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For the motorcycle marque, see Sunbeam (motorcycle). Sunbeam was a British Motorcycle marque generally known for high quality

Sunbeam was a marque registered by John Marston Co. A marque ( French for "brand" ˈmɑrk is a Brand name especially in the Automobile industry Ltd of Wolverhampton, England, in 1888. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The company first made bicycles, then motorcycles and cars from the late 19th century to circa 1936, and applied the marque to all three forms of transportation. A Sunbeam was the first British car to win a Grand Prix race, and set a number of land speed records. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894 The land speed record is the fastest speed achieved by any wheeled vehicle on land as opposed to one on water or in the air or on rails.

Contents

Early history

John Marston was apprenticed to the Jeddo Works of Wolverhampton as a japanner (metal lacquerer). In 1859, at the age of 23, he bought two existing tinplate manufacturers and set up on his own, John Marston Co. Ltd. Marston was an avid bicycler, and in 1877 set up the Sunbeamland Cycle Factory, producing bikes known as Sunbeams. The bicycle, cycle, or bike is a pedal-driven, human-powered vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind Between 1899 and 1901 the company also produced a number of experimental cars, but none of these were offered to the market.

The first production car named as a Sunbeam was introduced in 1901, after a partnership with Maxwell Maberly-Smith. The Sunbeam-Mabley design was an odd one, with seats on either side of a belt-drive powered by a single-cylinder engine of less than 3hp. The design was a limited success, with 420 sold at £130 when production ended in 1904. At that point the company started production of a Thomas Pullinger designed car based on the Berliet mechanicals. Berliet was a French manufacturer of Automobiles trucks and other utility vehicles based in Venissieux outside of Lyons France They introduced a new model, based on a Peugeot motor they bought for study, in 1906 and sold about ten a week. For the article about the bicycle manufacturer see Cycles Peugeot.

In 1905, the Sunbeam Motorcar Company Ltd was formed separate from the rest of the John Marston business which retained the Sunbeam motorcycles and bicycles. Sunbeam was a British Motorcycle marque generally known for high quality

The Breton car designer, Louis Coatalen, joined the company from Humber in 1909, and became chief designer. The Bretons are a distinct Ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. Louis Hervé Coatalen (September 11 1879 – May 23 1962 was a Breton Automobile Engineer. Humber was a British Automobile Marque which could date its beginnings to Thomas Humber 's bicycle company founded in 1868 He soon reorganized production such that almost all parts were being built by the company, as opposed to relying on outside suppliers. He quickly introduced his first design, the Sunbeam 14/20, their first to use a shaft-driven rear axle, upgrading it in 1911 with a slightly larger engine as the 16/20.

Sunbeam made a small number of Veterans, and by 1912 were making very nice conventional high quality cars. Direct competitors to Rolls Royce, a Sunbeam was considered to be a car for those who thought an RR a little ostentatious!

Louis Coatalen in the Nautilus at Brooklands in 1910
Louis Coatalen in the Nautilus at Brooklands in 1910

Coatalen was particularly fond of racing as a way to drive excellence within the company, noting Racing improves the breed. After designing the 14/20 he started the design of advanced high-power engines, combining overhead valves with a pressurized oil lubrication system. In 1910 he built his first dedicated land-speed-record car, the Sunbeam Nautilus, powered by a 4. 2 litre version of this engine design. The Nautilus implemented a number of early streamlining features, known as wind cutting at the time, but the custom engine suffered various problems and the design was eventually abandoned. The next year he introduced the Sunbeam Toodles II, which feature an improved valve system that turned it into a success. Coatalen won 22 prizes in Toodles II at Brooklands in 1911, and also achieved a flying mile of 86. 16 mph (138. 66 km/h) to take the 16 hp Short Record. Sunbeam cars powered by more conventional (for the time) side-valve engines featured prominently in the 1911 Coupé de l'Auto race, and improved versions won first, second and third the next year. Sunbeams continued to race over the next few years, but the company had moved on to other interests.

Coatalen also designed a number of passenger cars, notably the Sunbeam 12/16. By 1911 they were building about 650 cars a year, at that time making them a major manufacturer.

