Sunbeam Alpine
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The Alpine was a sporty coupé from Rootes' Sunbeam marque. The original was launched in 1953 as the first vehicle to bear the Sunbeam name alone since the 1920 merger of Sunbeam, Talbot, and Darracq. The Alpine was derived from the previous Sunbeam-Talbot 90, and has since become colloquially known as the "Talbot" Alpine. A two seater sports roadster which was initially developed by a Sunbeam-Talbot dealer George Hartwell in Bournemouth as a one-off rally car that had its beginnings as a 1952 drophead coupe. It was named supposedly by Norman Garrad, (works Competition Department) who was heavily involved in the Sunbeam-Talbot successes in the Alpine Rally in the early 1950s using the Saloon model. The Alpine Mk I and Mk III (a Mk II was never made) were hand built like the Drophead Coupe at Thrupp & Maberly coachbuilders from 1953 to 1955 when production ceased after close to 3000 were produced. It has been estimated that perhaps only 200 remain in existence today. It was a four-cylinder car, but since it was developed from a saloon (sedan) platform, it suffered from the results of serious compromises, and remained in production for only two years.
Kenneth Howes and Jeff Crompton were tasked with doing a complete redesign in 1956, with the goal of producing a dedicated sports car aimed principally at the US market. Ken Howes contributed some 80% of the overall design work, which bears more than incidental resemblance to the early Ford Thunderbird — Ken Howe had worked at Ford before joining Rootes.
The "Series" Alpine started production in 1959. One of the original prototypes still survives and was raced by British saloon car champion Bernard Unett. It's history can be found at http://www.xrw302.webeden.co.uk . The Alpine was produced in four subsequent revisions through to 1968. Total production numbered around 70,000. The car enjoyed relative success in competition, both in Europe and in North America, but the overall sentiment was that the Alpine lacked power. Successive increases in displacement and engine tuning improved the car tremendously, but Rootes executives were looking for something to transform the car, rather than an evolutionary development. They eventually found it in the (then) newly-introduced small-block V8 from Ford, and a subsequent collaboration with Carroll Shelby, Ken Miles, and other sports car racers in the US would result in creation of the Sunbeam Tiger.
Rootes introduced the Arrow range in 1967 and by 1968 the saloons and estates had been joined by the Sunbeam Rapier fastback. In 1969, a cheaper, slightly slower and more economical version of the Rapier, still sold as a sporty model, was badged as a Sunbeam Alpine. All models featured the group's strong five-bearing 1725cc engine, with the Alpine featuring a single Stromberg CD150 carburettor to the Rapier's twins, and the Rapier H120's twin 40DCOE Webers.
The Alpine name would be resurrected in 1976 by Chrysler (by then the owner of Rootes) on a totally unrelated vehicle that could not have been more different: the UK-market version of the Simca 1307, a French-built family hatchback. The car was initially badged as the Chrysler Alpine, and then finally as the Talbot Alpine following Chrysler Europe's takeover by Peugeot in 1978.
[edit] Trivia
A blue Alpine roadster is seen in the 1955 Alfred Hitchcock film To Catch a Thief starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. The PBS show History Detectives tried to verifythat an Alpine roadster owned by a private individual was the real movie car. After finding out that the Technicolor process could "hide" the car's true colors and that the car was shipped back for use in front of a greenscreen, the car shown on the program was ultimately proven not to be the movie car upon a comparison of the vehicle identification numbers.
A red Series I Alpine is driven by Elizabeth Taylor in the film BUtterfield 8 (1960) and features in a number of scenes. A blue "Series" Alpine roadster is seen in the first James Bond film Dr. No of 1962. A similar Alpine is seen in the Arnold Schwarznegger film Commando, where it was destroyed.
A Sunbeam Alpine was also the vehicle of choice for spy Maxwell Smart in the TV series "Get Smart"
[edit] See also
Alpine was also a French car manufacturer producing various models until absorbed by Renault in a move unconnected with Renault's takeover of some of the commercial vehicle assets formerly belonging to Chrysler Europe.
[edit] External links
