Sunbeam

GB, 1899 – 1937, 1953 to date

(1) John Marston Ltd, Wolverhampton, Staffs., 1899 – 1905

(2) Sunbeam Motor Car Co Ltd, Wolverhampton, Staffs., 1905 – 1935

(3) Sunbeam Motors Ltd, London W.11, 1936 – 1937

(4) Sunbeam-Talbot Ltd, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire, 1953 – 1970

(5) Chrysler United Kingdom Ltd, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire, 1970 to date

John Marston’s tinplate and japanware firm, which had been making bicycles since 1887, built its first 4hp belt-driven prototype Sunbeam car in 1899, followed by another machine with a twin-cylinder engine in 1901. The first model Sunbeam car to see series production was, however, the diamond-formation and allegedly skidproof Sunbeam-Mabley voiturette with 2¾hp De Dion engine, a number of which were sold for £130 in the 1901-1904 period. More conventional was the 12hp Sunbeam car marketed under T.C. Pullinger’s direction in 1903, which was based on a Berliet design and had a flitch-plate frame, chain drive with Sunbeam cars patent oil-bath chain cases, and a 2.4-litre 4-cylinder engine with automatic inlet valves. A 3.6-litre 6-cylinder Sunbeam car was on the market briefly in 1904, but Sunbeam cars soon progressed to Shaw-designed T-head fours, though another short-lived six Sunbeam car appeared in 1907. Sunbeam cars great years started in 1909 when Louis Coatalen joined the Sunbeam car firm from Hillman. In that season the Sunbeam car company was offering three L-head fours with chain drive, and capacities of 3.4, 4.5 and 6.3-litres, plus an odd 3.2-litre twin-cylinder Station Cart Sunbeam car. Coatalen’s first effort was a T-headed 14/18hp Sunbeam car, available with either shaft or chain drive. This Sunbeam car was followed a year later by a 2.4-litre 12/16 on similar lines, but with pressure lubrication and on overdrive gearbox, while overhead valves were tried out on a racing Sunbeam car, the Nautilus, at Brooklands in 1910. An improved 12/16 Sunbeam car of 3-litres’ capacity with monobloc engine ran in the 1911 Coupe de l’Auto race, foreshadowing an immensely successful touring development which Sunbeam car sold initially for £375. This Sunbeam car had an L-head engine and was made up to 1921. In 74bhp racing guise the Sunbeam car scored 1-2-3 victory in the 1912 Coupe de l’Auto, following this up with a 3rd place in 1913. In 1914 Sunbeam car company built Henri-inspired twin-ohc 4-cylinder racers both for the Tourist Trophy and for the French Grand Prix, and at the outbreak of World War 1 the Sunbeam car range consisted of the 12/16 in standard and sporting forms, a 4-litre 16/20 Sunbeam car of similar general design, and a 6.1-litre 6-cylinder Sunbeam car rated at 25/30hp, all offered with electric lighting. The Sunbeam car company concentrated on aero engines during the war years, though a 4.9-litre twin-ohc 6-cylinder Sunbeam ca  was sent to Indianapolis in 1916 and took 3rd place, while Rovers took over production of the 12/16 for the Flighting Services. Renamed the 16, this Sunbeam car reappeared in civilian form with full electrical equipment at £790, along with a smaller vesion of the pre-war 25/30 Sunbeam car powered by a 4½-litre engine.

The Sunbeam car company amalgamated with Talbot and Darracq in 1920 to form the STD combine, and the next five years saw an energetic racing programme of Sunbeam cars. Twin-ohc 108bhp straight-8 Sunbeam cars were made for the 3-litre formula of the immediate post-war years, followed by some unsuccessful 2-litre fours, and finally the twin-ohc 6-cylinder ‘Fiats in green paint’, designed by Bertarione, which won the French and Spanish GPs in 1923, and this Sunbeam car ran supercharged in 1924, as well as having a long and distinguished competition career in later years. Chassagne won the Tourist Trophy on a 3-litre straight-8 Sunbeam car in 1922, while one of the regular 3-litre sports Sunbeam cars finished 2nd at Le Mans in 1925. Sunbeam cars took the World’s Land Speed Record five times in the 1922-1927 period: Lee Guiness started with 133.75mph on the 350hp V12 sprint Sunbeam car, a figure which Campbell subsequently raised, first to 146mph on the 4-litre V12, a Sunbeam car which was also used for road racing, and the following year he became the first man to exceed 200mph on land with the twin-engined chain-drive 45-litre Sunbeam car. Sunbeam cars last record car, the Silver Bullet of 1930, was unsuccessful.

