How to create a legend out of a prosaic British sports car? Stuff a V8 under its hood. It sure worked for Carroll Shelby and his Cobra. Having seen what the little Ford V8 could do in the (former) AC Ace, Rootes’ U.S. West Coast Sales Manager Ian Garrad contracted with Shelby to stuff the 164 hp, 260 cid Ford V8 engine into the Alpine. Rootes bit, and built some 7,000 of them. The result wasn’t quite as legendary as the Cobra, but even second-tier legends are better than none.
In 1967, a revised Tiger II arrived, with the larger displacement 289 Ford. It was only the two-barrel 200 hp version, not the 225 hp four barrel or the 271 hp K-Code. One probably doesn’t have to wonder too hard why that was the case: the Sunbeam Alpine was never designed for even half that power, and anything much more was known to have ill effects on a few weak spots, like the spring shackle supports.
No such problems arose in this test, and the Tiger II acquitted itself quite well, with a few caveats.
R&T points out that Rootes had already been acquired by Chrysler, but was willing to keep selling a car with a Ford engine for a while longer, although not with the “Powered by Ford 260” badge. Chrysler’s willingness had its limits, and 1967 turned out to be the final year for the Tiger.
A number of minor improvements came along with the 289.
R&T liked the passenger accommodations in the Tiger; it was “well arranged, tastefully styled, and the workmanship above average”. But they didn’t like the top, which was old-school and very tedious to erect or strike, and wasn’t very tight.
The driving experience was of course very satisfying, especially for those that have all-too often had their four cylinder MGs and such run out of breath all-too readily. No wonder that folks were stuffing supercharged Ford V8-60 engines in MGs back in the early 1950s. It was an old tradition, and one Allard (and a few others) had success with earlier. Now if only MG had done it with the Buick aluminum V8 back in 1965 or so…
As to utilizing its 200 hp, R&T said: “there’s more power available from the 200 bhp V8 than the Tiger can handle with complete equanimity. There’s a multitude of hops and judders in the rear axle if hard starts are attempted…there’s more understeer than we like, and when pushed hard the short wheelbase seems to conspire against keeping it in a straight line.”
As a matter of fact, quarter mile times were no faster than with the 164 hp 260 due to traction and axle hop issues. (0-60 in 7.5 seconds, and the 1.4 mile in 16.0 @87 mph). Wider wheels and bigger radial tires than the skinny little 5.90-13 Dunlops are highly advisable.
Final words: “there’s sufficient power on tap to embarrass the incautious…treat it right…”
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: Sunbeam Tiger – The Other Cobra
A car that I have always wanted to own and experience; if only for a short period of time.
The Sunbeam Alpine/Tiger dashboard. (Captured from the movie “Butterfield 8”).
If the more conservative road testers at “R&T” got a zero to sixty time of 7.5 seconds; just image what the wild boys over at “C&D” would had generated for this car.
High school friend of mine bought a brand new one of these while still in school. He played in a popular band then and even had a recording contract. My other friend from school got a new Mustang. His father owned a Ford store. They both lived just down the street. I was driving an old Dauphine that I shared with my brother at the time. My schoolmates died at 40 and 35 respectively, not jealous any longer.
There is a lot to like here, and inflation adjusted at $33k seems like a reasonable price.
If accurate, 18 to 20 mpg seems decent as well for the era. We’re I a young man
in ‘67, this would have been a top contender if price was a concern.
Not really… my ’62 Olds Jetfire averaged 25 MPG !
I just had a Tiger sighting last weekend. I was waiting for my Wife outside of an antique store in Santa Maria when it parked next to me. It was in beautiful shape and an older couple were enjoying it with the top down. I was initially unsure if it was an Tiger or just a regular Alpine. The sight of the dual pipes and mellow rumble cleared that up. These are quite handsome cars, and were well known to me in my youth and I was always awaiting a street sighting.
I forgot to add, if you want to see an Alpine in action, check out the Michael Caine movie, Get Carter. There is a short chase scene. The Stallone version featured a chase with a Cadillac Seville. The older movie is not quite as violent as the newer version, but was pretty controversial when it debuted.
A Sunbeam Alpine was featured several times in the movie “Butterfield 8”.
Get ready to howl and throw popcorn at your tv at the end of the movie.
If you want to see an Alpine in action, watch the opening credits in some of Season 1 and 2 of the Get Smart reruns. Apparently some shots were with a subbed-in 4-banger non-Alpine.
Supposedly the production company had an Alpine with the Tiger name on it. The 4 cylinder car had more room to fit the gadgets used in the show.
Not to mention that using a Tiger-emblem festooned Alpine would be a whole lot cheaper than using the real thing.
I recall one specific early episode where the camera was mounted beind the car’s passenger compartment. It was a good POV of the driving experience (along with shots of the backs of agents 99 and 86’s heads).
Used to be the poor man’s Cobra, but it’s no longer for poor men.
Look at the photo of the guy doing the burnout, how violent does the wheel hop have to be to make a mark like that? It looks like the car is communicating in morse code: Please…send…wider…tires…
And posi and a torque arm…
And that’s with a 2.88:1 axle ratio. Imagine the tire sidewall winding itself up like a top fuel dragster if it had a 3.73!
An aluminum block 289 would have been a boon for handling for sure!
When you remember this a Hillman Husky without a roof but with a V8, that rear axle behaviour looks little more predictable….
No mention of the Sunbeam used in the opening credits of seasons 1 and 2 of Get Smart? 😉
Max originally drove a Ferrari 250 PF Cabriolet in the pilot, which was an interesting counterpoint to James Bond’s DB5.
He then moved to the ersatz, Tiger-rebadged Alpine for the next two seasons that most remember.
In seasons three and four, he got a Karmann Ghia convertible. He probably would have kept the Sunbeam but it had been discontinued by then.
For the final season, he was driving an Opel GT.
Interestingly, Max briefly drove a Mustang Shelby GT500KR convertible in one episode, but it wasn’t his car (it was Chief’s).
The car in the opening credits was a real Tiger. The car in the episodes with the underhood pop-up machine gun was an Alpine with Tiger badging/trim.
http://www.ilovegetsmart.com/cars.html
Don Adams’ “high water” pants. That was the style then. With black socks.
I recall a scene from the movie “Dr. No” where Sean Connery was driving a Sunbeam and being chased by a vintage Buick (if I remember correctly).
A hearse at that, though I can’t remember it being a Buick.
Bah. What sort of power plant did the Sunbeam Alpine have in it, to give G Kelly and C Grant such thrills, more than ten years earlier ? Sweet bodywork, too . . .
Thats a Talbot Alpine about two sizes bigger and previously a Monte Carlo rally winner.
Chrysler canned the Tiger in the end because their LA 273 wouldnt fit, and they werent in the business of selling Ford engines.
I’ve heard there was a time you could go to a Chrysler dealership, order and buy Ford parts. I’m sure that didn’t make corporate happy.
Skinny old thirteen inch crossplies with 1967’s finest rubber tech? Might be a bit easy to pop those with this power, and as for wet roads with that light weight behind, these would be best reserved for dancers from the Bolshoi.
They’ve never had the aesthetic allure of the Cobra, these. And time hasn’t moved them up either, except in now-cruel prices, of course.
I had a friend in college who had one. Replacing the back spark plugs required a lot of work.