Straight Steel/New Top/Like New Interior/1.7 Liter/Dual Stromberg Carbs/4-Speed

1967 Sunbeam Alpine

Secret agent “86” pulls up in front of a ubiquitous government building in his Sunbeam Tiger (big brother to the Alpine), proceeds to get out and go inside through a series of doorways eventually leading to a phone booth which will give him access to CONTROL HQ, for whom he, Maxwell Smart, works for. This bumbling secret agent series was made for TV during a time when James Bond films were popular in the mid 60's and featured various technological spy inventions that were ultimately used to fight KAOS, the supposedly Russian spy agency they were trying to thwart.

Not associated with the cold war other than having the same manufacturer, this consignment brings us a wonderful little Sunbeam Alpine. The little sister of the Tiger, she has a bit less power and a smaller engine but retains all the good looks. Several new parts were added on in the restoration including some Tiger side moldings, rear Roots badges on the quarters, and a completely rebuilt engine which has clocked less than 200 miles on it since the job was completed. Excuse me for 1 minute, my shoe phone is ringing.

Exterior
Courtesy of the Roots Group who produced the Alpine, this car was designed for the North American market specifically and has all the trappings of the Triumph which was selling like hotcakes in the US. A front end that somewhat reminds us of the early T-birds it uses the “pony car” theory being that of a long hood and short rear deck with an overall low profile. This example is a Mark 5 Alpine which would be the final version offered prior to the acquisition of the company by Chrysler. Our version has a sleek chrome trimmed oval shaped, and horizontal bar center grille, large turn signal lights on either side mounted above the polished bumper and a single headlight on the corner of each front quarter. Original rust-free steel panels come together very nicely with well minded gaps and create the sporty form for the exterior. All bathed in red, and it is a good paint job, you can run your hand over it and feel nothing but smooth! A nice black canvas convertible top covers the passengers if you wish, or you can lower it and it sports a nice covering to have it seamlessly melt into the remainder of the car. On back are slightly finned rear quarters, with thin vertical oval taillights on either side of the trunk deck. Another bumper is below and on all 4 corners are knock off wire wheels. A note about the quality of this restoration where the Roots badge is attached to the rear quarters at the end of a very nice trim spear with Alpine script breaking it up on the front quarter is nearly perfect in the red field. For the interior description we will be utilizing the cone of silence.

Interior
Black vinyl covers all the interior surfaces including the simple smooth door panels, and showroom quality bomber style low back curved buckets. Coco mats protect jet black carping underneath and this carpeting floods the entire cabin floors. A beautifully constructed and restored dash which sports an impressive lineup of black faced Jaeger gauges with white numerals and orange pointers is peppered within the faux leather textured dash front. A large steering wheel fronts this dash and appears to have been once covered with a leather lanyard tie wrap that has since been taken off. A padded rimmed open glove box is in front of the passenger. A shout out to the trunk for this well showing sportswear, where a spare tire is wrapped in a black vinyl covering nestled in the forward part of the trunk. The trunk is lined with a near perfect black lining. No rust here folks! Would you believe, all looking good here?!

Drivetrain
A forward tip of the hood and it reveals a pristine engine bay which contains our newly built power plant. This is in 1.7 liter 4 cylinder form, is made from a new short block, and a restored top end with new oil and water pumps. It is fed by 2 recently rebuilt sidedraft Stromberg Carburetors. All near perfect black supple hoses and wiring is snaking throughout this engine bay and definitely no corrosion is seen anywhere. On the back is a 4-speed manual transmission. The rear axle weighs in at 3.89 ratio.

Undercarriage
Some spotty surface rust is noted but all unremarkable as to the stability of the frame and floorboards. A heavy coating of rustproofing abounds and has started to peel off particularly on the rear of the framing. Independent coil springs are on front, and leaf springs bring up the rear. Disc brakes for the front and drums for the rear.

Drive-Ability
With less than 200 miles on the engine it starts right up as expected, and idles and runs smoothly. This car ran fine and came to a safe stop. Nothing like driving an open top roadster on a nice sunny day.

New short block, rebuilt top end, new oil and water pump, a new clutch kit, rebuilt carbs and a new battery. Straight nicely painted steel in red, and a like new interior. “Well Mr. Smart because I'm a sportsman I'll let you choose the way you want to die”. Smart replies: “Uh, Ok how about old age?”