When it was launched at the New York Motor Show in 1964, the Sunbeam Tiger was immediately overshadowed by another car released there, the brand-new Ford Mustang. In the second half of 1964, the Mustang’s monthly production was at least three times that of the Tiger’s total production over its entire lifespan, so it’s no real surprise that the Mustang was the model that the media of the day latched on to.
That’s a shame, because, for its day, the Tiger was a huge achievement for the Rootes Group, and the first model had the same 260ci Ford V8 that was optional on the Mustang – and yet the Tiger weighed in at 1,145kg, around 200Kg lighter than the V8 Mustang.
The car did get some good press, mainly from English car magazines, and praise was high for the fast but civilised convertible. Common accolades were around the model’s “effortless acceleration” and civilised nature, compared to other cars of the era.
Because the American market was so enticing to Rootes, 90% of all Tigers were sold there, with the remaining 10% as right-hand drive and sold to other countries. This included the UK and other European countries, as well as New Zealand. It was never sold new in Australia.
Mention the Tiger on any internet forum now, and almost immediately someone will reply with, “you know that car was in Get Smart?”. Yes, everyone knows that, but someone always feels the need to point it out. It happens in person, too; I owned a Tiger for 8 years, only selling it in 2022 to fund our Sunbeam Rapier V8 project car. Pull up at any gas station in a Tiger, and inevitably someone will come over and chat, normally about the TV series, Get Smart. Others want to look under the bonnet of the car to see how on earth a V8 fits in there.
Sunbeam Tiger – The Beginnings
We can thank Formula 1 driver Jack Brabham for the Tiger. In 1962, he was talking to Rootes Competition Manager, Norman Garrad, about putting a V8 into the Alpine’s body. Norman then spoke to his son, Ian Garrad, about the idea. Ian was the West Coast Sales Manager of Rootes American Motors Inc. in Los Angeles, and lived near Carroll Shelby’s workshop.
Ian got a wooden yardstick and measured the width of the Alpine’s engine bay. He gave the yardstick to his service manager and told him to go to local dealerships, and find a motor that would fit. Long story short, the 260 Ford was suitable, and from there, 2 prototypes were built, a white one by Carol Shelby and a red one by Ken Miles. Shelby’s prototype was a manual, while the Miles’ car was an automatic.
The Shelby prototype was sent off to England, where Lord Rootes was to take it for a spin. He did, was extremely impressed and immediately approved production – with Lord Rootes contacting Henry Ford II directly, to place the initial order of engines. To ensure enough engines for supply, Rootes Group ordered 3,000 260 V8s from Ford – the largest single-engine order ever for Ford.
Ian got a wooden yardstick and measured the width of the Alpine’s engine bay. He gave the yardstick to his service manager and told him to go to local dealerships, and find a motor that would fit.
The car did not have a final name at this point; Thunderbolt was its prototype name, but in the end, the car was named the Tiger, after the 1925 Sunbeam land-speed record car.
For his efforts, Carroll Shelby was paid an undisclosed royalty for every Sunbeam Tiger produced. Because of Shelby’s input into the Tiger’s birth and because the car was so much cheaper than a Cobra, it has been called the “Poor man’s Cobra” for many years.
Sunbeam Tiger – Drivetrain
As mentioned, the first (Mk1) versions of the Tiger came with Ford’s 260 cubic-inch (4.2-litre) V8, and the transmission was Ford’s 4-speed toploader – straight out of the Mustang and other Ford V8 models (although very early Tigers used a Borg-Warner T10). The engine was not altered at all, and so was fitted with Ford’s 2-barrel Autolite carburettor, with power rated at 164hp (122kW) and torque at 350Nm.
Released in 1967, Mk2 versions of the Tiger were powered by Ford’s 289 cubic-inch V8 (4.7 litre) but as far as the drivetrain goes, other changes included a switch from a 25-amp generator to an alternator, an oil cooler was added, and a wider ratio gearbox used. The Mk2 versions managed 200hp (149kW) of power.
To put it in perspective, the original 260 V8 Tiger had double the power of the 4-cylinder Alpine of the same year. It’s similar with the torque figures; with the Alpine’s 127Nm, the Mk1 Tiger had 350Nm – 223% more torque.
It’s similar with the torque figures; with the Alpine’s 127Nm, the Mk1 Tiger had 350Nm – 223% more torque.
For both models of Tiger, using an American drivetrain meant that reliability (other than some overheating issues) wasn’t really a problem.
