What a beauty! As a kid, I first saw the high-finned Alpine in red with a black hardtop as Elizabeth Taylor's car in "Butterfield 8" with Lawrence Harvey, where he drove the original M-B 300 sedan. I was fascinated by those fins!
I always loved these cars.....Maxwell Smart used a Red one in the intro of the Series. Finally in May 2023 I bought a 63 Red (w/Red Hardtop) that was priced reasonably near Philly. Originally a West coast car, it was restored by a man for his wife. He replaced the engine with a Nissan L18 converted to fuel injection (I have original engine on a pallet) and (yikes) Auto transmission! Long term plan is to replace with a 5 speed. The Nissan makes it VERY reliable. Drove it until the first snow hit ground here in PA (January). Heater worked great - and it looks as cool with the Hardtop on it as it does as a convertible!
I had a series 1 Apine which i wish i still owned. It had overdrive on 3rd and 4th gears, so going down the road it sounded like a musical instrument !
The Bond of the Books, Dr. No being the Sixth novel by Ian Fleming. In the early Bond stories Fleming gave Bond a battleship-grey Bentley 4+1⁄2 Liter with an Amherst Villiers supercharger. After Bond's car was written off by Hugo Drax in Moonraker, Fleming gave Bond a Mark II Continental Bentley, which he used in the remaining books of the series. During Goldfinger, Bond was issued with an Aston Martin DB Mark III with a homing device, which he used to track Goldfinger across France. Bond returned to his Bentley for the subsequent novels. The Bond of the films has driven a number of Q-branch issued cars, including the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, during the 1980s, the V12 Vanquish and DBS during the 2000s, as well as the Lotus Esprit;[184] the BMW Z3, BMW 750iL and the BMW Z8. Bond has, however, also needed to drive a number of other vehicles, ranging from a Citroën 2CV, an Alpine II. a Soviet Tank to a Routemaster Bus, amongst many others.
Great video - I had one just like this, but white, while attending UCLA around 1967 - I used it to deliver the morning LA Times on a paper route while living in a fraternity house. It ran like a roller skate, but one time I fell asleep while delivering papers and smashed it into a telephone pole which fell over and injured my forehead on the steering wheel. I think I had to sell it for parts. A major problem was the Lucas wiring system, and I think you had to remove a major part like the exhaust manifold to replace the rearmost 4-cylinder plug. Since then I had a BMW, 65 Mustang (which I still have), and other cars and the Alpine was the worst designed car for easy maintenance. That Alpine was fun to drive in the curvy hills of Westwood, CA but terrible mechanical systems. But, I would still get a Tiger if I could afford one. Before the Alpine, I lived with my parents in Playa del Rey, CA and Carrol Shelby lived one block away and I could hear him drive the early Cobras and GT350's to work and would run out to wave at him.
" I think you had to remove a major part like the exhaust manifold to replace the rearmost 4-cylinder plug"......If you had lifted the floor carpet you would have found a little trap door there to access the plug.
Production ended in 1967 soon after the Rootes Group was taken over by Chrysler. Because the smallest V-8 they had at the time, the 273 couldn't fit under the hood. From 1964-67 the Tiger I: 260 cu in (4.3 L) V8 (Ford) in 1967 (a one-year only) Tiger II: 289 cu in (4.7 L) V8 (Ford). This would lead Chrysler to rebadge the Tigers in 1967 with the Pentastar in order to deflect the fact that the remainders of the Tigers sold were Ford powered. this short sightedness would lead to the end of the Tiger line that year.
If you like this Sunbeam, you'll love this Austin-Healey 100! ua-cam.com/video/3ewnLI_MQJ8/v-deo.html
I simply love the Big-Healey 3000. It was quite the head turner and very comfy to both ride and drive.
mine had wood dash steering wheel shift knob manogany ??? electric OD
What a beauty! As a kid, I first saw the high-finned Alpine in red with a black hardtop as Elizabeth Taylor's car in "Butterfield 8" with Lawrence Harvey, where he drove the original M-B 300 sedan. I was fascinated by those fins!
I always loved these cars.....Maxwell Smart used a Red one in the intro of the Series. Finally in May 2023 I bought a 63 Red (w/Red Hardtop) that was priced reasonably near Philly. Originally a West coast car, it was restored by a man for his wife. He replaced the engine with a Nissan L18 converted to fuel injection (I have original engine on a pallet) and (yikes) Auto transmission! Long term plan is to replace with a 5 speed. The Nissan makes it VERY reliable. Drove it until the first snow hit ground here in PA (January). Heater worked great - and it looks as cool with the Hardtop on it as it does as a convertible!
