1967 Sunbeam Tiger Mk1A

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 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.

This Tiger was produced new in 1966 then marked for export to California where it was first registered in 1967. Repatriated to the UK in 1989, it was purchased by marque specialists, Alpine West Midlands, and the proprietors, Mr & Mrs Farmer, decided in view of its remarkably sound 'California Car' condition, to keep it as their own personal vehicle. As their business revolved around Alpines and Tigers, it was important that their personal car was a bit of a 'showroom window' so, during their ownership, it was converted to right-hand drive, treated to some cosmetic paintwork whilst retaining all of its original panels, the dashboard was re-veneered in Walnut, and the car was generally detailed to reflect their standards.

Ownership then passed to a private couple based in Germany who owned the car for the next 22 years until it joined our vendor's significant private Collection of British Motor Cars nearly five years ago.

This is a lovely, sound example of the Tiger, which has benefitted from living in California, six years with marque enthusiasts and the next 25 years under caring private ownership. Tigers continue to gain momentum in the market, and this is a good one that will reward a closer inspection.