1966) - 164 hp as standard, Cobra options were available to give the car almost infinite power

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Sunbeam Tiger (1967) - also available with hardtop

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Sunbeam Tiger (1967) - Rally stiffener on the '67 model

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Jo Collins, Playboy Playmate of the Year 1965, with her Sunbeam Tiger 260 in "Playmate Pink"

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk II (1967) - as lot 138 at the RM auction in Arizona on January 15/16, 2015

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk II (1967) - as lot 138 at the RM auction in Arizona on January 15/16, 2015

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk II (1967) - under the hammer as lot 159 at the RM Auction in Monterey on August 15/16, 2014

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk II (1967) - under the hammer as lot 159 at the RM Auction in Monterey on August 15/16, 2014

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk I Coupe by Harrington (1965) - as lot 137 at the RM auction in Arizona on January 15/16, 2015

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Sunbeam Tiger Mk I Coupe by Harrington (1965) - as lot 137 at the RM auction in Arizona on January 15/16, 2015

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Impressions from the Dolder Classics on May 12, 2013 - Volvo P 1800 and Sunbeam Tiger side by side

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Sunbeam Lister Tiger (1964) - in the RAC TT Celebration race at the Goodwood Revival 2012

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Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967) - Restored example in Forest Green

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Summary

Around 7100 Sunbeam Tigers were built between 1964 and 1967. Following the recipe that had already worked for the Shelby Cobra, a Ford V8 engine was implanted in the Sunbeam Alpine, which was normally equipped with four cylinders, resulting in unrivaled performance and plenty of sex appeal. This report shows the fast roadster in current and historical pictures and summarizes the history of the eight-cylinder Englishman.

This article contains the following chapters

The Americans again
Name confusion
Gentle conversion
Surprisingly good driving characteristics
Attractively priced
Over the Hunaudières at 260 km/h
Success as a television and film star
More Cobra with the Series II
Power in abundance
As fast as civilized
Further information

Estimated reading time: 10min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Installing a large engine in a small car has always led to interesting and appealing sports cars. The most famous of these creations is probably the Shelby Cobra - so it's no wonder that the English Rootes Group turned to Carroll Shelby to turn the little Sunbeam Alpine into an eight-cylinder traffic light terror. The Sunbeam Tiger was developed on the initiative of Rootes representative Ian Garrard in Los Angeles. He got the idea from racing driver Jack Brabham, who was not satisfied with the performance of the Alpine with its 82 hp four-cylinder engine - after only finishing second in a race in Riverside in 1962 - and suggested the Ford Windsor V8 as a solution to this problem. Ian Garrard then approached Carroll Shelby with the task of somehow squeezing the Ford Falcon's 4.3-liter V8 under the hood of the little Sunbeam. Shelby asked for eight weeks' time and a budget of 10,000 dollars for the conversion and began work in April 1963. At the same time, Garrard also commissioned racing driver Ken Miles to build a prototype, which he completed just one week and a mere 800 dollars later. By the end of April, Shelby's "Thunderbold" conversion was also ready and was immediately tested extensively. John Panks, head of Rootes North America, was so enthusiastic that he immediately sent a letter to the son of the company boss in England: "This is a car we can sell in the States".

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