I had a series 1 Apine which i wish i still owned. It had overdrive on 3rd and 4th gears, so going down the road
it sounded like a musical instrument !
Cute car used by James Bond in Jamaica in Dr No.
But no competition for the later Aston Martins favoured by James.
Immaculate,well done.
Nice car in brilliant colour. Well done for restoring it to its present outstanding condition. Mr Bond would approve !👍👍🥂
Beautiful restoration and good to hear you drive it too.
Just bought a 1967 roadster, very slolid. Looking forward to the journey. Have MG's buf thought l step out. Does remind me of tbird.
The Bond of the Books, Dr. No being the Sixth novel by Ian Fleming. In the early Bond stories Fleming gave Bond a battleship-grey Bentley 4+1⁄2 Liter with an Amherst Villiers supercharger. After Bond's car was written off by Hugo Drax in Moonraker, Fleming gave Bond a Mark II Continental Bentley, which he used in the remaining books of the series. During Goldfinger, Bond was issued with an Aston Martin DB Mark III with a homing device, which he used to track Goldfinger across France. Bond returned to his Bentley for the subsequent novels.
The Bond of the films has driven a number of Q-branch issued cars, including the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, during the 1980s, the V12 Vanquish and DBS during the 2000s, as well as the Lotus Esprit;[184] the BMW Z3, BMW 750iL and the BMW Z8. Bond has, however, also needed to drive a number of other vehicles, ranging from a Citroën 2CV, an Alpine II. a Soviet Tank to a Routemaster Bus, amongst many others.
The engine is 1725cc not 1800cc
Great video - I had one just like this, but white, while attending UCLA around 1967 - I used it to deliver the morning LA Times on a paper route while living in a fraternity house. It ran like a roller skate, but one time I fell asleep while delivering papers and smashed it into a telephone pole which fell over and injured my forehead on the steering wheel. I think I had to sell it for parts. A major problem was the Lucas wiring system, and I think you had to remove a major part like the exhaust manifold to replace the rearmost 4-cylinder plug. Since then I had a BMW, 65 Mustang (which I still have), and other cars and the Alpine was the worst designed car for easy maintenance. That Alpine was fun to drive in the curvy hills of Westwood, CA but terrible mechanical systems.
But, I would still get a Tiger if I could afford one. Before the Alpine, I lived with my parents in Playa del Rey, CA and Carrol Shelby lived one block away and I could hear him drive the early Cobras and GT350's to work and would run out to wave at him.
Great story! Thanks for sharing! Funny how many British car owners have mentioned "Lucas, The Prince of Darkness".
" I think you had to remove a major part like the exhaust manifold to replace the rearmost 4-cylinder plug"......If you had lifted the floor carpet you would have found a little trap door there to access the plug.
I was glad for the rust, I hit a telegraph pole and it collapsed slowly due to the rust, saved my life, passenger left her tooth in the dash.lol.
What a wonderful buy! Beautiful colour
the 260 ford v8 model was my favorite ..
The Aston martins baby brother!
Wish I had one just like this one.
I have a 1960 Series II I've owned since 1985 that looks almost identical to this. Same color, knockoffs, etc..but not quite in as nice of shape.
Note that the car looks extremely similar to the Ford Thunderbird albeit being smaller and less stylish.
Ford engine version reamins a real rocket ship. Rack and pinion steering is all it needed.
The Sunbeam Tiger! There will be one of those featured on the channel in the upcoming months!
What about the Tiger. With the Chrysler v8 !
Production ended in 1967 soon after the Rootes Group was taken over by Chrysler. Because the smallest V-8 they had at the time, the 273 couldn't fit under the hood. From 1964-67 the Tiger I: 260 cu in (4.3 L) V8 (Ford)
in 1967 (a one-year only) Tiger II: 289 cu in (4.7 L) V8 (Ford). This would lead Chrysler to rebadge the Tigers in 1967 with the Pentastar in order to deflect the fact that the remainders of the Tigers sold were Ford powered. this short sightedness would lead to the end of the Tiger line that year.
Great simple car! Good for the city since it’s a bitch to drive big cars in the inner city
Bull pucky..not Bond car color at all...