Fitting that V8 into an engine bay that was not made for a V8 presented some problems. It’s a tight fit; for example, replacing the spark plugs can be a day job with scraped knuckles. Luckily – on one side of the car at least – Rootes put a hole in the firewall to access the rearmost spark plug on the left-hand bank. There’s another hole (both are covered by a grommet when not in use) that allows you to get a 3/8 spanner in there to tighten up the rocker cover bolt.
The rearmost spark plug on the right-hand side of the car has no access through the firewall, and this is the main culprit for any hassles.
The tight fit also means that hot air generated by the engine struggles to escape. Owners have done a lot of work in this area, with common mods like bonnet vents, electric fans, using Water Wetter, and wrapping the headers – all in the name of keeping the engine cool. You can even buy ‘horn hole blockers’ for the Tiger. It was found that the 6” square hole in the front of the car – used simply to carry the horn wiring – could set up a recirculating effect, so when stationary, hot air from the engine would exit forwards through the horn holes, and then back into the radiator. The horn hole blockers cover the hole entirely, except for a small opening for the horn wires. A simple but effective mod.
One big change was the move to rack and pinion steering. The Alpine had worm and roller steering, but the steering box would not fit in the engine bay with the V8. The conversion to rack and pinion causes an issue with the steering; since the engine takes up so much space, the Tiger’s rack and pinion steering is well forward in the car, creating negative Ackerman geometry, as the steering arms are angled backwards. The steering can be heavy at low speeds with all that cast iron of the V8, however once on the move it’s just fine. Some owners have fitted electric power steering to their cars.
Brakes on the car are standard disc/drum, unchanged from the Alpine. A prototype Mk2 version had 4-wheel disc brakes, but due to cost-cutting measures, these did not make it to production. The differential on both models is a Salisbury Dana 44 unit.
The suspension is pretty much lifted straight from the Alpine, so double-wishbone front suspension, and a live axle at the rear. The only changes in the suspension setup are heavier front springs to cope with the extra weight of the cast-iron V8, and a thicker sway bar.
In America, some Tigers have had their performance lifted hugely by their owners, by the fitting of much larger motors than the car was designed for. How about 6 litres of V8 in that tiny body? A 302 Ford V8 is a common modification, as is a 4-barrel carburettor or after-market fuel injection, headers, rear disc brakes – and so many other modifications.
In America, some Tigers have had their performance lifted hugely by their owners, by the fitting of much larger motors than the car was designed for. How about 6 litres of V8 in that tiny body?
Sunbeam Tiger – Performance
I have heard unconfirmed (but pre-internet, so quite possibly true) reports that in its day, the Tiger was the fastest accelerating car in top gear – in the world. For two years, a (Shelby-prepared) Sunbeam Tiger held the record for the American National Hot Rod Association’s quarter-mile drag strip in its class, at 12.95 seconds at 108mp/h.
Given its light 1,200kg weight and V8 powertrain – even if that V8 only put out 164hp – means performance is a foot-press away. You can easily skip gears, with first to fourth no problem. Acceleration in fourth gear is outstanding, and I recall simply staying in top gear for so long – including going through roundabouts.
The Mk1 Tiger accelerates to 100km/h in around 8.4 seconds. Not fast by today’s standards, but in 1964? Excellent, comparable to sports cars of the day and a huge improvement over the Alpine’s time of 13.6 seconds. Top speed of the Mk1 Tiger is 120mp/h (193km/h), while the Mk2 Tiger accelerates to 100km/h in 7.5 seconds and tops out at 122mp/h (196km/h).
It’s not just the performance that’s a bonus; with such a short exhaust system and with the roof down, the sound this V8 makes is delectable. It burbles more than it does in the Mustang, and I expect many Tigers have been sold once the potential purchaser hears the noise it makes while on the move – with the top down, of course.
There is no doubt that this car is very low, so good luck getting a standard trolley jack under there. With a low height, relatively light weight and an engine that is back against the firewall, handling is surprisingly good for a 60-year-old car. Reading comparisons of the day of the Tiger vs. the Daimler SP250, and the Tiger is well more advanced than the SP250. Better handling, more civilised, and more modern.
Sunbeam Tiger – Body
The Tiger was built using the Sunbeam Alpine body, so only a convertible was available from Rootes. The car was actually built at Jensen’s factory in West Bromwich, England; Rootes Group could not build the car due to space issues. This is why ‘JAL’ is stamped on every Tiger’s chassis plate, which stands for Jensen Assembly Line.
The Mk1’s seams were all leaded up and the corners on the boot, bonnet and doors were radiused, adding some class to its build quality.
