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

Oldsmobile

US, 1896 to date

(1) Olds Motor Works, Lansing, Mich., 1896 – 1943

(2) Oldsmobile Division of General Motors Corp, Lansing, Mich., 1943 to date

Ransom Eli Olds built an experimental three-wheeled steam Oldsmobile car in 1891, following this six years later with a single-cylinder petrol-engined vehicle of dogcart type. He then made a small number of electric Oldsmobile cars, before producing his famous Oldsmobile Curved Dash Runabout, the world’s first mass-production automobile. This Oldsmobile car consisted of a very short and simple buggy-type chassis with two long springs serving as auxiliary side-members, on which was mounted a single-cylinder moiv engine of 1.6-litres’ capacity, with trembler coil ignition, a 2-speed epicyclic transmission, and central chain drive. The engine on the Oldsmobile car possessed an immense silencer and turned at 500rpm – ‘one chug per telegraph pole’. Despite a fire at the Oldsmobile carfactory in March 1901, which destroyed everything except a single prototype, the little Oldsmobile car was an instant success, 2.100 being sold in 1902 and 5.000 Oldsmobile cars in 1904. Though at its best as a town runabout, the Oldsmobile car made a number of epic runs, notably Whitman’s and Hammond’s drive from San Francisco to New-York in 1903. This type of Oldsmobile car was made under licence in Germany as the Polymobil, and Ultramobil.

By 1904 Ransom Olds had left the Oldsmobile car company to found the REO company and the Oldsmobile car started to grow up. Dummy-bonnetted versions of Oldsmobile cars were available in 1905. These were followed by a twin-cylinder 2-stroke Oldsmobile car with frontal engine and a conventional gearbox selling for $1.250, and by the Oldsmobile Palace touring car, a four of square cylinder dimensions which combined pressure lubcrication and automatic inlet valves. Oldsmobile cars grew bigger and bigger; by 1908 the smallest Oldsmobile car was a 3½-litre four and the largest a six of over 8 litres’ capacity, and this trend was not reversed when General Motors took over the Oldsmobile car company in 1909. Compressed-air starters were available on Oldsmobile cars in 1911 and the 1912 line of Oldsmobile cars was obviously designed for the carriage trade, being headed by the immense Oldsmobile Limited, with a 6-cylinder 11½-litre engine, a wheelbase of 11ft 6in, wooden wheels of 43in diameter and a top speed of over 70mph, all for $5.000. Even the baby of the Oldsmobile car-family, the 4-cylinder Oldsmobile Defender had a capacity of 5-litres and cost $3.000, while all the Oldsmobile car range boasted 4-speed gearboxes. Oldsmobile cars were a little smaller at 7-litres in 1914 and had acquired Delco electric lighting and starting, though right hand drive was retained on Oldsmobile cars.

The Oldsmobile car company did not return to prosperity until the following year, when a modestly-priced sv 4-cylinder Oldsmobile 42 with streamlined dash was marketed and over 7.500 Oldsmobile cars were sold. This was followed in 1916 by an sv V8 Oldsmobile car with a Fiat-like radiator selling at about $1.500, which Oldsmobile continued to offer until 1923. They also listed both a 2.8-litre six and an ohv Northway-engined four Oldsmobile car in the early 1920s. In 1924 only the six-cylinder Oldsmobile car was available, and a wide range of ‘sport equipment’ (such as trunk bars and step plates) was advertised. Over 44.000 Oldsmobile cars were sold, and tourers were listed at $785. Mechanical pump feed and front-wheel brakes followed in 1927 and bodies of the Oldsmobile cars were restyled in 1928.

Sales climbed to over 100.000 Oldsmobile cars in 1929, in which year Oldsmobile launched the abortive 8-cylinder Oldsmobile Viking. Synchromesh was available on these Oldsmobile cars in 1931, and a 3.9-litre straight-8 closely resembling the Bucik in outward appearance joined the Oldsmobile car range in 1932. 1934 Oldsmobile cars had independent front suspension, and turret top styling characterized the 1935 Oldsmobile car models. In 1938, when a 6-cylinder sedan could be bought for $967, Oldsmobile cars became the first of the GM group to offer the option of an automatic gearbox, evolved by 1914 into the famous Hydramatic. 273.000 Oldsmobile cars were sold in 1941.

Oldsmobile cars became GM’s technical leader after World War 2; Hydramatic was optional on all Oldsmobile carmodels in 1946 and in 1948 the Oldsmobile car company’s official half-centenary was made the occasion to give the Oldsmobile cars ‘Futuramic’ styling, a preview of what GM’s other cars were to look like in 1949. Oldsmobile’s 1949 4.9-litre ohv oversquare Rocket V8 was the first of its kind to appear, and by 1951 the old sixes Oldsmobile cars had been dropped altogether. The Oldsmobile Rocket was giving 202bhp in 1955 and air-suspension was optional, the Oldsmobile cars came in two wheelbase lengths and manual transmission was available only on the cheaper models.

Oldsmobile car companys compact, the Oldsmobile F85 of 1961, was an interesting car with unitary construction, coil springing all round, a 9ft 4in wheelbase and an aluminium V8 of only 3½-litres’ capacity, developing 155bhp. Fastest of the full-size V8 Oldsmobile cars was the Oldsmobile Starfire convertible with 330bhp, while a sporting version of the F85 came out the following year in the shape of the Oldsmobile Cutlass. In 1963 there was a companion Oldsmobile Jetfire model, capable of 110mph, and listed at $3.633 with turbo-supercharger. The aluminium V8 was replaced on 1964 Oldsmobile carmodel F85s by Buick’s V6, and a Jetstar line of economy Oldsmobile cars was evolved by fitting a modestly-rated 8-cylinder engine in the regular chassis. 1966 Oldsmobile cars covered a wide range from the small six up to V8s of 383bhp, but the Oldsmobile car Division achieved a real technical breakthrough once more with the big Oldsmobile Toronado coupé. This Oldsmobile car had front wheel drive and Hydramatic transmission, and was powered by the most potent version of Oldsmobile’s 7-litre engine. The 1968 Oldsmobile car models were made in various capacities up to 7½-litres. The largest Oldsmobile cars had automatic transmission and power steering as standard, and the Oldsmobile 442 with 360bhp 6.555cc V8 engine and 4-speed manual gearbox represented the fashionable sporting image. By 1971 the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, 88, 98 and Cruiser station wagons had acquired front disc brakes, but a year later even the Oldsmobile Toronado boasted no more than 265bhp. The same basic range was still available on Oldsmobile cars in 1973, with single headlamps and front disc brakes standardized on the Oldsmobile Cutlass along with the new GM energy-absorbing front bumper. New to Oldsmobile car range was a compact, the Oldsmobile Omega with 3-speed manual box and drum brakes. Engine options for this Oldsmobile car were a 4.097cc six or a 5.735cc V8.

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