Touring Sunbeam carss of the 1920s were cars of great refinement if not outstanding performance. The basic 16 and 24hp types Sunbeam cars were redesigned with push-rod overhead valves in 19222, ohc sporting versions being also listed, while a more modest 2-litre 14hp Sunbeam car with unit gearbox was available at £725. Front-wheel brakes arried on the 6-cylinder 16/50 Sunbeam car in 1924, and were optional also on the 14/40 Sunbeam car which replaced the 14hp model. An impressive 3-litre 6-cylinder twin-ohc sports Sunbeam car with dry-sump engine was made in small numbers between 1925 and 1930, but the Sunbeam car was ‘too fast for its chassis’ as well as being expensive to make and buy. A big straight-8 Sunbeam car with a push-rod engine, available in 4.8-litre and 5.4-litre forms, was introduced in 1926 at prices from £1.295 up and front-wheel brakes became standard on all Sunbeam cars. All Sunbeam cars had the V-radiator by 1927, when the fours were dropped, and the standard touring sixes were the 2-litre 16hp at £550, the 2.9-litre 20hp Sunbeam car at £750, and the 3.6-litre 25hp at £950, all with plate clutches, spiral bevel final drive, and cantilever rear suspension. Thereafter Sunbeam car design changed little, and sales of Sunbeam cars declined though quality was maintained. Semi-elliptic springs were found at the rear of the smaller 1930 Sunbeam carmodels, in 1931 the Sunbeam cars acquired hydraylic brakes and radiator shutters, and the 16’s engine was enlarged to 2.2-litres. The 1932 Sunbeam cars’ silent-third gearboxes gave way to synchromesh on 1933 16 and 20hp Sunbeams. That year there was also a 2.9-litre Speed Model Sunbeam car with crash box at £745, though its main competitor was STD’s other fast tourer, the Talbot 105. The old Sunbeam car firm’s last new model was a ponderous 1.6-litre ohv four, the Sunbeam Dawn of 1934, with preselector gearbox and independent front suspension. This Sunbeam car was offered again in 1935, along with the 20, the 25, and the Speed Model, but the collapse of the STD combine brought receivership and purchased by Rootes, and an ohv Roesch-designed 4½-litre straight-8 Sunbeam car announced for 1937 never went into production. There were no Sunbeams in 1938, and when the Sunbeam-Talbot range was announced for 1939 the Sunbeam car was based on the later Rootes Talbots.

