In 1959 Sunbeam presented its Alpine Roadster, as a direct competitor for the MGA. The car was built as a unitary steel body, but the suspension was following conservative wisdom with a leaf sprung life axle. Engines varied from 1500 cc to 1725 for the last versions.
The most famous version of the Alpine is the Tiger fitted with 4.2 litre Ford V8. Another lesser known version is the Harrington Coupe, designed by coach builder Harrington on the basis of the roadster. It generated a little more space than the factory hardtop which was available for the roadster.
The engine was tuned by George Hartwell, and power increased from 78 to 89 BHP and ultimately 104 BHP. The car was made famous when it successfully participated in the 1962 Le Mans 24-Hours. Since then the type became known as the Harrington Le Mans Coupe. There were two series, A and B. Overall exact 400 examples were produced.
Here are two, one at the Silverstone Historics in 2005, and one at Retromobile 2005 in Paris.
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