World War I

Starting in 1912 they had also branched out into aircraft engines, introducing a series of engines that were not particularly successful commercially. An aircraft engine is a Propulsion system for an Aircraft. Aircraft engines are almost always a type of lightweight Internal combustion engine. Coatalen seemed to be convinced that the proper solution to any engine requirement was a design for those exact specifications, instead of producing a single engine and letting the aircraft designers build their aircraft around it. Louis Hervé Coatalen (September 11 1879 – May 23 1962 was a Breton Automobile Engineer. Their closest brush with success was with the lightweight V8 Sunbeam Arab, which was ordered in quantity in 1917 but suffered from vibration and reliability problems and only saw limited service and the V12 Sunbeam Cossack. The Sunbeam Arab was a First World War era Aircraft engine. The engine was a V8 of 11 Meanwhile Coatalen continued to experiment with ever-more odd designs such as the star-layout Sunbeam Malay which never got beyond prototype, air-cooled Sunbeam Spartan and Diesel-powered Sunbeam Pathan. The Sunbeam Malay was a 20 cylinder Aircraft engine of 294 litres (1794 The company was fairly successful with the introduction of newer manufacturing techniques, however, and was one of the first to build aluminium single-block engines, a design that would not become common until the 1930s.

During World War I the company built motorcycles, trucks and ambulances. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The company also participated in the Society of British Aircraft Constructors pool, who shared aircraft designs to anyone that could build them. The Society of British Aerospace Companies, known as SBAC is the UK's national trade association representing companies supplying civil air transport aerospace defence homeland Acting in this role they produced Short Bombers powered by their own Sunbeam Gurkha engines, Avro 504 trainers, and even designed their own Sunbeam Bomber which lost to a somewhat simpler Sopwith design. The Short Bomber was a British two-seat long-range reconnaissance bombing and torpedo carrying aircraft designed by Short Brothers as a land-based development Background The Sunbeam Car Company, Wolverhampton England started to build aircraft engines in 1912 The Avro 504 was a World War I Biplane Aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others The Sopwith Aviation Company was a British Aircraft company that designed and manufactured aeroplanes mainly for the British Royal Flying Corps, Royal In total they produced 647 aircraft of various types by the time the lines shut down in early 1919.

Post-war

Sunbeam 14/40 Tourer 1926
Sunbeam 14/40 Tourer 1926

On August 13, 1920, Sunbeam merged with the French company Automobiles Darracq S.A.. Events 3114 BC - According to the Lounsbury correlation the start of the Maya calendar. Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar Automobiles Darracq SA was a French motor vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq. Alexandre Darracq built his first car in 1896, and his cars were so successful that Alfa Romeo and Opel both started out in the car industry by building Darracqs under licence. Alexandre Darracq, November 10 1855 &ndash1931 was a French automobile manufacturer Alfa Romeo Automobiles SpA is an Italian Automaker founded in 1910 Adam Opel GmbH (commonly known as Opel) is a German automaker part of General Motors. In 1919 Darracq bought the London-based firm of Clement-Talbot to become Talbot-Darracq in order to import Talbots into England. Talbot is an Automobile brand whose history is one of the industry's most complex Adding Sunbeam created "Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq," or "STD Motors".

