Description
LET me tell you about today's offering from the Martin Howey collection of ultra cool classic cars.
I acquired it locally from an elderly chap, a retired RAF pilot of some repute, who had owned it and lavished oodles of love on it for the past 25 years. He bought it from a fellow pilot in 1998 and before that the only other owner had kept this beautiful British sports car for 29 years!
It is a 1964 model and therefore an Alpine IV, built with a 1600cc engine. However, shortly after buying this Sunbeam, the previous owner decided to buy an Alpine V with an excellent 1725cc unit and overdrive box and transferred the more powerful engine into this delightful old girl. So, essentially it has been a Series V now for almost 25 years, covering something like 12, 000 miles. So she has been used, enjoyed and constantly maintained by his close friend, a retired motor engineer.
It's rare to come across an early 1960s sports car with only three owners and such detailed history. You only have to stand next to this super Sunbeam to realise how she has been pampered for almost 60 years!
Structurally superb in all the right places and, drive-wise, probably the best Alpine I have ever driven. And I have had dozens of these wonderful Rootes Group sports cars over the years. She drives, responds and feels like a two-year-old car with overdrive instant on 3rd and 4th.
Originally a hard top model (GT), she now has a hood perfectly positioned beneath the rear deck. Thus she is a soft top model. There are one or two minor paint imperfections here and there commensurate with the fact that she was given a top class respray around 25 years ago. Were you to find yourself here, looking at this delightful Alpine, I am absolutely certain that you would agree with me. No small bits impinge on the overall beauty of this slick Sunbeam. I think I can safely say it is the nicest Sunbeam Alpine I have owned!
She comes with a totally re-trimmed interior and superb wooden dash.
This description is based on my opinion of the vehicle, the paperwork that comes with the car and anything I have been told about it. The vehicle is 59-years-old and this cannot be taken as a definitive statement for obvious reasons. As with most classic cars, there may be faults and quirks whilst, almost inevitably, some degree of tinkering and care will always be called for. Such are the joys of owning an antique vehicle and they must be taken within their own context and not compared to modern day cars. They are sold as old, mainly out-dated machines and come without any comeback whatsoever. They are my terms and conditions.
My classic cars are motoring antiques. This car, for example, is 59-years-old. It's not two, five or even ten-years-old as your own everyday car may be. It has been in service for more than half a century and so will have quirks and faults in there somewhere. However, faults on these old girls are not always apparent when buying and selling classics which is what I do. I do not restore them, nor do I pretend that they are concours cars. The majority of them go out as they came in, and I continue to enjoy finding more - a skill which is becoming increasingly difficult as many of you will be aware. They deserve to be taken on as "family pets" and cared for through thick and then. They don't make them any more and demand now out-strips supply. Please bear all this in mind, and enjoy your classic car. I can also assist with delivery and so please ask for a quote.
I have now been established as a one-man band classic car dealer for 25 years and pride myself on my buying prowess and - due to small margins - my prices which I firmly believe are up there among the very best in the UK classic car marketplace.
Thanks, Martin. the details below.
