Sunbeam Tiger LM 1964

[Sick Cylinder]

Fancy seeing this in your rear view mirror? If so, vote like!

The Rootes Group, which included the Hillman, Sunbeam and Humber car brands decided to enter the 1964 Le Mans 24 hour race with their Sunbeam Tiger sports car. Three cars were produced, numbered 7, 8 and 9. The steel monocoque, coupe style bodies were produced by Lister (of Lister Jaguar fame). The engines were 260 cubic inch (4.3 litre) Ford V8's, developed by Shelby (power approximately 320bhp, top speed 140mph, car weight 2615lb).

Number 8 was driven by Claude Dubois and Keith Ballisat and retired after completing 37 laps. Number 9 was driven by Peter Proctor and Jimmy Blumer and lasted for 118 laps. Lord Rootes was refunded the cost of engine development by Shelby following the race.

Unfortunately the cars were not competitive at Le Mans, lapping some 30 seconds slower than the fastest cars largely due to weighing 600lbs more than the winning Ferrari and having a lower top speed. However they were successfully raced in minor meetings and sprints in the UK. All three cars have survived and are regularly used in historic race events such as the Goodwood Revival and Classic Le Mans.

The game might enable us to tweak the power and reduce the weight of these historic cars so that they could race with the Ferrari 250 GTO and other great classics in the game.

If anyone fancies seeing Sunbeam Tigers racing I recommend that you attend one of the AMOC rounds (Aston Martin Owners Club) as the Aston Martin Intermarque Series features four teams split into Aston Martin, Ferrari, Porsche and Sunbeam. These events are without a doubt the best value classic racing events in the UK. NB you won't see the LM Tigers racing as given their rarity and high value they are reserved for the most prestigious of classic events such as Goodwood or Classic Le Mans

Below race action - most pictures from the 1964 Le Mans race:

Below the Number 7 car is maintained in beautiful condition and regularly exhibited and raced in the worlds most prestigious classic events:

Please also vote for the other Sunbeam Tiger suggestions and possible on track, v8 Ford powered competitors in the game:
Sunbeam Tiger Series 1
Sunbeam Tiger Series 2
Sunbeam Tiger Coupe
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/sunbeam-tiger-mk-i-coupe-1965.320932/

TVR Griffith Series 200
TVR Griffith Series 400
Shelby Cobra 289 Mark 2

To search the car lists alphabetically just click on the red Title banner once to start at Z and twice to start at A.

 

[Dotini]

What about the Sunbeam Alpine? It competed with MG, Austin Healey, and Triumph in the showroom and on the track, and was best-looking of them all.

From what I've heard from people that drove them, the Tiger was harder and more dangerous to hold onto in corners than the Cobra, wickedly twitchy due to its short wheelbase, light weight and high power V-8.

 

[Sick Cylinder]

What about the Sunbeam Alpine? It competed with MG, Austin Healey, and Triumph in the showroom and on the track, and was best-looking of them all.

From what I've heard from people that drove them, the Tiger was harder and more dangerous to hold onto in corners than the Cobra, wickedly twitchy due to its short wheelbase, light weight and high power V-8.

Not according to the Autocar Magazine roadtest from 1964: "There is no doubt that the Tiger is somewhat misnamed, for it has nothing of the wild and dangerous man-eater about it and is really only as fierce as a pussy cat. A woman would find it easy to control."

The standard series 1 only had 164bhp and had a reputation for being easy to drive - it is likely that performance upgrades upset the balance of the car - it was only $250 at the time to get a dealer upgrade to 245bhp. We also have to bear in mind that it had 4.5 inch wide rims and cross ply tyres.

I expect that the Alpine has already been suggested, but it's not one of my favourites.


Here's some great in-car footage of 2012 World Touring Car Champion Rob Huff qualifying the Sunbeam Tiger LM (also known as the Lister Tiger) for a Goodwood Revival race: