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Elegant restraint - Sunbeam Vogue in the (historical) test

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Created on August 22, 1970

Text:

Dr. Paul Simsa

Photos:

mot / J. F. Drkosch

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Archiv

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mot / J. F. Drkosch

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Archiv

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Sunbeam Vogue (1967) - comfortable, smooth-running and well equipped, but unfortunately poorly finished

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Singer Vogue (1969) - the English version of the Sunbeam Vogue

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Hillman Minx de Luxe (1969) - sold in Switzerland as Sunbeam Minx

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Sunbeam Hunter (1969) - for the press photo of the export model, not even the Hillman peak was removed from the hood

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Humber Sceptre (1969) - the most luxurious version of the Rootes Arrow, sold in continental Europe as the Sunbeam Sceptre

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Humber Sceptre (1968) - luxury model with twin headlights, more chrome and vinyl roof

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Singer Vogue Estate (1969) - sold in Switzerland as "Sunbeam Vogue Station Wagon"

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Singer Vogue Estate (1968) - Equitable distribution of tasks: one loads the trunk, three plan the itinerary

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Hillman Estate (1967) - ideal for the bouncy girl trip

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Sunbeam Vogue (1967) - Rear view at the 1967 Geneva Motor Show

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Sunbeam Vogue (1967) - Interior: wood and leather are fake, but the legroom in the back seat is generous

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Sunbeam Vogue (1967) - dashboard with deceptively real-looking wood grain as standard, automatic transmission for an extra charge

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Hillman Hunter (1967) - detailed view-through drawing

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Singer Vogue (1968) - wonderfully contemporary illustration in terms of fashion and style

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Singer Vogue (1968) - dynamic color illustration from the sales brochure

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Humber Sceptre (1968) - so outrageously luxurious that you drive to the beach house in a tuxedo and evening gown

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Sunbeam Vogue (1970) - Dimensions and weights

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Sunbeam Vogue (1970) - Diagrams for acceleration, speed and rpm compared to the Rapier

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Summary

Four months ago, we published the historic mot test of the Sunbeam Rapier. In it, we said that you should read the article on the mechanically identical Vogue for a technical assessment. We are happy to provide it here. And as with the coupé, the saloon also showed that the Sunbeam was actually a fine car and well worth considering - but its advantages were not clear enough to set it apart from the domestic competition. This historical test report is both benevolently optimistic and realistically pessimistic.

This article contains the following chapters

Equipment differences Vogue/Sceptre with prices and equipment
Engine and chassis designed for speedy three-quarter throttle
Plus points
Minus points
Supplementary data to the drawings

Estimated reading time: 7min

Preview (beginning of the article)

The name Sunbeam sounds like everything that is good and British. Sunbeam cars have been built since 1901, and until the 1930s Sunbeam was famous for class cars with sporting successes that were, however, bad for the finances. In 1935, Rootes swallowed up the fading brand. At present, Sunbeam is just a name for Rootes model variants that are marketed by Chrysler via Simca in Germany. The English Sunbeam can be purchased from 130 of 1100 German Simca dealers, mainly the larger ones. The German Sunbeam network is designed in such a way that, in the event of a breakdown, the nearest dealership cannot be more than 70 km away. The sales and supply center is Deutsche Simca in Neu-Isenburg. Sunbeam is the export brand of the English Rootes Group (Hillman, Humber, Sunbeam), which, like Simca, belongs to the American Chrysler Group. Years ago, Rootes attempted an independent German launch with the Hillman brand, then the Sunbeam Alpine sports car was offered to Simca dealers with little success; since 1969, things have been going better with the Sunbeam Vogue, Sceptre and Rapier models. The numbers are low, the expected production figures for 1970 hardly correspond to the daily production of a German mid-range car, and the Sunbeams are not technically stunning, which is why we are only presenting them in a short test.

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