In typical British fashion, there was a halfway model between the Mk1 and Mk2 – the Mk1A. Due to cost-cutting, that meant that model lost those up-market features. This makes it easy to pick out a Mk1 Tiger – simply check out the doors, bonnet or boot for rounded corners. Another change in the MK1A is the move from a steel soft-top cover to a soft (vinyl) cover,
In saying that and again in true British fashion, there were some ‘changeover’ Tigers that had the rounded-edges boot lid from the Mk1, but the rest of the car was Mk1A.
A hardtop was available as an option.
There are rumours that staff at the Jensen factory used large hammers to make the transmission tunnel bigger to fit the engine, while many say this is simply not true. Looking at the transmission tunnel of any genuine Tiger, you can tell it hasn’t been beaten with a hammer of any sort.
Sunbeam Tiger – Get Smart
It’s well known that a Tiger was used in the 1960s TV series, but many people do not realise that a 4-cylinder Alpine was used in most scenes. That’s because there was no room in the engine bay of the Tiger for things like the cannon that pops up out of the bonnet of the car. In shots where it’s just Agents 86 and 99 in the car and no special effects are used, that’s the Tiger.
Other shots are the Tiger, but more often than not an Alpine was used. The car used in the TV series had a fake radar, as well as other spy gadgets.
In 1973, a man named Harold Woolridge found the Alpine used in the series, and bought it. He said, “I found the little red Alpine parked behind an auto parts store in Dallas in 1973. What I first noticed about the car was the two hinged panels on the right side of the bonnet. The car’s interior looked strange, too. A panel with 2 large gauges was under the dash and sat on the transmission tunnel. A store employee told me the car had a blown engine and the owner wanted to get rid of it. I contacted him and bought the car for $100. He had bought it in California from the post-production auction for the series ‘Get Smart’. Someone else had already bought the companion Tiger used in all the chase scenes. [It was Don Adams, who played Maxwell Smart, who bought the Tiger]
A store employee told me the car had a blown engine and the owner wanted to get rid of it. I contacted him and bought the car for $100.
“The Alpine, however, had all the ‘exotics’ in it, including a periscope, radar, front and rear spring-loaded bumpers, rear oil sprayer and a cannon that rose on hydraulics and pushed open two hinged flaps in the hood. The console mounted below the dash that had the two large fake gauges in it swung up, revealing the controls, all the gadgets and the radar screen.
“Behind the green plastic radar screen cover was a small light that rotated and randomly flashed, giving the appearance of a working radar. The oil sprayer was mounted in the fuel cross-connect area, which required removal of the connecting fill pipe. The right fuel saddle tank was removed for an oil holding tank for the sprayer. This meant no fuel sender and no working gauge (a small price to pay).
“The bumper guards were welded to some rods which were inserted into tubes behind the bumper. The guards had some strong springs behind them and locked and released with solenoid trips. The only way I found to re-engage them was to drive against a building (gently) and push them into their stored position.
“The periscope was a little lens gadget brazed on the end of the radio antenna. It was electrically raised and lowered, but apparently did nothing else. Though the cannon did raise and lower from the hood, it, like the periscope, must have depended on special effects for action. The car was red on the series, and I in all my mental midgetness, had it painted yellow.
“Unfortunately, I cannot find a good photo of the car. I kept the spymobile for about a year before moving to Austin, Texas to attend college. I sold it in late 1974. I don’t have the VIN #, but it would be fun to see if someone out there knows what happened to it or knows more about its history, either before or after I had it, or knows more about the Tiger that was its sister stunt car.”
Sunbeam Tiger – Models/Versions
Production of the Mk1 Tiger rounded out at 4,626 units. There is some debate around this number, but it’s probably very close.
Other changes in the Mk1A other than those already listed included foot-well vents and a larger interior mirror. Some 1,826 MK1A Tigers were built, although ‘Mk1A’ was not a factory designation, it was simply what most people called this in-between model.
Production of the Mk2 is only 633 units and is the most expensive Tiger to buy, due to its rarity. This model has an ‘egg crate’ grille, and those grilles are near impossible to find. Another change was the removal of the chrome trim around the waistline of the Mk1/MK1A Tiger, instead the Mk2 has chrome trim around the wheel arches. This trim is also near impossible to find, and if some comes up for sale, it sells for many thousands of dollars.
In 1965, seventy-three CKD (Completely Knocked Down) Sunbeam Tigers were shipped by Rootes to South Africa, and have become legendary in their own right. Many were shipped out of South Africa, and due to their rarity they are now extremely collectable.
