Value of a '67 Sunbeam Alpine

Author
Discussion

_DeeJay_

Original Poster:

4,956 posts

260 months

Tuesday 6th April 2010
quotequote all
A friend of mine is selling his car and I'm seriously tempted.

It had a full restoration (including completely new body from a dry US car) about 3 years ago. It has non-standard wheels but once dusted down and given a bit of TLC it should look lovely.

It runs well and is generally in good condition - absolutely no rust anywhere on it at all and it's straight. It's also got a private plate in the format 'UK xxxx' which could have a decent resale included in the sale.

I believe it's done about 50k genuine miles.

Any rough estimates of value?

Moikey Fortune

1,650 posts

242 months

Tuesday 6th April 2010
quotequote all
Is it the standard 1725 or converted with the Holbay 1725?

Is it a GT or roadster, GT does not have the soft top as an option although alot of GTs have been converted to roadster spec

What condition is the interior i.e. the dash, seats, steering wheel.. are all the gauges in working order?

Some parts such are difficult to get hold of.

Can you jack it up using the actual jacking points with the original jack to test out the strength of the car..

There are may areas to check to see if repairs to sills have been made/bodged, also check the "cross" section underneath for rot.

Contact Sunbeam Supreme for advice, but for a decent one I guess you'd expect to pay £4K

Alpines are great looking cars and comfortable to drive too, the Holbay is quite sought after.

Good Luck!


_DeeJay_

Original Poster:

4,956 posts

260 months

Tuesday 6th April 2010
quotequote all
Moikey Fortune said:
Is it the standard 1725 or converted with the Holbay 1725?

Is it a GT or roadster, GT does not have the soft top as an option although alot of GTs have been converted to roadster spec

What condition is the interior i.e. the dash, seats, steering wheel.. are all the gauges in working order?

Some parts such are difficult to get hold of.

Can you jack it up using the actual jacking points with the original jack to test out the strength of the car..

There are may areas to check to see if repairs to sills have been made/bodged, also check the "cross" section underneath for rot.

Contact Sunbeam Supreme for advice, but for a decent one I guess you'd expect to pay £4K

Alpines are great looking cars and comfortable to drive too, the Holbay is quite sought after.

Good Luck!
I believe:

It's not a Holbay
It is a roadster
Interior is in good condition (albeit covered in dust/hay)
I'll check the chassis for rot and attempt to get some more information about the restoration

I'm pretty tempted, but obviously don't want to buy a pup or pay over the odds.
Thanks for the feedback - very much appreciated.




Huntsman

8,165 posts

256 months

Tuesday 6th April 2010
quotequote all
I reckon in this case its all about rust.

When you get to see the car ask yourself this

'If I strip this to a bare shell and acid dip it, what will come out?'

If you think, after a thorough inspection, that a 100% good shell would appear from the acid tank, then I reckon its £5k.

If its rusty....around about 3k maybe?


_DeeJay_

Original Poster:

4,956 posts

260 months

Tuesday 6th April 2010
quotequote all
I should really take some pictures.

Honestly, it looks completely solid; the shell came from California and it's never been out on wet/salty roads in the UK.

Maybe I'll have to see if he'll sell without with private plate. I figure that'd put it around your lower figure.

restoman

949 posts

214 months

Tuesday 6th April 2010
quotequote all
If it's been reshelled then the most important question of all:- is it correctly registered and legally entitled to the identity it has?

sjwb

550 posts

214 months

Tuesday 6th April 2010
quotequote all
If we are talking about the second generation Sunbeam Alpine, ie the two door sports car based on the Hillman Minx underpinnings; then the Holbay had no connection whatsoever.
The third generation, based on the Hunter was indeed called the H120, but I don't think that this is the basis of this question. They were rot boxes of the first water!

_DeeJay_

Original Poster:

4,956 posts

260 months

Wednesday 7th April 2010
quotequote all
sjwb said:
If we are talking about the second generation Sunbeam Alpine, ie the two door sports car based on the Hillman Minx underpinnings; then the Holbay had no connection whatsoever.
The third generation, based on the Hunter was indeed called the H120, but I don't think that this is the basis of this question. They were rot boxes of the first water!
It's one of these http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbeam_Alpine#Series...

Based on a Hillman Husky estate car according to the Wiki.

The Holbay conversion that was mentioned was done to increase power over the std cars 93hp (and improve fuel economy so they say). Like this one: http://forsale.classicandperformancecar.com/detail...



Moikey Fortune

1,650 posts

242 months

Wednesday 7th April 2010
quotequote all
Hi Deejay

As a matter of interest I owned a series IV Alpine which had the Holbay conversion with the twin Webers, high lift cam and flat top pistons.

It was a great car, very solid and well put together.

They have some interesting features such as adjustable steering column, a neat way of stowing the hood when it's folded down, the original seat will not only recline but also tip forward to allow access to rear shelf where the battery is under a hinged lid, boot space is good and access to engine bay is easy with a front hinged bonnet, jacking points are at the front and rear of the car so if you use them access is easy under the car also.

I looked at a lot of Alpines before taking the plunge as there are a lot of rotten ones about.

I found it to be fast enough more spacious than say an MGB and generally comfortable to drive on a daily basis, which I did.










_DeeJay_

Original Poster:

4,956 posts

260 months

Wednesday 7th April 2010
quotequote all
Moikey Fortune said:
Hi Deejay

As a matter of interest I owned a series IV Alpine which had the Holbay conversion with the twin Webers, high lift cam and flat top pistons.

It was a great car, very solid and well put together.

They have some interesting features such as adjustable steering column, a neat way of stowing the hood when it's folded down, the original seat will not only recline but also tip forward to allow access to rear shelf where the battery is under a hinged lid, boot space is good and access to engine bay is easy with a front hinged bonnet, jacking points are at the front and rear of the car so if you use them access is easy under the car also.

I looked at a lot of Alpines before taking the plunge as there are a lot of rotten ones about.

I found it to be fast enough more spacious than say an MGB and generally comfortable to drive on a daily basis, which I did.

Very nice smile

Any opinions of the value of this one, assuming it's rot free?