Sunbeam Alpine and Tiger (1959 to 1968)

Why people buy one

• A pretty, practical two-seater with wind-up windows, a usable boot and an optional hardtop.
• Suspension, brakes and steering are shared with other Rootes cars, so Hagerty UK rates mechanical parts supply as decent.
• Hagerty UK picks the Series V, with its 1725cc five-bearing engine, as the best Alpine to drive.
• The Tiger offers V8 performance in the same compact body, and Ford small-block engine parts are easy to find.
• Strong club support: the Sunbeam Alpine Owners Club for Alpines and the Sunbeam Tiger Owners Club, which keeps a register of known UK Tigers.

What to weigh up

• Many Alpines have been fitted with V8 engines (often called "Algers"), and reproduction parts make convincing copies; an Alpine with a V8 is not a Tiger.
• Numbers and plates can be moved between cars, so a Tiger's identity rests on the original Jensen-built body as well as its plates and papers.
• Most Tigers were left-hand drive for export, and the Mk II was meant to be left-hand drive only: Classic & Sports Car records only a handful of factory right-hand-drive Mk IIs, so a right-hand-drive Mk II in the UK needs strong proof.
• Harrington coupes were coachbuilt conversions by Thomas Harrington, sold through Rootes dealers; only a few hundred were made (sources differ on the exact number) and they have been copied, so a claimed Harrington needs papers.
• Tigers run hot in traffic, and the V8 leaves little room for routine work.
• The 1953 to 1955 Sunbeam Alpine roadster and the 1969 to 1975 Arrow-based Alpine fastback are different cars and are not covered here.

Where they rust

• Inner and outer sills; new outer sills are often fitted over rotten inners, and widening door gaps signal trouble.
• The ends of the box sections, the rear cruciform reinforcement and the front mountings of the rear springs.
• Floor pans, front footwells and front chassis legs.
• Bulkhead seams and the top of the scuttle in front of the screen.
• Front wing leading edges above the headlamps, inner wings, front and rear valances, and the rear wheel arches.
• Boot floor and boot lid, and on a Tiger the battery area in the boot, where acid causes corrosion.
• Door hinge mounts on Series I and II, and the windscreen surround on Series III to V.
• The base of steel hardtops on Series III to V GTs.

Mechanical weak spots

• Classics World looks for more than 50psi oil pressure at 2,000rpm when hot on the 1494cc and 1592cc engines, and about 40psi on the 1725cc; blue smoke means worn bores or rings.
• Coolant dripping from the back of the block points to a corroded core plug, and milky residue to a failing head gasket.
• The Alpine gearbox is long-lived; optional Laycock overdrive works on third and top only, and faults are often electrical.
• Series I to III kingpins need regular greasing, and corroded alloy caster wedges under the front subframe upset the steering.
• Series III to V have a brake servo as standard; check for fluid behind the rear drums from leaking wheel cylinders.
• The Tiger uses rack-and-pinion steering, a Ford four-speed gearbox and a Panhard rod at the rear; check the rack for play, as right-hand-drive racks are reported to be hard to find.
• Tiger cooling is the weak point: check the coolant for contamination and the radiator for blockage.

At a Mathewsons viewing

• Read the chassis number on the commission plate and match it to the V5C: Alpine numbers begin B90, B91, B92, B940, B941 or B945 (Series I to IV) or B395 (Series V), while Tigers begin B947 (Mk I), B38200 (Mk IA, from 1965) or B382100 (Mk II), so read every digit, because a Mk I Tiger number starts B94 like a Series IV Alpine.
• On a Tiger, find the separate JAL body-number plate (JAL refers to Jensen's assembly line), normally fitted beside the chassis number plate at the back of the engine bay, note its number and ask the Sunbeam Tiger Owners Club whether the car is on its register before you bid.
• Look for Tiger body features: a wider transmission tunnel, larger dials, the battery in the boot, reinforced front suspension turrets and clearance work around the twin exhausts; then compare the V5C engine size with what is under the bonnet.
• On an Alpine, compare the engine number and engine size on the V5C with the engine fitted; the 1725cc Series V engine has its dipstick entering the block just behind the oil filter, and C&SC warns that Rapier or Hillman engines are sometimes swapped in.
• With a torch, check the sills, floors, spring hangers and box-section ends, lift the mats in the footwells and boot, and do not assume the car will be started.

Parts, specialists and clubs

Seen on Bangers & Cash

• Sunbeam Alpine (Bangers & Cash series 5, episode 2, First shown January 2022)
• Sunbeam Alpine (Bangers & Cash series 13, episode 2, First shown February 2026)

Sources

• Buying guide: 1959 to 68 Sunbeam Alpine (Hagerty UK), 12 November 2024
• Sunbeam Alpine buyer's guide (Classics World), 16 April 2024
• Your definitive 1964 to 68 Sunbeam Tiger buyer's guide (Hagerty), accessed 14 October 2026
• Join the club: Sunbeam Tiger Club (Hagerty UK), 8 August 2022
• Rootes and Chrysler UK passenger cars: chassis numbers (Tiger and Alpine East), accessed 14 October 2026
• Tiger Authentication Committee programme (Sunbeam Tiger Owners Association), accessed 14 October 2026
• Heritage certificates (Rootes Archive Centre Trust), accessed 14 October 2026
• Sunbeam Tiger: end of the line (Classic & Sports Car), 3 November 2023