Total production of all Sunbeam Tigers is around 7,085.
Sunbeam Tiger – “Algers”
Of course, there were always going to be Alpine owners who would put a V8 into their cars, knowing it could be done. These cars are often referred to as Algers, or an Alpine V8. As you’d expect, the value is far less than a genuine Tiger, but many Algers have been resto-modded, so are generally a better driving car than a ‘real’ Tiger.
I’ve seen Algers with 5-speed gearboxes, power steering, power windows, power door locks, air conditioning and many other mod cons.
With some owners changing Alpines to Tigers, authenticity can be an issue. In the USA and Australia, Sunbeam car clubs have set up a TAC system (Tiger Authenticity Certificate) where extremely knowledgeable and trained members will check cars claiming to be a Tiger, to make sure they are ‘real’ Tigers, and not a fake. The Sunbeam Car Club of New Zealand is investigating implementing the same system here.
Sunbeam Tiger – Parts Supply
If there’s one good thing about America, it’s the fact that they love to make parts for cars. And since so many Tigers were sold there (in relation to the RHD ones), there is a strong after-market supply of parts for the Tiger – with many parts very well priced.
Some parts are being remanufactured, and new old stock still pops up now and then. With a Ford V8 and transmission, engine and gearbox parts supply are not an issue, and certainly not expensive.
The Sunbeam Car Club of New Zealand holds around $80,000 worth of new parts available to club members, with just 15% mark-up applied to parts – this is to ensure the cars are kept on the road. These parts cover all Sunbeam models, so aren’t Tiger-specific, although the Tiger and Alpine share many body, suspension, brake, and almost all interior parts.
Sunbeam Tiger – Demise
After Chrysler gained full control of Rootes Group in 1967, the Tiger became a problem child. There was no way Chrysler wanted to sell a car with a Ford engine, and who could blame them. They looked at some of their own V8s, but they were either too big to fit, or the distributor was at the wrong end of the engine.
So the decision was made and after only 3 years, the Tiger was culled.
Sunbeam Tiger – Values
With the current falling market for classic cars, it’s hard to price a Tiger in New Zealand, but you can count on $100K plus for a reasonable one. The Mk II versions will generally go for well over $150K, if you ever found one for sale. One was sold in the South Island 5 or so years ago for $170K. That car came from Japan, but it is not known where it went to. There is another Mk2 Tiger in Auckland somewhere, but it seems it hasn’t seen the light of day for many years, apparently.
A genuine Mk I Tiger that needs a full restoration would likely still go for at least $60K, but this is all dependent on history, mileage, authenticity, and condition.
There are plenty of parts and expertise available in New Zealand to restore a Tiger to as-new condition, and indeed this has been done recently, with others in the works.
Sunbeam Tigers in New Zealand
Three Tigers were built for export and sent to New Zealand to be sold new by Todd Motors, in 1966, with the first one being a demonstrator. There is a fourth Tiger is not shown on the page below; that was a Mk1 Tiger that was built in August 1965, but imported in August 1967 with just 356 miles on the clock and sold as a new Tiger here. There were also another couple of private imports around the same time, but not brought in through Todd Motors. Tigers built for export have ‘RRO’ in their chassis number, while UK home-market Tigers carry ‘HRO’ instead.
DriveLife managed to pin down Mike Todd, of Todd Motors, to find out more about those first three Tigers. He remembers them well. “As a young man in my early teens, I remember seeing the three Tigers parked in a back alley behind Wakefield Motors, in Wellington. I also remember sitting in each of them, and smelling the brand-new interiors of these amazing cars,” says Mike. “One was the red demonstrator, and the other two were white.”
A few years later, Mike spent 6 weeks working for Todd Motors while on summer break from University. “It was my job to enter the details for every single car sold by Todd Motors into a giant ledger. While working, I flipped through the pages to find the three Tigers that I had once sat in.” And he did find them. After Mitsubishi Motors bought out Todd Motors in New Zealand in 1987, the company held on to those ledgers – and still has them. It was when talking to Mike Todd that I found out about these ledgers, and using some contacts at Mitsubishi Motors NZ, I managed to track them down.
So, DriveLife has the honour of being the first non-Todd Motors or Mitsubishi people to look at the ledgers in person. Thanks to Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand, we headed to their headquarters in Porirua to view the ledgers and get some photos of the entries for the Tigers that were sold new here.
