1966 Sunbeam

[Instrument 41]

OK, looking for some help here. Going to look at a 66 Sunbeam, not a Tiger. Original 4 cyl, original wire wheels, all original running gear, only one spot of rust in the trunk. I can find Tigers for sale all day long but I don't have a clue what this car is worth. Any idea on how to find out its value?

[stomachmonkey]

Alpine?

Check Haggerty

https://www.hagerty.com/apps/valuationtools/1966-sunbeam-alpine-v

[Bill Douglas]

Oh Man, I love those Alpines. Being dreaded English; have an extra good look for rust or dodgy rust repairs. No idea of it's value.

[Scott Douglas]

You could also look at Bring a Trailer, they've had couple of Sunbeams go thru there.

[Scott Douglas]

As a side note, I went to college with a guy that had a Sunbeam Alpine. He never liked it when I drove it though as I'd rev the heck out of that little 'tractor' motor it had in it. I had a 1600 BMW at the time that would rev like crazy. His car, didn't like that so much.

[masraum]

I was curious, I I checked a 1963 AC Ace ($356k) vs Sunbeam Tiger ($11k) vs Austin Healey 3000 $43k). At least, I think that's what the numbers were. Wow. I get that the AC is related to the 427 Cobra, but I didn't expect their values to be that high. Maybe it's a supply/demand thing. And I'm not too surprised by the big Healey. I love the look of them. My dad had one for a short time when he and my mom were first married. I've read articles that they have some issues (tons of heat at your feet from the motor being the one that really stands out). But $11k for a Sunbeam sounds like a steal! It's probably only a matter of time before those start to go up.

[recycled sixtie]

I had a friend in Calgary who had a Sunbeam Alpine back in the 1960's and he stated that it was a troublesome car when it was close to new. If you are a wrencher you might be okay. The Sunbeam Tiger has always been the favored one due to the v8 engine.

Having said that if you can get it cheap enough and you can wrench on it perhaps it could be okay in the long run.

[petrolhead611]

They suffer from body flex as well as RUST .Not even quite as fast as the MGB , so in other words, not fast for their day. Good looking and comfortable. You won't find a reasonsble Alpine for 11K, never mind a Tiger .

[911boost]

The guy that bought my 964T had a Tiger

[wdfifteen]

I wouldn’t mind having a Tiger, but they didn’t handle well. When I auto crossed my Speedster I was put in the same class as the Tigers. 96 cubic inch vs 260 cubic inch and I regularly beat them.

[rfloz]

I had an Alpine years ago. It was a nice little car to put the top down and take the SO over one of the canyons for a picknic at the beach.

Unless, that is, the ambient temperature reached 85 degrees, in which case the head gasket blew. Yes, I had the head milled true after the first time. Didn't help. At least it was easy to work on. After the third time I put it up for sale and the first guy with cash got it.

[Instrument 41]

UPDATE. WEnt to look at the Alpine. As usual, it looked better in the pictures.
The good' The body was in great shape, very little rust other than the trunk pan. Car is complete onlyh missing the rear bumper, all trim is intacted and in good shap. If had a repaint in the mid 90's and it was starting to flake at the edges, glass and bright work all good

The Bad- Needs new top, complete interior, no ignition ket so we tried to hot wire it. It would turn over but barely, never cranked. Mater cylinder froze, and clutch went to the floor with no resistance. A number of interior peices broken or missing. Over all need a complete restore.

He was at 4 and got him to 2800, but after thinking about it on the way home think I'll pass. Thanks for the input guys!

[Instrument 41]

Damn I use have used spell check.....

[Scott Douglas]

Good pass IMO.

[Bill Douglas]

Fine if you are looking for a project. Otherwise a good idea to walk away.