1965 Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1

Designed in part by renowned American car designer and racer Carroll Shelby, in an attempt to raise the declining fortunes of the Rootes Group, the Tiger was penned around the popular Sunbeam Alpine bodyshell with V8 motivation in an attempt to compete successfully in world markets where larger capacity engines and sports car styling were at the forefront of late 1960s motoring. Codenamed 'Thunderbolt', the whole project took place without the knowledge of Lord Rootes and when he found out he got 'very grumpy' by all accounts, although he had the good sense to get a prototype shipped to Coventry and was deeply impressed with the car when it arrived. Shelby had envisaged assembling them in America as he had done with AC Cobras, however, Rootes opted to pay him a royalty on each unit and use West Bromwich-based Jensen Motors to build the cars as they had spare capacity having just ceased their Volvo P1800 assembly contract. A total of some 7,085 Sunbeam Tigers were eventually produced, including 536 of the now very rare 4.7-litre Mk2 versions which arrived in 1967. The final cars rolled off the lines in 1968, production being shelved when Chrysler took over the Rootes Group, their new bosses unable to sanction a car powered by their arch-rivals, Ford.

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