Russ Hadfield

1967 Sunbeam Alpine Roadster, Series V

The buying Story

I bought the car from my wife’s hairdresser’s husband who had an Alpine and a Tiger to sell at the time in 2002. There was no way I could afford the Tiger, but I always wanted to buy either an Alpine or a Volvo P1800 (the Saint’s car)

All I knew was the car was red, had a “new “ engine in it, and was very fast.

I went to see it, and sure enough there was a newish engine in it, and, if you are a purist, move on to another article, as the engine was an 1800cc Zetec E. It came complete with racing cams and twin DCOE45 Weber carbs and the Ford Type 9 (five speed gearbox)

It was a great conversion, and so I decided to buy it because it was different. Subsequent driving however was disappointing, not for speed, as clearly it was suited to racing, but for general road use.

I therefore traced the original converter, and discussed with him my options of improving it. He immediately came back with fuel injecting it, and that he still had all the fuel injection parts that came off the donor Mondeo.

So we struck a deal, some cash plus the Webers, and he converted it to fuel injection, with custom parts made where required.

It was a lot better to drive, but sometime later I started to get poor running and black smoke coming out of the back. Fortunately, I live next door to a great mechanic, and we spent many frustrating hours looking over the wiring, and came up with a faulty ECU. Fearing the worst, I discussed it with a mate who’s dad worked at Polar Ford in Warrington. It turned out that I had the wrong ECU fitted and that it was one for a 1600cc car and not the 1800cc one fitted. The part codes were identical but with the last two letters only, being different.

I managed to source an 1800cc one at a scrappy in Haydock for a tenner. The new ECU was installed and we were away.

Imported vehicle form California. Modified car with fuel injected 1800cc Ford Zetec engine and Type 9 five speed gearbox. All other ancillaries are standard Sunbeam

The body story

The car was originally registered in the US and imported back to the UK by Sunbeam Sports Cars in Southport, having been largely restored. It appeared on the front cover of their catalogue where it could be seen to be left hand drive. The body is in excellent condition, and in Chrysler Red which is not an original Alpine colour. According to the colour code “VIN” tag it was originally the dark blue colour. When working on it, I found a “blue shield” stamp which I guess was the US version of the Green Shield stamps issued in the UK, and a 1 cent coin in the heater vent. When it was imported it had the original 1725cc engine in it. The previous owner purchased it from them and subsequently had the engine conversion carried out.

Improvements made

Over the last few years I have restored the suspension fitting new bushes everywhere and new shock absorbers all round. New/restored parts have been added including chromed headlight cowls and the heater vents in front of the windscreen, with many bits sourced from either Sunbeam Supreme, Sunbeam Spares Company or Ebay. A set of Minilites Wheels has also replaced the standard Alpine ones.

In 2007, the car was to be used as the wedding car for my daughter’s wedding, and it was leading up to this that the interior was restored with new carpets, mats and the seats fully recovered professionally. I opted for more than just a red trim around the black vinyl, as the cost was going to be significant and I wanted it to look something special.

I have recently changed the differential from a 4.22 to a 3.89 to get better quieter running on motorways and lower the revs a bit. This was successful, but the 3.89 diff whines, hence this will be rebuilt in the very near future. This change also got the speedo more accurately working nearer the true speeds. I now have more confidence when going past a speed camera!!

North West Casual Classics

I joined North West Casual Classics about 18 months ago, as the local Sunbeam Alpine Owners Club only attended the May/June Tatton Park show locally, and I wanted to attend more shows but with a good social connection. I came across NWCC at a May Tatton show, joined, and have never looked back. They are a great bunch of people, work well as a team, and accept any classic cars going. The multi vehicle background is paying dividends, as during 2008 the club gained two trophies for their presentation, one at Tatton and the other at Cholmondely Castle