1965 SUNBEAM TIGER PROTOTYPE (AF203)          Chassis Numbe...

Hammer

£71,000

1965 SUNBEAM TIGER PROTOTYPE (AF203)         

Chassis Number: AF203          
Registration Number: EHP 621C
Recorded Mileage: 13,750 miles 

In part designed by sports car legend Carroll Shelby and racing supremo Ken Miles, the Cobra-killing Sunbeam Tiger was the real deal - a full-fat, high-performance version of the Rootes group’s popular Alpine sports car.

The Rootes Group had ambitions to move onto the global stage with their products, which, in the US at least, meant they needed bigger engines with more power to challenge the big boys. Rootes initially approached Ferrari to redesign their standard 4-cylinder engine, hoping to trade on a ‘Powered by Ferrari’ moniker. Ultimately discussions with Ferrari were fruitless, however an alternative presented itself when Grand Prix driver Jack Brabham suggested a Ford V8, inspired no doubt by the success that British company AC had with the Cobra. Sunbeam asked Carroll Shelby to produce one functional prototype, which went to Great Britain for evaluation alongside one built on home turf. The Shelby-developed car was the clear winner! Development and production of the new “Tiger'' was then contracted to Jensen Motors Limited.

Rootes made two series of the Tiger, Marks I and II, with 260cu and 289cu V8 motors respectively. The Tiger was popular with the public at the time, however due to financial difficulties for the parent company the model was ultimately doomed. When Rootes were bought out by Chrysler in 1967, the thought of producing a car with an engine supplied by a major competitor was just not palatable, and so the Tiger ceased production in 1967.

Shortly after the public launch of the Tiger at the New York Auto Show of April 1964, Management agreed to give the go-ahead to develop a Series II Tiger. The Mark II was to have a number of modifications, intended to produce a world-beating sports car, such as a larger 289cu engine, modified gearbox ratios, a wider rear track, disc brakes all round, 5 stud 14” wheels, improved cooling, ventilation, steering, braking and electrical systems, and various styling modifications.

Four ‘Alpine Ford Series 2’ development vehicles – AF 201 202, 203 and 204, were built, each receiving the complete specification upgrades planned for the launch of the MKII in 1966:

● AF201 - RHD (U.K. Specification) - No trace, considered lost.
● AF202 - RHD and fitted with a three speed automatic gearbox - Currently Restored
● AF203 - LHD (U.S. specification) and fitted with Ford’s wider ratio HEH-BN manual transmission. - Restored to original spec.
● AF204 - RHD (U.K. specification) and fitted with Ford’s wider ratio HEH-BN manual transmission. Heavily modified custom car.

The bodies supplied for all the four were period production shells, originally stamped as early Mark I, wearing Mark I trim and badges.

Our car, AF203, was completed as a Mark II in February 1965 and registered by the Factory for road use the following month. However despite positive road test feedback, dealers over in the U.S. were less concerned that the hike in sales price would affect the Tiger’s positioning.

Previously slotted neatly between the Healey 3000 and the Jaguar E-Type, a pricier Mark II would struggle to find its place in this important market.

The Prototypes were retained by the factory throughout 1965 and then later sold on. In the case of AF203, its last role at the factory was to be the revised Mk2 styling car, thus in the design studio along with her Mk1 waist trim she was also fitted with all the Mk2 trims and egg crate grille for management approval. Once completed she was re fitted with a Mk1 grille and sold internally to one of the Rootes Development Engineers, Ken Lunt, interestingly however the sill and wheel arch trims that were the visual hallmarks of the Mark II Tiger did not get removed prior to sale, thus as a result, AF203 is the documented as the only Sunbeam Tiger sold by Rootes to carry the trim of both series.

Ken Lunt clearly enjoyed his newly acquired Tiger, using it for everything from the school run or for towing the family caravan for holidays, through to energetic track work at the Yeovilton Autotest. After driving the Tiger for a couple of years, Lunt placed an advertisement in the May 1968 issue of Motorsport Magazine, and shortly after ownership passed to a Mr. Paul Banbury from Leicestershire. Mr. Banbury shortly afterward changed the steering set up to RHD, using correct factory parts. After a few years Mr. Banbury passed title to a Mr. John Burton who kept AF203 for a further 10 years.

When restorer Keith Hampson viewed the car in 1982 following an advertisement in the Owner’s Club newsletter, AF203 was clearly in need of attention, and so Mr. Hampson proceeded with a comprehensive restoration, returning it to its factory appearance and specification (photographs documenting this restoration can be found in the history file). Since being completed AF203 has been displayed at various classic car shows throughout the 1990s and 2000s, and has been the subject of articles in Classic & Sportscar Magazine and Restoring Classic Cars. Mr. Hampson kept his restored Tiger for around 30 years before ownership passed for the final time in early 2019. Our vendor has used the Sunbeam lightly, servicing and treating it to sundry minor items as and when required.

Accompanying the Sunbeam is a large and highly detailed history file dating back to the 1960s, containing internal test reports prepared for the management at Rootes, also period photographs, older registration documents and MoT certificates. Additionally we find correspondence from Rootes Motors, Peugeot-Talbot (later owners of Rootes), and previous owners Ken Lunt, Paul Banbury and Keith Hampson.

Also included are a number of notes and tables explaining the family tree of the various Rootes Works Tiger prototypes. We understand AF203 was first fitted with a very early 260cu V8 motor, one of the original pre-production small batch sent directly from Ford’s Dearborn plant for Mark I prototyping in 1964. Interestingly a couple of the original LHD Mark AF1 prototypes still remain undiscovered, as AF203 features an early body shell and was fitted with the early motor, there is a widely-held belief that it could also be one of these missing Mark I prototypes re-assigned to the Mk2 project, a tantalizing prospect and one which the Tiger Club Archivists are still working on.

With a continuous ownership history from new and supplied with a UK V5C document, AF203 represents both an important milestone in the development of the Sunbeam Tiger, and of the 1960s V8-engined sports car as we know it.