In addition to quality limousine, saloon and touring cars, Coatalen was pleased to build racing cars for Henry Segrave – who won the French and Spanish GPs in 1923/4. Sir Henry O'Neil de Hane Segrave ( 22 September 1896 &ndash 13 June 1930) was famous for setting three Land speed records and the He also built a Brooklands racer for K L Guinness – based on a V12 27 litre 350 hp Sunbeam Manitou engine, originally designed to power the R34 airship. There is also a type of Windscreen known as "Brooklands" or "Brookland screen" Kenelm Lee Guinness MBE ( 14 August 1887 - 10 April 1937) was a racing driver of the 1910s - 1920s The Sunbeam Manitou was an Aero-engine produced by Sunbeam. Unsuccessful as an Aero-engine, it is best known for having powered the Sunbeam 350HP Terminology In some countries airships are also known as dirigibles from the French (fr ''diriger'' to direct plus -ible) meaning "directable" This famous car (Sunbeam 350HP) established a new Land Speed Record at Brooklands and in Malcolm Campbell’s hands at Pendine Sands where it achieved 150. __NOEDITSECTION__ The Sunbeam 350HP is an Aero-engined car built by the Sunbeam Car Company in 1922 the first of several Land speed record breaking cars Sir Malcolm Campbell ( 11 March 1885 &ndash 31 December 1948) was an English racing motorist and motoring journalist Pendine Sands is a 7 mile long beach on the shores of Carmarthen Bay on the south coast of Wales. 766 mph (242. 634 km/h) in 1925 after renaming it the Blue Bird and painting it blue. The same year Coatalen’s new 3 litre Super Sports came 2nd at Le Mans – beating Bentley – this was the first production twin cam car in the world. In 1926 Segrave captured the LSR in a new 4 litre V12 Sunbeam racer originally named Ladybird and later renamed Tiger. __NOEDITSECTION__ The Sunbeam Tiger was a racing car of the 1920s built by Sunbeam of Wolverhampton. Coatalen decided to re-enter the LSR field himself, building the truly gigantic Sunbeam 1000HP powered by two 450 hp Matabele engines. The Sunbeam 1000 HP Mystery, or " The Slug " is a Land speed record -breaking car built by the Sunbeam Car Company of The Sunbeam Matabele was the last development of one of Sunbeam 's most successful Aero-engines the Cossack. On 29 March 1927 the car captured the speed record at 203. Events 1461 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton - Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Year 1927 ( MCMXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 792 mph (327. 971 km/h). The car is now at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, UK. The National Motor Museum (originally the Montagu Motor Museum) is a museum in the village of Beaulieu, set in the heart of the New Forest, in the

Sunbeam's great age was really the 1920s under Coatalen’s leadership with very well engineered, high quality, reliable cars — and a great reputation on the track.

A later land speed record attempt, the 1930 Silver Bullet, failed to achieve either records, or the hoped-for advances in aero engines. The Sunbeam Silver Bullet was the last attempt on the Land speed record by Sunbeam of Wolverhampton. It is now almost forgotten. Sunbeam did not really survive the depression and in 1935 went into receivership and were sold to Lord Rootes. William Edward Rootes 1st Baron Rootes GBE ( 17 August 1894 &ndash 12 December 1964) was a noted Coventry motor manufacturer The last true Sunbeam was made in 1935. The new entry model “Dawn” was a typical mid 1930’s design with independent front suspension whereas other models, the 18. 2HP and Speed 20 were based on Vintage designs and qualify as PVT under VSCC rules.

Coatalen’s obsession with improvement meant that there were numerous small changes in models from year to year. This means that although all his designs are basically similar, very few parts are interchangeable!

In the Vintage period, typically two models dominated production volumes at each period:

The most successful, judged by volumes, was the 16hp (16. 9) followed by 20hp (20.9) made from 1926-30. Whilst the 16 was solid and very reliable, it was a little underpowered at 2. 1 litres, the 20. 9 made a big jump to 3 litres and 70 bhp (52 kW/71 PS) with similar body weight and vacuum servo brakes and was capable of 70 mph (110 km/h).

Sunbeam built their own bodies but also supplied to the coachbuilder trade; many limousines were built on Sunbeam chassis. The sales catalogue illustrates the standard body designs.

Rootes Group

Sunbeam-Talbot Saloon 1947
Sunbeam-Talbot Saloon 1947
Sunbeam-Talbot 90 4-Door Saloon 1948
Sunbeam-Talbot 90 4-Door Saloon 1948
Sunbeam Alpine MK 1
Sunbeam Alpine MK 1
Sunbeam Alpine series 4 roadster
Sunbeam Alpine series 4 roadster

STD Motors went into receivership in 1935. The Sunbeam Alpine was a sporty two seat open car or Coupé from Rootes 's Sunbeam car Marque. The Sunbeam Alpine was a sporty two seat open car or Coupé from Rootes 's Sunbeam car Marque. By this point only Talbots was still a success, and in 1935 that portion was purchased by the Rootes Group. The Rootes Group was a British Automobile manufacturer which was based in the Midlands and south of England. William Lyons of "SS Cars," who was looking for a name change given the rising Nazi connotations tried to buy Sunbeam but they were also purchased by Rootes. Not to be confused with William Lyons (composer or William Lyons (rapper Sir William Lyons, better known as "Mr Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German After World War II SS Cars changed their name to Jaguar. Jaguar Cars Limited is a luxury car manufacturer based in Coventry, England, now operated as part of the Jaguar Land Rover business Car production at the Wolverhampton factory was terminated.

