Description
HERE is my mega rare Sunbeam Alpine 2-seater Sports. Not to be confused with the Sunbeam Talbot 90 saloon which also offered a convertible option, but the actual real McCoy - the 2 seater Alpine whose arrival in 1953 (the production only lasted 2 years and they were all hand built) took the motorsport world by storm with major trophies being won with Stirling Moss and Sheila Van Damm piloting the model to victories.
Definitely most famous for the part it played in the iconic Alfred Hitchcock film To Catch A Thief in which Grace Kelly drives an Alpine with Cary Grant as the passenger. You see at a glance that the Sunbeam Alpine was just made for cruising the French Riviera!
Anyway, to the car itself. Yes, a barn find. The old girl has been tucked away for the past 43 years although some degree of restoration work has been carried out during that period. This is a true bargain. She is on the DVLA website and still carries her original registration from November 1954 which is VPL 681. I am told that pretty much everything is with the car. The engine is out and she is awash with parts. Some new panels, excellent original leather seats in red, side windows, an old hood and frame, gearbox, fuel tank. The lost goes on. You may well have most of the stuff that you need to set about your own resto. The chassis looks to be in excellent order although, to be fair, they were built like tanks!
I may well be asked a fair amount of questions about this Alpine which I believe to be a Mark III. Only 300 were built. I will do my best to answer them but I would suggest that, if you are seriously interested, you will make the trip to North Yorkshire to view this fine old girl for yourself.
A good friend of mine has one which has only just been fully restored. It is in Ice Blue and it would not sell for a penny under £70k. Not that it matters as he will never sell it. I am just giving you a taste of their values.
I am Martin (Martin Howey Classics. Est 29 years) and I can assist with delivery and so please ask for a quote.