The name of Sunbeam cars did not reappear until 1953, when it was given to a sports two-seater Sunbeam car of the 2.3-litre ohv 4-cylinder Sunbeam-Talbot 90, the Sunbeam Alpine, which sold for £1.269, and this Sunbeam car collected four Coupes des Alpes in that year’s Alpine Rally, following this up with a Gold Cup (for Stirling Moss) and a Coupe des Dames (for Sheila Van Damm) in 1954. In 1955 the basic 90 saloon Sunbeam car was marketed as the Sunbeam MK III, and further laurels included the Malling/ Fadum win in that year’s Monte Carlo rally. The type Sunbeam car was listed until 1957, being joined in 1956 by a Hillman Minx-based sports saloon, the Sunbeam Rapier, with a 1.4-litre square 4-cylinder 62bhp engine, unitary construction, and overdrive as standard equipment, at £986. This Sunbeam car did well in subsequent Alpines and Monte Carlo Rallies, as well as winning its class in the 1956 Mille Miglia, and by 1958 the Sunbeam car had grown up to 1½-litres and 68bhp, acquiring a less Hillman-like grill in the process, though overdrive was now an extra. A sports two-seater Sunbeam car, another Alpine, with integral construction, was listed for 1960, and subsequent evolution was on regular Rootes lines: diaphragm clutches in 1964, with the option of automatic on the Alpine, all-synchromesh gearboxes in 1965, and 1.7-litre 5-bearing engines in 1966. 1964 brought two new developments of the basic theme Sunbeam car, an Italian-bodied Venezia sports saloon based on the Humber Sceptre, and the Tiger Sunbeam car, which was an Alpine with rack-and-pinion steering and a 4.3-litre, 164bhp Ford V8 engine, this despite the Rootes-Chrysler conncection. In 1966, the Rapier V, Alpine V, and Tiger comprised the Sunbeam car name. A 51bhp Sunbeam car-version of the Imp was available in the home market in 1967, and this Sunbeam car was followed by the more sporting Stiletto coupé for 1968.

An entirely new Rapier Sunbeam car on Hillman Hunter lines was announced for that year, its fastback styling inspired by Plymouth’s Barracuda. It had an 88bhp engine, a close-ratio gearbox, and overdrive as standard.

During 1968 the old Sunbeam Alpine was discontinued (the Tiger had already gone), and the Rapier range was rounded out, first by the H120 of 1969 with twin-carburettor Holbay-tuned engine giving 105bhp and Rostyle wheels, and then by the Alpine, a simplified version of the basic theme introduced for 1970. These three fastback Sunbeam cars were still being made in 1973, along with the Sunbeam Sport based on the Imp saloon. The Stiletto was discontinued during 1972.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

Citroën

France, 1919 to date

(1) SA André Citroën, Paris, 1919 – 1968

(2) Citroën A, Paris, 1968 to date

André Citroën, a former chief engineer of Mors, started his own gear-making firm in 1913, a fact commemorated by the ‘herring-bone bevel’ emblem used on all Citroën cars. He put his knowledge of American mass-production methods to good effect in 1919, when, in association with Jules Salomon (already responsible for Le Zèbre and later to be behind the Rosengart), he evolved two Citroën designs. The bigger of these, a sleeve-valve 4-litre, was taken over by Gabriel Voisin, but the 1.3-litre 4-cylinder Citroën Type-A was put into production in a factory previously used by Mors. This was a straightforward sv machine with disc wheels, cone clutch, fully electrical equipment, left hand drive and central change for the 3-speed gearbox. By the end of 1919 it was selling for 7950fr in France and £500 in England. 10.000 Citroën cars were made in 1921.    

The need for expansion was soon to lead to the acquisition of Clément-Bayard. At this time, Citroën was developing the half-track system evolved by M. Kégresse, former manager of Tsar Nicholas II’s garage. This was mainly applied to commercial and military vehicles, but the smaller Kégresse versions were adaptations of Citroën’s private-car chassis, and among their exploits was the first successful crossing of the Sahara by Citroën motor car in 1922 – 1923. The 1922 Citroën range included an improved Citroën Type-B of 1½-litres, and the 856cc Citroën 5CV with cloverleaf bodywork, detachable head, quarter-elliptic springing all round, a foot transmission brake and coil ignition. Though neither a brisk goer nor a brisk stopper, it was indestructible and remained in production until 1925, in which year Noel Westwood used on to drive all round Australia in a Citroën. 15.000 Citroëns had been sold by 1924, when 250 cars a day were being turned out and Opel were marketing what amounted to a copy of the Citroën 5CV under the name of Laubfrosch. 1925 saw the advent of cheap all-steel saloon bodies made under Budd patents; this angular tout acier model sold in England for £325, or only £100 more than the standard tourer. Though a modernized derivative of the Citroën 5CV was to reappear in 1929 as the Sima-Standard, Citroën themselves concentrated in 1926 on the Citroën 12hp type, now enlarged to over 1½-litres, and given a flat radiator, 4-wheel brakes, and semi-elliptic springs. Cars were lso being assembled outside France. The British factory at Slough was opened in 1926, and was followed by others in Italy and Germany. In 1934 Gräf u. Stift of Vienna also built cars under Citroën licence. Of these only Slough survived the 1930s, British built Citroëns continuing to appear until 1965. 

