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The Sunbeam Tiger a huge achiever


The company or the group that is involved in the birth of such an exciting car was Rootes Group or Rootes automobiles which was later on acquired by Chrysler Europe. Started by William and Reginald Rootes, the two brothers were known for manufacturing engines as well as purchasing some British motor manufactures including sunbeam, Talbot. By the ending of 1978 Chrysler UK had sold various elements to Renault


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Sunbeam Tiger is a V8 performance version of their own car the Sunbeam Alpine. It was designed it part by Carroll Shelby, the Rootes decided to contract the assembly with Jensen at West Bromwich, an expensive car for Rootes as it involved paying royalty to Shelby each time a car was manufactured. This car was first showcased at the New York auto show in the spring of 1964. Interestingly the car had to receive several modifications in order to house 260 cubic inch 164 horsepower v8. This small block ford V8 was derived from the ford falcon. There is a saying “that you cannot have the best of both worlds” as this roadster started to feel a bit out of it comfort zone with the V8, many owners would complain about the heat being transferred in to the cabin. The Tiger was cars were known as Tiger Mk.1 and later came the Mk.1A which was then replaced by the Tiger
Mk.2. the Mk.2 models were packed with more grunt and now did 0-60 in 7.5 seconds and wold take you to your destination at a wicked 125mph, which was grate back in the days and all this was due to the 289 V8 instead of the 260 V8.


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The Tiger Mk.2 was also know for finishing 1-2 and 3 in the grand touring class (GT) in the Geneva rally. In 1965 the Rootes faced a rough Year as they finished 11th overall in the GT class, at Monte Carlo. In Belgium two cars crashed the 3rd that had won was also disqualified for having a smaller valves in the engine making it more reliable than the others. It is disheartening to many car fans to see the sunbeam Tiger to become extinct, but this is causing an increase in their value as it is the best two seat roadster ever produced from a British motor manufacturer, apart from the MG Spitfire,  and Triumph Tr 6. The Sunbeam Tiger was also very luxurious out of all the other roadsters had to offer. Hence this is one car that I would love to own
















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