Larry Wright wrote:
> I just finished " Sunbeam Alpine and Tiger, the Complete Story" which
> I got for a X-mas gift. Comments:
>
> a) P14: "and after a brisk fight wtih William Lyon's SS Cars concern,
Sunbeam was also purchased in
> July 1935" Whoa! Never heard that before! Our cars coulda been cheap Jags
instead of sporty
> Rootesmobiles. Anybody want to take a crack at another 'alternative
timeline'?
I haven't read the book yet, but the story I heard in regard to the above
was that Lyons wanted to replace the SS name with the Sunbeam name. The
name SS had some rather unfortunate connotations at the time, and Sunbeam
had plenty of street cred. When Rootes got in first Lyons invented the name
"Jaguar" instead. Had history been different it would have been Sunbeam
D-types winning LeMans.
Our sporty Rootesmobiles would have probably still existed, of course. They
would have been called Talbots instead.
Russ Maddock
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