Model Cars

1966 Sunbeam Tiger

The Sunbeam Alpine was a success right from debut in 1959. With its Hillman Husky floorpan, mechanicals from the Rootes parts bin and Ford Thunderbird-inspired styling it was a very attractive car. However, there was always a feeling that the Alpine could do with a little more performance, particularly on the American market. The rather staid AC Ace had been transformed into the Cobra by squeezing a Ford V8 under the bonnet and sales were dramatic. It was decided to follow this format. An Alpine fitted with a large V8 and named 'Tiger' after the famous Sunbeam racing cars of the 1920s...how could it fail? The problem lay not in the car, which turned out to be rather good, but in the politics of ownership. Rootes was in trouble and had been taken over by Chrysler. As a result a Ford engine wouldn't do! There was talk of substituting the Ford V8 with a Chrysler unit but nothing happened and the Tiger was consigned, as the Rootes Group would be, to history.

License plate KRW381F.

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