As expected, the ledgers are massive and the handwriting very ‘old school’ – some of it very hard to read. But I did find the page for three New Zealand-new Sunbeam Tigers, complete with chassis numbers and who the cars were sent to. It’s an incredible piece of history for the car in New Zealand, and worldwide. Seeing the ‘Landed cost” of each Tiger at around 1,100 pounds was quite sobering, when you consider their value in 2024.
You can see the first Tiger imported is the demo model, with “Demo car stock” listed as its destination.
Of those three New Zealand-new Tigers, the first one was the red demo model and was eventually sold, and left New Zealand for Japan. It left Jensen’s factory in July 1965.
The second car in this list now lives in Auckland, and the third car is in the North Island.
The fourth Tiger is on the Alpine page in the ledger, and that car is owned by Craig Pidgeon, who talks about his Tiger in the next part of this article. Why is Craig’s Tiger not on the Tiger page? This is because someone, perhaps after a late night out on the town, managed to enter a Tiger in as an Alpine. Probably an easy mistake to make, and one that now goes down in history.
According to the Sunbeam Car Club of New Zealand, there are varying opinoins that there are between 16 and 30 genuine Tigers in New Zealand, but there are 16 that belong to club members.
Sunbeam Tiger – 60th Anniversary Celebration in New Zealand
The Sunbeam Car Club of New Zealand invited DriveLife on a 3-day weekend to celebrate the Tiger’s birthday. The event was based in Masterton, with the first day’s drive towards Wellington (over the Akatarawa Road) and on to Southward Car Museum for a look through the museum. After lunch, the next driving leg was down to Paekakariki, over the windy and exciting “Paekok Hill” and then back over the Remutaka Hill to Masterton.
Day Two was a trip to Cape Palliser and then to Lake Ferry for launch, while Day Three included a visit to The Pointon Collection outside of Masterton, then a trip out to Castle Point – and that meant more windy, twisty roads.
The weekend’s events would mainly be driving, because that’s what Tiger ownership is all about. This was highlighted by talking to some of the Tiger owners over the weekend. No one I spoke to knows of a garage queen Tiger, just sitting there being pretty. These cars are driven, and that was proven by the cars at the event. From the Far North of the North Island to the deep south of the South Island, Sunbeam Tigers and their owners descended on Masterton.
At the hotel, 8 genuine Tigers were in attendance, the highest number of Tigers in one place in New Zealand for many years. An additional 3 Algers were there, a single Alpine and a Series Sunbeam Rapier. Four other Tigers could not be there due to a variety of reason (COVID…), and yet to see that many Tigers in one place was a treat.
On talking to some of the Tiger owners at the event, there were common themes around issues with the car, and also great things about the Tiger. One other surprise was some of the other cars that the Tiger owners had tucked away – some impressive lists!
Sunbeam Tiger Owner: Craig Pidgeon
Craig Pidgeon from the Mainland says his biggest issue with the car is ground clearance, high judder bars and shingle roads. These things were also mentioned by most other owners.
Craig’s Tiger is the fourth Tiger sold new in New Zealand, as mentioned earlier. It was built in August of 1965, imported by Todd Motors and arrived in New Zealand in 1967 and was sold to Roy Barton from Featherston. The car has covered 61,000 miles so far, pretty damn low for a car nearing 60 years old. Craig is certainly started to clock up the miles in his ownership of the Tiger, although he has a tasty few other cars to choose from, including a reproduction C-Type Jaguar, a Datsun 240Z, a Sunbeam Talbot Lotus, and a 1967 Fiat Dino 206 Coupe.
He didn’t have any intention of buying a Tiger, but was looking at purchasing another car from a Sunbeam Car Club member, and spotted the Tiger. One thing led to another (it did include a handsome offer) and now Craig is the proud owner of ‘Tigga’.
Sunbeam Tiger Owners: Ray & Gill Sanders
Coming from Tutukaka in Northland, Ray and Gill Sanders drove their left-hand drive Tiger a total of 2,500km to get to the event, and then back home again (they went the long way). Their Tiger is not pristine, but they love it regardless. “One day we will do a panel and paint job on it and refurbish the interior, but we don’t plan to ever fully restore it because I believe the original patina is important,” says Ray.
After owning Alpines and Rapiers, they decided it was time to “get to the pinnacle of Sunbeam ownership”. That was a while ago, as they have owned their Tiger for 28 years;
Their best experience with the car is spending 5 glorious summer weeks driving 7,000 km around the South Island in 2016 with the top down. “The roof only went up once due to rain at Mt Cook,” says Gill. “I would like to say the Tiger ran faultlessly, but we actually lost nearly all electrical items, except the ignition, at various stages of the journey, and not due to blown fuses. All were fixed progressively along the way. Just Joseph Lucas living up to his ‘Prince of Darkness’ title I guess.”