The Citroën company was now firmly established with Peugeot and Renault as one of France’s ‘big three’. In 1928 the saloons became more streamlined – they were also cheaper, the Citroën 12/24hp costing £220. Production in 1929 was 100.000 vehicles; new for that season was the 2.4-litre 6 cylinder Citroën C6, a conventional sv machine with 3-speed box, coil ignition, servo brakes and gravity feed. The 4-cylinder Citroën C4 cars were enlarged to 1.6 litres and had a similar specification. These two basic Citroën types were continued to 1932, when the company offered a new 1½-litre Citroën Ten among with the bigger Citroën Four and Citroën Six. These cars had low-pressure tyres, box-section frames, ‘Floating Power’ engine mountings under Chrysler licence and synchromesh gearboxes. The Citroën Ten cost £198 and the bigger cars were available in long-wheelbase form with seven-seater coachwork. Under the sponsorship of the Yacco Oil company the 10hp Citroën ‘Petite Rosalie’ successfully undertook a herculean programme of long-distance record work, in the course of which 187.500 miles were covered at 58mph and 128 International Class and 43 World Records were acquired. These Citroën models formed part of the range until 1936, acquiring four forward speeds in 1934, but they were overshadowed by yet another Citroën revolution, the first Citroën 7CV traction avant which appeared in that year. This had front-wheel drive, an ohv wet-liner engine, unitary construction of chassis and body, and all-round torsionbar independent suspension. The 3-speed synchromesh gearbox had dashboard change and production engines had a capacity of 1.6-litres. This design formed the backbone of Citroën’s range until 1955, and was not withdrawn until July 1957, by which time 708.339 4-cylinder Citroën traction-avant cars had been built and the car’s appeal was largely founded on its now ‘traditional’ styling.

A 3.8-litre fwd V8 was shown at the 1934 Paris Salon, but early the following year André Citroën found himself in serious financial difficulties and was forced to sell out to the Michelin interests. Meanwhile an alternative 1.9-litre engine had been applied to the Citroën traction avant and by mid-1935 three additional types were available: the Citroën 11 légère (Sports 12 or light 15) which shared a hull with the 7CV, and the Citroën 11 normale (Big 15), made in two wheelbase lengths, 10ft 1½in and 10ft 9in, the latter for seven-seaters. In 1936 Francois Lecot drove a Citroën 7CV 400.000 kilometers in 12 months. The 1937 fwd Citroëns had rack-and-pinion steering, rear-wheel drive cars were still made with the 11CV engine and (for a short while) the option of a diesel power unit. The 1939 range ws rounded out with a 2.9-litre 15CV 6-cylinder fwd car on regular lines, which sold in England for £328 and just before World War 2 downdraught carburetors were standardized. 1939 models of Georges Irat, Rosengart, and smaller Chenard-Walckers used 11CV mechanical components as a basis for their cars, to be followed in 1947 by D.B.

After the war the Citroën 7CV was dropped, but production of the other fwd models was resumed, cars for the French market being supplied only in matt black. In 1949, however, the fruits of ten years of experimentation were seen in another evolutionary Citroën, the Boulanger-designed Citroën 2CV. Like its bigger sisters, it had fwd and unitary construction, but it also had interlinked coil suspension, a 4-speed all-synchromesh and all-indirect gearbox with geared-up top and quick detachable bonnet, doors and front wings for easy maintenance. Power came from a 375cc 9bhp ohv flat-twin and the corrugated grey finish attracted unkind comparisons with garden sheds. Supply, however, never caught up with demand: Citroën production jumped from 48.177 in 1950 to 78.199 in 1951 as the Citroën 2CV got into its stride. 1955 cars had 425cc, 12bhp, and centrifugal clutches, and in 1958 came tous terrains model with twin engines and 4-wheel drive. The Slough factory offered the Bijou variants in 1960 with a fiberglass coupé body, but at £695 it was hardly competitive. By July, 1966, 2.574.642 2CVs had been sold.

