SUNBEAM ALPINE (1959-68)
WHAT IT OFFERS Open-top touring in classy surroundings WHAT TO PAY £4000-16,000
The Sunbeam Alpine seems far rarer and more glamorous than the likes of the MGB, its appeal helped by the fact that James Bond drove one in
Dr No. There is another fact that certainly makes the later Alpines such as this one feel even more exclusive. From the 1965 Series IV onwards a re-style gave the car simpler grille ornamentation and replaced the Fifties-style tailfins with a neat straight-lined, barrel-sided profile. The styling house was none other than Carrozzeria Touring, which also gave us the Aston DB4.
Keep this in mind when you climb aboard and it makes the driving experience all the more enticing. The seating position is upright and roomy – you can see from the windscreen and higher waistline, it’s built for proper, long-distance touring.
It’s a sense that extends to the controls. Rather than typical sports-roadster rack-and-pinion, the Alpine features a recirculating-ball box controlled by an enormous wheel with an elaborate combined horn-press and indicator ring finished in chrome. The result is steering so light that you can twirl the wheel with your fingertips. The same goes for the Sunbeam’s gear lever, which responds to a flick of the fingers rather than a grab-and-shove.
As you might expect, though, a lot of the Alpine’s easy-driving smoothness comes from a reliance on saloon-car parts – in this case a mixture of Hillman Husky and Sunbeam Rapier – and this conspires against it when you try to drive it like a sports car.
The steering is vague, with a lot of dead-ahead slop and very little feedback. Pitch into a bend at high speed and it lurches, leaning hard on its outer springs and bouncing in an ungainly fashion before breaking into understeer.
Yet these criticisms feel harsh because it’s a supremely comfortable cruiser and its issues are common shortcomings of nearly every Sixties tourer. The Alpine is a dignified, high-class car and you feel compelled to drive it with decorum.