Like others, the Sanders find that traffic jams are a problem for the car, with their worst experience being caught in a massive traffic jam on the Auckland motorway in the middle of summer, and having to pull over and park for a long time to avoid overheating. In saying that, the Sander’s Tiger does have some genuine ‘LAT’ (Los Angeles Tiger) options, like the electric fan and a bonnet scoop – and these do help keep the V8 convertible cool.
“The other problem was losing the generator on the way to a Sunbeam event in Feilding, and having to do the remaining 1,500km there and back swapping batteries after buying an extra one, along with a charger,” adds Ray.
Like others, the Tiger’s low height causes it to scrape on speed bumps, and the Ackerman angle issue with the steering is a problem at low speeds – but not in normal driving, says Ray.
They are the second owners, with the original US owner buying it in Denver and using it for ski trips, with his skis strapped on a slope from a roof rack on the hardtop down to the boot rack. All of that gear came with the car, as well as a mountain of parts for an eventual refurb.
“The original owner bought the car when he was 20 and later moved to New Zealand, where he sold me the car when he was 50,” says Ray. “We have owned it for the remaining 28 years of its life, but have never restored it apart from reconditioning the engine and drivetrain.”
The Sanders are mainly Rootes Group fans, and also own a Humber Sceptre, a Sunbeam Rapier Fastback, a Sunbeam Rapier Convertible, a Studebaker Hawk, and a Land Rover S2A.
Ray and Gill previously also had a right-hand drive Tiger for 20 years, and this was used for Targa Rallying. That car was later sold, and is now fully restored and lives in Hawkes Bay.
Sunbeam Tiger Owner: Ian Finch
Ian says his first ‘discretionary car’ (e.g. one that I didn’t need to get going again after working on it over the weekend in order to get to work on Monday morning) was a Series 2 Sunbeam Alpine that he bought sight unseen in Christchurch, then drove back to Auckland and restored it. “This got me researching Sunbeams and piqued my interest in the holy grail of Alpines, the Tiger,” he says. “When one came up for sale in my area, I jumped straight on it and never regretted it.”
He says his best experience with his Tiger is, “any drive – it just has so much grunt for a small car.
“When I bought it, it had what the seller described as a ‘vapour lock’, which made it impossible to restart when it was hot. It left me stranded at many a petrol station until we worked out it was actually the starter motor overheating. I sorted that, and it’s been sorted ever since. I now have the same problem with a Ferrari that I own…”
Not only does his Tiger share a garage with his 2008 Ferrari Scaglietti 612, there is also a 1955 Buick Riviera Special two door pillarless, along with a 1955 Widebody Porsche Speedster replica, a 1961 Sunbeam Alpine Series 2, a 1966 Cadillac DeVille Convertible, a 1967 New Zealand-new VW Karmann Ghia, a four-owner 1970 Mazda 1800 (that still has the plastic on the door cards from new), a low km 2005 BMW E60 M5, a 2007 Porsche 911 997 (his daily driver), and a couple of XJ Jeep Cherokees. That’s one hell of a garage.
Sunbeam Tiger Owners: Malcolm & Sue Graham
Malcom and Sue Graham imported their Tiger in 2008. “It was described as it ran well, but it didn’t go and needed the distributor sorted before we could get complied, and we could use it,” says Malcolm.
Theirs is the Tiger in the photos with the GSMART licence plate. “You can tell by the current plate that my first sighting of the Sunbeam Tiger was from watching Get Smart on the TV as a child,” says Malcolm. “I always like that little red sports car, and my older brother told me it was powered with a Mustang engine (well, some were) and I liked it even more then.”
The Graham’s worst experience was when they were on their way to the Sunbeam National Weekend in Masterton one year, and the after-market fuel injection system he had fitted had an ECU failure about 5km from the venue – so it ended up on the back of a truck, and they went all the way back home again. “Sometimes I call the car Tigga, but not that day,” says Malcolm. Its name that day could not be published here.
They have great times in their Tiger, with a highlight simply flooring it in second gear. “The Tiger 60 celebrations is probably the best time we have had in the car and enjoying the company of the other club members as well,” says Sue.
They usually try to use their Tiger once a month, “as cars are designed to be used and it keeps everything working properly.”
