All you need to know about SUNBEAM
Born: 1905 Nationality: British
The beginnings of Sunbeam were in the bicycle-making business set up by John Marston of Wolverhampton. His two-wheel machines were of high quality, and the cars produced by his new company from 1905 continued in that tradition.
Under the direction of French engineer/designer Louis Coatalen, road cars such as the 12/16 and racing cars such as the Nautilus and Toodles II were produced. A 1-2-3 success in the French Coupe De L'Auto in 1912 and 3-4-5 placings in the concurrent Grand Prix made the Sunbeam internationally famous.
In the first World War Sunbeam's ancillary aero engine business expanded with the demand for warplanes, including the Bristol fighter. Its cars were turned to military and ambulance uses. Car production resumed in 1919 with 16hp and 24hp models and, a year later, Sunbeam merged with the French Darracq car company, which itself had previously acquired the London-based Clement-Talbot builder of Darracq vehicles for Britain.
Under the umbrella of the new STD Motors (Sunbeam Talbot Darracq), Sunbeam participation in racing was revived and the first winning of a European Grand Prix by a British car and driver was at the 1923 French race in a Sunbeam driven by Major Henry Segrave.
In 1925, the Sunbeam 3-Litre Super Sports went on sale with Britain's first production DOHC engine. One came second in the 1925 Le Mans endurance race and Malcolm Campbell also set a world speed record of over 150 mph in a 350hp V12 Sunbeam, christened Bluebird and the first of a series of fast cars and boats of that name. In 1927 a 1000hp Sunbeam with two V12 engines exceeded 200 mph. On the road, the marque was now represented by 30hp 5-litre and 35hp 5.5-litre cars.
But financial troubles, partly due to the money drain of the racing programme, put STD Motors into receivership in 1934. Talbot and Sunbeam were bought by the Rootes Group which also comprised Hillman and Humber. Manufacture of the marque was suspended for the war, and the first new post-war Sunbeam-Talbots appeared in 1948, the 80 and the 90. The 90 became a rallying success, and went through three revisions, ending its Mk III incarnation in 1957. The performance of the works team in the Alpine Rally provided the name for a two-seater roadster, the Sunbeam Alpine, launched in 1953. It, too, was a rally success, including wins under the guidance of Stirling Moss and Peter Collins.
A new Alpine arrived in 1959, and both that nameplate and the Rapier continued through the middle of the 1960s. In 1964, an Alpine with a 4.2-litre Ford V8 engine was introduced for the US market, called the Tiger. The same year Chrysler bought a major interest in Rootes.
In 1967 Chrysler took full ontrol of the British company, and scrapped the Alpine Tiger because it had a Ford engine. The roadgoing Sunbeam name finally died in Britain in 1976, though it remained in Europe as a Talbot-Sunbeam brand under Peugeot ownership after it bought Chrysler Europe in 1978. On the rally circuits, the Sunbeam Lotus won the World Rally Championship in 1981, and that same year the production of all Talbot-Sunbeams ceased.
Best Car: The Mk I Tiger of 1964, for its sheer raw power in a diminutive and very attractive body
Worst Car: Chrysler Sunbeam of 1977
Weirdest Car: The Sunbeam Mabley produced by the bicycle company in 1901. Its wheels were laid out in a diamond pattern - one each front and rear, and one on each side. It was thought to make them skid-proof.