Rootes was an early proponent of badge engineering, building a single mass-produced chassis and equipping it with different body panels and interiors to fit different markets. For a list of vehicles that have been badge engineered see List of badge engineered vehicles. They ended production of existing models at all the new companies, replacing them with designs from Hillman and Humber that were more amenable to mass production. Hillman was a famous British Automobile Marque, manufactured by the Rootes Group. Humber was a British Automobile Marque which could date its beginnings to Thomas Humber 's bicycle company founded in 1868 Mass production (also called flow production, repetitive flow production, series production, or serial production) is the production of

In 1938 Rootes created a new marque called Sunbeam-Talbot which combined the quality Talbot coachwork and the current Hillman and Humber chassis and was assembled at the Talbot factory in London. Sunbeam-Talbot was a British car maker Background history The Sunbeam Motorcar Company Ltd was formed in 1905 to separate the Sunbeam motorcycle and The initial two models were the Sunbeam-Talbot 10 and the 3-litre followed by the Sunbeam-Talbot 2 litre and 4 litre models based on the earlier models only with different engines and longer wheelbases. Production of these models continued after the war until 1948.

In the summer of 1948, the Sunbeam-Talbot 80 and Sunbeam-Talbot 90 were introduced, with a totally new streamlined design with flowing front fenders (wings). The 80 used the Hillman Minx based engine with ohv and the 90 utilized a modified version of the Humber Hawk with ohv. The car bodies were manufactured by another Rootes Group company, British Light Steel Pressings of Acton, however the convertible drophead coupé shells were completed by Thrupp & Maberly coachbuilders in Cricklewood. British Light Steel Pressings Ltd was a company in Acton, London producing bodies for the vehicle industry Acton is a place in west London, England situated west of Charing Cross. Thrupp & Maberly was a British coachbuilding company based in London. Cricklewood is a district of North London, England whose northeastern part is in the London Borough of Barnet, western part is the London Borough of The underpowered 80 was discontinued in 1950. The 90 was renamed the 90 Mark II and then the 90 Mark IIA and eventually in 1954 the Sunbeam Mark III, finally dropping the Talbot name. With the model name changes, the headlights were raised on the front fenders and an independent coil front suspension and the engine displacement went from 1944 cc to 2267 cc with a high compression head and developing 80 bhp (60 kW/81 PS).

There was one more model of the Sunbeam-Talbot that appeared in 1953 in the form of an Alpine, a two seater sports roadster which was initially developed by a Sunbeam-Talbot dealer George Hartwell in Bournemouth as a one-off rally car that had its beginnings as a 1952 drophead coupé. It was named supposedly by Norman Garrad, (works Competition Department) who was heavily involved in the Sunbeam-Talbot successes in the Alpine Rally in the early 1950s using the Saloon model. The Alpine Mark I and Mark III (a Mark II was never made) were hand built like the Drophead Coupé at Thrupp & Maberly coachbuilders from 1953 to 1955 when production ceased after close to 3000 were produced. It has been estimated that perhaps only 200 remain in existence today. The Talbot name was dropped in 1954 for the Sunbeam Alpine sports car, making Sunbeam the sports-performance marque. The Sunbeam Alpine was a sporty two seat open car or Coupé from Rootes 's Sunbeam car Marque. A sports car is a term used to describe a class of Automobile. In 1955 a Sunbeam saloon won the Monte Carlo Rally. Production ceased in 1956 and replaced by the sporty Sunbeam Rapier.

In 1959 a totally new Alpine was introduced, and the 1955 Rapier (essentially a badge-engineered Hillman Minx) was upgraded. The Sunbeam Rapier was the first of the " Audax " range of light cars produced by the Rootes Group. The Hillman Minx was a series of middle-sized family cars produced under the Hillman Marque by the Rootes Group between 1932 and 1970 After several successful series of the Alpine were released, director of US West-Coast operations, Ian Garrad, became interested in the success of the AC Cobra, which mounted a small-block V-8 engine in the small AC Ace frame to create one of the most successful sports cars of all time. Shelby Cobra redirects here See also the Shelby Mustang Cobra The AC Cobra was a British built and designed sports car that was AC Ace is a car made by AC Cars of Thames Ditton, England AC came back to the market after the Second World War with the staid Two-litre range Garrad became convinced the Alpine frame could also be adapted the same way, and contracted Carroll Shelby to prototype such a fit with a Ford engine. Carroll Hall Shelby, (born January 11, 1923 in Leesburg Texas) is an American racing and automotive designer and former racing driver Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following The result was the Sunbeam Tiger, released in 1964, which went on to be a huge success. The Sunbeam Tiger was a Muscle car version of the British Rootes Group's Sunbeam Alpine Roadster.

The Chrysler era

Sunbeam Rapier fastback coupé
Sunbeam Rapier fastback coupé

But by this point Rootes was itself in financial trouble. The Sunbeam Rapier was the first of the " Audax " range of light cars produced by the Rootes Group. Talks with Leyland Motors went nowhere, so in 1964 30 percent of the company (along with 50 percent of the non-voting shares) was purchased by Chrysler, which was attempting to enter the European market. Chrysler LLC is an American Automobile manufacturer that has been producing Automobiles since 1925 Ironically, Chrysler had purchased Simca the year earlier, who had earlier purchased Automobiles Talbot, originally the British brand that had been merged into STD Motors many years earlier. Simca redirects here for other uses of that term see SIMCA (disambiguation.

Chrysler's experience with the Rootes empire appears to have been an unhappy one. Models were abandoned over the next few years while they tried to build a single brand from the best models of each of the company's components, but for management "best" typically meant "cheapest to produce" which was at odds with the former higher-quality Rootes philosophy. Brand loyalty started to erode, and was greatly damaged when they decided to drop former marques and start calling everything a Chrysler. The Tiger was dropped in 1967 after an abortive attempt to fit it with a Chrysler engine, and the Hillman Imp-derived Stiletto disappeared in 1972. The Hillman Imp is a compact rear-engined saloon car that was manufactured under the Hillman Marque by the Rootes Group (later Chrysler

The last Sunbeam produced was the "Rootes Arrow" series Alpine/Rapier fastback (1967-76), after which Chrysler, who had purchased Rootes, disbanded the marque. Rootes Arrow was the manufacturer's name for a range of cars produced under several badge-engineered Marques by the Rootes Group (later Chrysler The Sunbeam Rapier was the first of the " Audax " range of light cars produced by the Rootes Group. The Sunbeam Rapier was the first of the " Audax " range of light cars produced by the Rootes Group. Chrysler LLC is an American Automobile manufacturer that has been producing Automobiles since 1925 The Hillman (by now Chrysler) Hunter on which they were based soldiered on until 1978. Rootes Arrow was the manufacturer's name for a range of cars produced under several badge-engineered Marques by the Rootes Group (later Chrysler A Hillman Avenger-derived hatchback, the Chrysler Sunbeam, maintained the name as a model rather than a marque from 1978 to the early 1980s, with the very last models sold as Talbot Sunbeams. The Hillman Avenger was a rear-wheel drive Small family car originally manufactured under the Hillman marque by the Rootes Group between 1970 and 1976 For the Sunbeam-Talbot or Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq cars see Sunbeam Car Company The Chrysler Sunbeam is a small supermini 3-door Hatchback Talbot is an Automobile brand whose history is one of the industry's most complex The remains of Chrysler Europe were purchased by Peugeot and Renault in 1978, and the name has not been used since. For the article about the bicycle manufacturer see Cycles Peugeot. This is about the company for other uses see Renault (disambiguation.

Products

Sunbeam cars:

Pre WWI

Inter-war years

Rootes Group Cars:

Post WWII

Export only

Sunbeam-Coatalen engines:

Support

The Sunbeam, Talbot Darracq Register has membership with about 200 Sunbeams, there are probably another 200+ outside the register. A comprehensive forum contains archive copies of all STD Register journals published since 1950.

The register has experts ready and able to answer questions and provide assistance. A maintenance manual is available along with digital copies of period owner's manuals, spare parts lists, sales catalogues, road tests and engineering drawings.

The register funds cooperative production of limited batches of critical spares from time to time, specialist restorers occasionally manufacture parts on their own initiative. This means that most parts needed in general running are available. The excellent materials used mean that re-manufacture or repair is generally possible on failed components. Enthusiasts today build cars from bare chassis, gathering parts from wherever they can, with some success.

The register runs local monthly meeting across the UK and a limited number of events each year.

References

See also

Sunbeam was a British Motorcycle marque generally known for high quality
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