Sunbeam Tiger Owner: Stephen Barton
In 2008, Stephen imported his car from Anchorage, Alaska. It was first barged to Tacoma, then went on a truck to LA and then finally a ship to Auckland.
Stephen has loved classics all his life. “I bought old cars and enjoyed working on them. I sold a MK2 Daimler, to spend time on my career and family,” he says. “I missed that car, so in the mid 2000s I started looking. It had to have a good power to weight ratio. A device which could be fun on New Zealand’s winding roads. Added to the mix was a need for a V8 – I love the sound and power. Loved the Daimler Dart however I believed it was underpowered in stock form. Then I found the Tiger…”
While he lives in Auckland, he has great memories of cruising the South Island, driving the rolling hills in Southland. He remembers chasing a modified ’58 Corvette up the Takaka Hill in a mad dance. “In fact all New Zealand is great, except Auckland,” says Stephen.
His biggest issue has been the Lucas electrics, with constant problems often related to the old connectors. Unlike other Tiger owners, engine heat is not a problem as his bonnet is fluted. Not surprisingly for a 60-year-old convertible, the soft top leaks and is due for replacement. His other problem is that his Tiger “automatically over-takes modern cars. I’m not sure what to do about that?”.
Stephen’s Tiger has some history to it; it was purchased by Michael Yovino-Young of Oakland, California. He travelled to England and collected the car from the Rootes Competition Department, having placed the order for a setup to race in the SCCA. Michael had some success against the first Cobras running the 260, due to the shorter wheelbase and using a taller 1st gear.
“He could hit 60 mph out of hairpins before changing to 2nd, and was clocked by radar at 150mph down the straight at Riverside,” Stephen adds. The second owner was George Harbelson who bought the car in 1973, and sold it to Chris Ross in 1991. Stephen bought it from Chris in 2008.
Sunbeam Tiger Owner: Brian Lowe
Brian talks about his Tiger ownership:
My late wife, Gail, and I purchased our 1965 Mk1 Tiger in June 1996. We weren’t actually looking to buy a Tiger, as we were happy with our Sunbeam Series Rapier Convertibles, coupes, and Sunbeam Rapier Fastbacks.
But on browsing through the then-printed version of Autotrader magazine, I spotted a recently imported Tiger from the USA. The photo looked good, and the advert read well, but I continued looking through the magazine. But I found myself continually going back to the Tiger. Gail spotted me going back through the pages and asked what I was looking at.
I showed her the Tiger, and she was also impressed. After a brief discussion, I was on the phone and purchased the Tiger. I flew to Auckland a few days later and drove the car home to Wellington – my first ever drive in a Tiger! Did I enjoy it? You bet.
A few club members knew we had a Tiger, and we took it to the AGM and concours later that year, and won Best Tiger, Best Overall, and People’s Choice – wow.
We both thoroughly enjoyed the car, but sadly Gail passed away three years later. I have continued to enjoy our Tiger, and have taken it to many events and Sunbeam AGMs as well as tours around the country, most recently the 60th Celebrations.
It’s now 28 years since we bought the Tiger and have no intention of selling the car. It is in good company, surrounded by Series Rapier Convertibles & coupes, Fastback Rapiers, and other Rootes Group cars, including Hillman Convertibles.
Feature articles on my Tiger have appeared in NZ Classic Car, and Prestige & Classic magazines. Copies of these magazines have been sent to the previous owner in San Jose, California.
Sunbeam Tiger Owners: Bruce & Julie Reid
Bruce has always had a hankering to own a Tiger, ever since he was an apprentice aircraft engineer working at Wellington Airport. A mate that he worked with, the late Rob Wing, got it for his 21st birthday. He used it as his daily driver, and he and Bruce and Rob did many a mile in it. Ironically, that car ended up being owned and restored by the late David Craw, who was a good mate of Bruce’s when Bruce and his wife, Pam, moved to Christchurch. That car was one of the original cars imported into New Zealand by Todd Motors.
Bruce’s Tiger, HS8672, was imported into New Zealand by Alistair McGaw (Buster) from Owaka. His sister Jaqueline lived in London in the 70’s and in 1974 very conveniently found herself owning a Tiger and an Aston Martin, which had been purchased with her brother’s funds. I think a bit of that went on back in the days when the rule was that you had to live in the UK for over two years before you could bring a car back to NZ. The Tiger had been living in Coventry, we believe it had been a demo model because she was only first registered in the UK 2 years after her build date. Alistair went to the UK then spent 6 weeks or so touring the South of France in her, I spoke to him, and he said he had a fantastic time, touring with the top down.
In 1975 when Jaqueline had owned the cars for just over two years, the Tiger and the Aston Martin were packed into a container and shipped back to New Zealand.
Alistair owned the car until 1980, he had not put that many miles on it as he preferred the Aston Martin when he got them back to NZ. He then sold it to Graham Pell from Dunedin, who also used the car on and off over the 8 years that he owned her.
So, in 1988 Graham sold the car to Bruce and Pam, who were assisted in the purchase by David Craw. David was pretty much the expert on Tigers down here in the South Island, being a Rootes dealer and building Tiger replicas.
Pam had sadly passed away in 1994 and life changed direction for Bruce. His rallying days were behind him, Bruce then spent a number of years using the Tiger and racing it, he did a lot of the classic races in the South Island and a couple of Targas in the North Island. He decided it was a bit good to race, so in 1997, Bruce imported a 1963 Series 4 Alpine out of the States. The idea was to turn the Alpine into a race car so that he could revert HS8672 back to a road-going car and give her the respect that she deserved. In the shed at the farm, work slowly began to build up the Alpine as a Tiger replica to race.
With the Tiger off the road, he got involved with the John Fairhall BMW team and ran the team for a few years, back in the day when Trevor Crowe won the World title. He also decided to race RX7s for a while and even raced at the Nürburgring 24 Hours in a Peugeot. Heading overseas every year for a few months became the norm, and he attended Grand Prix and Le Mans and any other motor racing events that took his fancy,
When home after the summer months away, Bruce tinkered away on the cars but not with any gusto because life was busy on the farm and then later busy renovating the house that he purchased in Christchurch after the sale of the farm. HS8672 was stored, as was the rolling body of the Alpine.
In 2004 while at the annual trip to the Melbourne Grand Prix, Bruce met Julie. Julie is also a petrolhead from way back, and Julie says that one of Bruce’s pick-up lines was “I’ll take you for a ride in my Sunbeam Tiger”!!! Well, about 8 years later he did just that. In the meantime, they had continued the annual overseas trips to Le Mans, Grand Prix and WRCs.
But back to the cars.
HS8672 has never been restored and still has the original, generator, seats, carpets etc….she’s not a trophy queen she’s a patinaed loved-and-used Tiger. Bruce had taken the original 260 out of her when he raced her, so that needed to be given the once over, and these things take time!
She was finally taken out of mothballs and given a dust over in 2011, and from then on Bruce and Julie attended numerous Sunbeam Club Mainland Branch Club runs and annual AGM weekends in North Island. And tours with David and Jude Craw, and Russell and Robyn Craw.
Sunbeam Tiger Owner: Bryan Atkins
The owner in this article who has had his Tiger for the longest time is ex-policeman, Bryan Atkins, from Wellington. After 46 years, his 1965 Mk1 Tiger looks fantastic. One of his favourite memories of his time with his Tiger is when the late Rosemary Smith, a famous Rootes rally driver, drove his car around Manfeild racetrack, as well as other places during a New Zealand tour to celebrate 20 years of the Sunbeam Car Club of New Zealand (the club is now 52 years old). All Bryan remembers of Rosemary’s time behind the wheel, is “all that tyre smoke”. Rosemary Smith was not known for being slow.
On the track, Rosemary found the brakes were poor (air had got into the brake system), but she still got the best time of the day. Perhaps helping her get the best time was the fact that Bryan’s Tiger is running a 302 Ford V8, bored out from a 289. The heads were worked on by Hamlin & Charles of Seaview (Wellington), and included bigger valves, double valve springs, and they are ported and polished.
Bryan did a fairly major restoration on the car ten years ago, repainted in its original deep enamel red. The car is one of the changeover models, so halfway between the Mk1 and Mk1A – rounded-off corners on the boot, but not the bonnet or doors. Oh, the British.
All Bryan remembers of Rosemary’s time behind the wheel, is “all that tyre smoke”. Rosemary Smith was not known for being slow.
Sunbeam Tiger – the future
While the PSA Group currently owns the Sunbeam name, it’s always possible that one day, we will see a new Sunbeam Tiger – but no one would put money on that. I asked AI to show me what a 2024 Sunbeam Tiger would look like, and this is what it came up with:
Not a convertible and a bit of a mix of different designs, but that’s AI for you.
For the Sunbeam Tigers still on the road, parts are plentiful, they are relatively easy to fix and are incredible to drive – especially considering how old the car is.
Should I never have sold mine? Absolutely.
Brilliant article about a brilliant car.