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

Hispano Suiza

E, 1904 – 1944

SA Hispano Suiza, Barcelona

Although the Hispano Suiza car became most famous as a French make, the origins of Hispano Suiza were Spanish, it was always made in Spain as well as in France (indeed, in greater numbers) and in the country of its birth Hispano Suiza cars outlived its French offshoot as far as serious production  was concerned. The Swiss engineer Marc Birkigt, who had designed the Barcelona-built La Cuadra car in 1900, was responsible for the design of a car made in the same city from 1901 to 1904 and called the Castro. The first Hispano Suiza car, of 1904, was in fact the 20hp Castro renamed. A range of Hispano Suiza cars, with large, beautifully-built T-head pair-cast fours with live-axle drive and the luxury of water-cooled brakes was established and by 1907 these Hispano Suiza cars had found their way into the stables of King Alfonso XIII. Two similar sixes with 6.2- and 10.4-litre engines (the Hispano Suiza 30/40 and the Hispano Suiza 60/65) joined them in the following year. All were expensive machines of conventional design, intended mainly for the carriage trade – although not the Alfonso XIII model of 1912. In 1910 an Hispano Suiza racing voiturette won the Coupe de l’Auto race in France. This Hispano Suiza car had a T-head engine with a very long stroke. The Hispano Suiza Alfonso was based on it. Various versions were made, but the best-known, a 3.6-litre car, had cylinder dimensions of 80x180mm. The range of Hispano Suiza cars of tourer type was retained. While the design of the Hispano Suiza Alfonso did not change, thanks to its extreme popularity abroad, the rest of the Hispano Suiza models by 1913, were much more modern, consisting of monobloc 4-cylinder cars, still with long strokes, but with overhead valves operated by an overhead camshaft, all neatly enclosed. V-radiators relaced the former flat pattern in 1914. Two ohc fours, a Hispano Suiza 16hp and a Hispano Suiza 30hp, were listed until 1924. They were solid, reliable machines without front-wheel brakes, seen usually as taxis. By then, they had been overshadowed completely in the international field by the radically new Hispano Suiza H6B of 1919, which was made at the Paris factory and is dealt with under Hispano Suiza France. The next Hispano Suiza car model to originate in Spain, and the first six since before 1914, was a cheaper version of the Hispano Suiza H6B intended for the less opulent Spanish market, consisting of a basically similar but smaller engine of 3.7-litres, with an detachable cylinder head, installed in an H6B chassis. This power unit needed the assistance of a lower set of gear rations than those of the H6B, as it was expected to pull the same weight. This Hispano Suiza car was replaced by another ‘utility’ Hispano Suiza car in 1930, a 3-litre model with pushrod-operated overhead valves like the contemporary small Hispano Suiza car model in France. It had an interesting history; the design of this Hispano Suiza car was to have been taken up by Hudson in America, but because of the Depression American motorists were denied a Birkigt car. By 1935 the Hispano Suiza car had been enlarged to 3.404cc and there were three other sixes in the range: the 3.750cc Hispano Suiza Type 49, the 4.580cc Hispano Suiza Type 65, and the 8-litre Type Hispano Suiza 56bis, which had the same engine dimensions as the French-built car, Hispano Suiza H6C. The smaller sixes were made until 1944. In all, some 6.000 Hispano Suiza cars were produced by the Barcelona works, against about 2.600 from the Paris factory. One or two prototype Hispano Suiza cars of the French V12 were built at Barcelona but there was no series production.

France, 1911 – 1938

(1) Sté Francaise Hispano Suiza, Levallois-Perret, Seine, 1911 – 1914

(2) Sté Francaise Hispano Suiza, Bois-Colombes, Seine, 1914 – 1938

In 1911, a French company with a Paris factory was founded to assemble the Hispano Suiza car from Spain, a hitherto obscure make that had recently won sporting renown in France and was already an established manufacturer of luxury vehicles in its home country, enjoying royal patronage. The Spanish market was poor compared with the rich potential of France and other motoring countries and so it was that when a superb new model of Hispano Suiza cars of the most modern and advanced design was introduced, it came from the French factory. This was the Hispano Suiza H6B of 1919, the first French-developed Hispano Suiza car. It gained such immediate and lasting fame that henceforth, Hispano Suiza car was regarded as a primarily French make, and the products of the Spanish Hispano Suiza car factory (though made in great numbers) fell into onscurity. The Hispano Suiza H6B was designed as the last word in advanced transport for the rich. The engine of this Hispano Suiza car was the outcome of the company’s experience of aircraft engine manufacture during World War 1 – a field in which it was already famous. Its six cylinders, totalling 6.6-litres, were of aluminium, with light steel liners. The cylinder head was fixed on the Hispano Suiza car. A single overhead camshaft operated two valves per cylinder. This engine gave 135bhp at 3.000rpm. A 7-bearing, pressure-fed crankshaft coped with the power. Thus a good power-to-weight ratio was combined with reliability on Hispano Suiza cars, according to the best aviation practice. The chassis was light, yet rigid, and extremely efficient servo-assisted four-wheel brakes were provided to check the 85mph which was available on Hispano Suiza cars in top gear. In spite of a high final drive ratio of 3.4 to 1, the engine developed such excellent low-speed torque that 6 to 50mph in an Hispano Suiza car in top gear occupied only 21 seconds.

The new Hispano Suiza car was not quiet compared with the cars of competitors who counted silence above mechanical efficiency, but in its combination of most of the desirable qualities of a true luxury car – comfort, flexibility – and of the sporting machine – first rate reliability, performance, brakes and handling – the Hispano Suiza car was unique in 1919. Not surprisingly, what amounted to a single-model policy was pursued for many years. Alongside the Hispano Suiza H6B, the Hispano Suiza H6C Sport or Boulogne model appeared in 1924. Bore and stroke were 110x140mm against the H6B’s 100x140mm, giving eight litres. This fabulous Hispano Suiza car was capable of up to 110mph and could be had in short-chassis form. Modified Hispano Suiza H6B’s had won the Coupe Boillot at Boulogne in 1921, 1922 and 1923, in the last instance with the 8-litre engine, which accounted for the new Hispano Suiza car’s name. The H6B and H6C were both still available in 1929, and, as the Hispano Suiza car Tipo 56bis, the latter was made in Spain well into the 1930s. From 1924 to 1927, the former was made by Skoda of Czechoslovakia, under licence. In 1930 Hispano Suiza took over Ballot and fitted a smaller, 4.6-litre, 6-cylinder engine into a Ballot chassis. This Hispano Suiza Junior model, which had central gearchange, was not a car in the same class as its predecessors. In spite of the coming of the Depression, however, in 1931 Hispano Suiza cars produced their biggest, most complex and most expensive design. This Hispano Suiza car was the V12 which abandoned, for the first time since 1919, the six-in-line, overhead-camshaft layout. Cylinder dimensions were ‘square’, at 100x100mm, providing 9½-litres and even greater low-speed torque than that of the old H6B. The overhead valves were operated by push-rods and rockers. Top gear ratio was now 2,75:1 and bottom 5,4:1, or about the same ratio as the top gear of many family saloons of the period. All Hispano Suiza V12s could exceed 100mph and in its fastest, short-chassis open form, the Hispano Suiza car was said to attain 115mph. The V12 was made until 1938. Meanwhile, the Hispano Suiza Junior had been superseded in 1935 by the 4.9-litre, 6-cylinder Hispano Suiza K6, which used push-rod overhead valves like its big brother Hispano Suiza car. It too was current until 1938. Hispano Suiza of Paris then abandoned car production, never to resume it. A prototype Hispano Suiza car was built after World War 2, with front-wheel drive and a Ford V8 engine, but it never achieved catalogue status.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; TRN

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