Larry Schwarcz asks:
>Also, are there things to look out for on Sunbeams? Bad years?
>Trouble areas? Etc.
>
>And, what's the performance like? I realize that they won't move
>like the Tigers, but can they hold their own on the roads? Currently,
>I'm driving a '67 Mustang with a 289-V8. It's not the fastest
>around, but it's got plenty of get-up-and-go.
My background: I have a friend with a '65 Sunbeam Alpine and have
driven 2 others. IMHO, the Alpine is a fun to drive, underrated,
good looking, affordable, sports car. Look for a Series IV or V,
('64 thru '68, I think), for the best styling, anything earlier had
tail fins for rear fenders. Pre-'66 engines didn't seem to live to
long, but starting with the Series V ('67) they went to 5
main-bearings, upped displacement and HP. Parts are available but
you have fewer sources to pick(shop) from. Good club support in
many areas, although the Tiger owners tend to look down their noses
at Alpines. As always, rust can be a real problem, avoid the bad
ones. Big engine bay makes for easy engine swapping, *many*
Alpine's are running around with non-stock motors. My friend has a
Datsun motor and trans in his, V-6's fit very nicely, and everyone
knows a Ford 260ci or 289ci will fit, but to make your own Tiger is
tougher than you would think. The main knock against Alpine's is
that they were heavy. Series III at 2083lbs, a Series V at over
2200lbs, compare this to a early Spitfires and Midgets at about
1500lbs. Heavy, as it often does, means slow in stock trim. But I
do know of a '67 Alpine in my Vintage racing club that has not been
stripped down (ie complete interior), runs a Weber, header, with
mild build up of the stock motor, that regularly beats completely
stripped and more built up Spridgets. Around here, Colorado, $2500
will buy you a low/no rust Alpine in good running order, but they
don't come up for sale very often. I know at least one person on
the list owns a Alpine, maybe they could provide more details if
you are serious about buying one.
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Then Mr. Scott Fisher asks:
>Let's face it: we're all loonies on this list. But what I want
>to know is, were we like this before we got into British cars,
>or is it something we caught after we started hanging around
>other British car buffs?
I was like this before British cars. I may have been born this
way, my folks are big collectors of things, Red Wing pottery,
German beer steins, Guns, Volkswagons, (why couldn't it be
Jaguar's) just to name a few. For me, for the last few years it was
'65/'66 Mustangs with up to three a time parked around the house
along with a car for the wife and a "winter beater". I'm now down
to just my "keeper" '66 GT Coupe (still with a Volvo for the wife
and a "beater") that I'll reluctantly sell to help finance Vintage
racing in my Spitfire. I think the car collecting "fever" has
something to do with the fact that you find a make and model (or
two) that you like, you learn about where to find parts, how to
work on them, strong and weak points, true market value, etc. Then
armed with this knowledge you scan the "for sale" ads and just look
at some cars (to add to your knowledge database) but thou and
behold you find some good or great deals out there, deals you can't
pass up, and your collection grows again, and again. A true vicious
cycle, the more you learn, the more you look, the more you look the
sweeter the deals, the sweeter the deals the more cars you own!
For the last month or so I have been on a Spridget hunt for Mr.
Philip Ethier of St. Paul, Minn. He, like others of you, live in
a area where rust free British cars are rare or very expensive.
So I have been looking at and test driving Spridgets all over
Colorado, most of them are low/no rust and priced much lower than
similar cars in his state. The point in bringing this up is that
this car hunt is allowing me to enjoy the learning and looking
phases of my vicious cycle without the car ending up in my
driveway (or having my wife ticked off at me again). I offer this
up as a suggestion to those of you who also live in rust free
zones who sometimes hate to pick up the paper for fear of finding
other car that you just can't refuse. For those of you in the
"rust belt" why pay $300 for a rust free tub and $1000 to truck
it back to New York (or where-ever) when for the same or less
money one of us "rust free'ers" can find you something you can
*drive* back home and amaze your friends with.
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For you AH fans, I would whole-heartedly like to recommend:
Rocky Mountain Healeys, 303-841-1189, Parker, CO. They specialize
in restoration, sales, and service of AH's as well as other BMC
makes. The owner is Scott Kerzner. Ran across this firm during my
Spridget hunt and was impressed with the quality of the in-process
restorations, as well as the quality of the big Healeys that
customers had left in his care. Several big British car show
winners.
One other plug...
Rovers West - North America's premier parts and performance center
for your Rover.
Eightparts - Specializing in parts and accessories for the eight
cylinder Triumphs, TR-8 and Stag.
Both of these are at
4060 E. Michigan
Tucson, AZ 85714
602-748-8115
602-748-7929
I know nothing about these firms, but anyone trying to serve such
narrow markets, deserves some free advertisement.
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mjb, Thanks for adding me to your racers list.
Jeff Dowley, Where are you, are you getting my Email?
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Kirk Buecher
Hewlett Packard Greeley, CO 303-350-4291
kirkb@hpgrla.hp.com
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