The Sunbeam Tiger essentially shares its body with the 4 cylinder Alpine. Although a well built car, the Alpine was underpowered in comparison to its competitors and so the Rootes Group which owned the Sunbeam name was exploring options to upgrade the car with a more powerful engine. Two prototypes were commissioned using the Ford 260 cubic inch V8 engine, one by Caroll Shelby and the second by Ken Miles. The Ken Miles version was completed first, proving the concept but the Shelby prototype was a cleaner installation, so the Caroll Shelby prototype became the foundation of the new car. Ford supplied the engines and 4 speed gearboxes from their industrial line with the majority of cars receiving a 260ci V8. It was only when Ford discontinued production of the 260 that the cars switched to the 289 and the Mark 2 Sunbeam Tiger was born. Sales weren’t fantastic, as the cars looked nearly identical to the much cheaper Alpine, despite the significant increase in peformance, and, as Chrysler bought a controlling interest in the Rootes Group by 1967 and selling a Chrysler product powered by a Ford engine wouldn’t last long. Along with the engine changes Mk2 Tigers received a number of cosmetic changes to the design, with different badging and trim, a different front grille, and factory stripes along the sides. This Sunbeam Tiger is a correctly restored car, still fitted with its factory installed 289ci V8. Complete with the optional steel hard top, everything was restored to as original condition. Upgrading the engine was common on Tigers as all the parts available for other Fords would fit, but due to the limitations of the chassis and airflow for cooling, significantly upgraded cars tend to overheat easily. Even with a stock engine, the Tiger does perform exceptionally well with the V8 and Ford toploader 4 speed gearbox with excellent acceleration, and a wonderful exhaust sound. Fitting the engine, however, did require some compromises, especially in the steering and suspension. Bump steer on Tigers can be a problem due to the location where the steering rack had to be fitted and in the rear, axle hop tends to be an issue as the extra torque of the V8 flexes the rear springs under load. This car was fitted with aftermarket traction bars to handle the axle hop issue, which were an option sold by dealerships in period. The steering, however, is not as easily addressed and makes the car a better touring car than a race car. That said, the initial build quality of the bodies was quite good, though the modifications to the stock Alpine shells to fit the V8 were pretty crudely done, even for the production cars, making them prone to rust in certain areas. This car is rust free, however and problem areas were addressed in the restoration.