The full-sized Citroën cars of 1953 came with built-out boots and heaters as standard equipment, and a year later the Citroën Six was available with self-levelling hydropneumatic suspension. This led to the Citroën DS19 introduced at the 1955 shows, on which the only old features were the fwd and the long-stroke 4-cylinder engine, now up-rated to 65bhp. The self-levelling suspension was joined by power assistance for the brakes (disc front and rum rear), steering and gear-change. There were 4 forward speeds, the roof section was of reinforced plastic, and the single-spoke steering wheel found on Humbers of half a century before was revived. It was expensive (£1726 in England) and complicated, and a year later a simplified Citroën ID19 version retained the advanced springing but eliminated the power assistance. It was £140 less than the DS in France and Citroën sales rose to 206.138 cars. 1954 had seen the first association between the company and Panhard, which was to lead to a full integration within the next decade, while Cooper in England used Citroën gearboxes on their racing cars from 1956 onward. A Citroën won the 1959 Monte Carlo Rally.

A development of the 2CV was the Citroën Ami-6 flat-twin of 1961, a curious-looking little 4-door saloon which took some time to find acceptance. In 1965 short-stroke engines were at long last adopted for the more expensive 4-cylinder cars, though it was not until 1967 that the basic 1934-1935 unit was dropped from the ID. The most expensive 1967 Citroën model was the 2.2-litre 108bhp Citroën DS21; it acquired a swiveling 4-headlamp installation in 1968 and could be had wih fuel injection in 1971. The Citroën Dyane of 1968 filled a gap in the range: it was a more refined 2CV available either with the latter’s uprated 435cc unit or with the 602cc Ami motor. An open jeep-type version, the Citroën Méhari, arrived a year later. But meanwhile during 1968 Citroën had acquired Italian affiliations, first entering into an agreement with Maserati and then negotiating (against General de Gaulle’s wishes) with Fiat. As a result the Italian giant acquired a 15 per cent stake in the Citroën company and their new French ally undertook the distribution of Autobianchi products in France. In 1969 there was an experimental batch of 500 M35 coupés using 49bhp Wankel engines in Ami-type structures, but a year later came the result of the Maserati alliance, in the shape of the Citroën SM sports coupé, powered by a 2.7-litre 4ohc V6 engine developing 170bhp. This, of course, drove the front wheels via a 5-speed all-synchromesh gearbox; other features were power steering and disc brakes, and a 6-headlamp layout. With a price of 51.800 francs and a top speed of 137mph it was the fastest and most expensive Citroën ever, and it helped boost the marque’s flagging reputation in rallies. Their only major performance (a near miss in the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon apart) had been a 1-2-3 victory in the 1969 Moroccan event, but the Citroën SM won again in Morocco in 1971.

For 1971 another gap was bridged with an answer to Peugeot and Renault: the 1015cc Citroën GS. This had an air-cooled ohv light-alloy flat-4 engine, and all-disc brakes, those at the front being inboard. A station wagon followed in 1972, when fully automatic gearboxes and fuel injection were available on the big 4-cylinder saloons, and the twins continued in Citroën 2CV Dyane, Méhari and Ami forms. Even more powerful DS Citroëns were offered in 1973, outputs of the new 2.3-litre engines being 115bhp in carburetor form, or 130bhp with fuel injection: the latter was standardized on the SM. At the same time the Citroën GS was made available with automatic transmission, and the option of a 1200cc engine. The 2-cylinder Citroën cars were ssembled or manufacturerd in eight countries, and Citroën D-series models produced in South-Africa and Yugoslavia. In the latter country Citroën cars are marketed under the Tomos name.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com