1954 Sunbeam Alpine MKI Sports Roadster

Chassis No. A3013546/LRX
Engine No. A3013546/LRX
Body No. STA1515

As England began to recover during the post-war period, so too did automobile manufacturing, with a majority of the British sports cars produced for export. At the time, there was no more exciting export than a lightweight, hand-built British sports car-and it remains quite the combination today. Following the Rootes Group's acquisition of Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq in 1935, the company introduced the Alpine in 1953 at the urging of Sunbeam-Talbot dealer George Hartwell, who had conceived a one-off rally car for competition in the Monte Carlo and Alpine rallies. Sunbeam quickly recognized its potential and tapped its in-house coachbuilders Thrupp & Maberly to create a production version, with each Alpine subsequently hand-built in the U.K. Just 1,130 MKI Sport Roadsters were produced between 1953 and 1954, of which 819 were exported worldwide.

A true roadster, the Alpine Mk I was designed without exterior door handles or wind-up windows and featured a removable windshield. Beneath its sporting coachwork was a unit body mounted on a box-section frame, with independent coil-spring front suspension, a live rear axle on semi-elliptic leaf springs, hydraulic Lockheed drum brakes, and a four-speed column-shifted manual transmission synchronized on three forward gears. Power came from a 2,267-cc inline-four-cylinder engine with a high-compression cylinder head, producing 80 horsepower in standard form. A specially prepared “Special” engine, offered in limited numbers, featured an enhanced 8.0:1 compression ratio, alloy rocker cover, Siamese exhaust ports, special induction manifold, and twin-choke Solex carburetor, raising output to approximately 98 horsepower.

Naturally, Sunbeam's new car was a performer. On the model's first competitive outing, the 1953 Alpine Rally, four Alpines completed the route to claim Coupe des Alpes, with Stirling Moss capturing sixth in class and Sheila van Damm clinching the Ladies' Prize, the Coupe des Dames. The Alpine's success in competition helped establish its sporting credentials while simultaneously making it one of the most exciting British exports of the early post-war era.

Constructed for the sports-car-hungry U.S. market, this left-hand-drive example is just one of 819 configured as such over the MKI's two-year existence. Its Rootes Archive Centre Trust Certificate records that chassis number A3013546 retains its matching-numbers engine and body and was originally finished in Coronation Red over a Fawn leather interior and was optioned with the highly desirable four-speed floor gear shift. Today it is finished in the period-correct color of Ivory with body-color-matched “Easiclean” disc wheels fitted with appropriate whitewall tires over a Fawn leather interior. The current color combination is light and airy, suiting both the Alpine's graceful touring and sporting intentions in equal measure.

Previously restored, this matching example offers the welcome combination of an example that has been thoughtfully exercised and enjoyed, with the expected fresh-restoration issues previously sorted. The advantages of such an arrangement are plainly evident, offering its next caretaker a multitude of ways to enjoy the car, whether at a Sunday morning car show or on a leisurely cruise through the Acadian-North on a brisk fall day. It is a charming and usable example of one of Sunbeam's most sporting post-war offerings.