Some of the discoveries that turn up here on Barn Finds continue to amaze me. Just when I think I’ve seen every automobile variation that matters (and a few that really don’t) something new comes along and puts me in my place. In this case, it’s a 1965 Sunbeam Venezia – of course, its obscurity may be due to the fact that only about 200 were assembled according to Sunbeam Venezia, a website dedicated to this short-lived “sporting saloon”. Today’s rare find, courtesy of Kyle K, is a must-see and is located in Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom. It’s available, here on Car and Classic for £14,500 ($17,780).
The Venezia was a product of the Rootes Group’s Milan-based Italian subsidiary. There was a belief by some at Rootes, that a larger version of the Alpine with more legroom, would be desired and that led to the Venezia’s initial study and design. The decision was made to use a Humber Scepter platform (basically Hillman underpinnings, a marque also controlled by Rootes) and Rootes would forward the platforms to The Touring Works in Nova Milanese (Lombardy, Italy) where design work commenced in ’61. By 1962, a working prototype was developed and sent to England where at the conclusion of real-world testing, many revisions were specified. Back in Italy, job one was assembled in September 1963 and the Venezia was off to the races. However, all was not well, the Sunbeam Venezia website states, “In 1964 its price was nearly as much as the Sunbeam Tiger with a Ford V8 engine and more than a Jaguar MK2 2.4 liter“. It was a harder sell in Italy owing to the Venezia’s 1600 CC engine which wasn’t competitive with other more powerful Italian marques, so the Venezia was destined for European export markets. To add to the woes, the Touring Works went into receivership in ’65 and closed down at the end of ’66. It’s said that Brian Rootes, Sales Manager for the Rootes Group, got cold feet about the Venezia’s long-term viability and started hedging his bets as early as late ’63.
Research tells us that the Venezia was built by the “Superleggera method” which, “involved building a tubular steel framework on the manufacturer’s chassis and then attaching aluminum body panels not, however, directly in contact with the steel to avoid electrolytic corrosion” – according to the Venezia’s website. The finish of our subject car is dull (looks like primer), but at least it’s mostly straight, though perhaps patched in places. The seller adds, “All badges, rare bumpers, mirrors, and other parts are with it“. Unfortunately, the floors and chassis rails have become “holey” and the seller tells us, “Chassis needs work, I did intend to do this myself but I just don’t get the time, so I am advertising to see if someone else would like to take it to the next level“.
We are told that the 84 HP, 1600 CC, in-line four-cylinder engine and its four-speed manual transmission have been rebuilt and “runs very well“. I wish I could show you an image but none were included in the listing and a request would need to be made. Some confusion over the engine size exists and that has to do with the Rootes Group moving to a 1725 CC engine for many of their products by mid-’65. But according to the Venezia website, the older 1600 CC Humber Sceptre powerplant was retained for the Venezia.
The interior of this coupe is in fair shape, minus the previously mentioned floor pan problems. The upholstery and door panels show as useable but there is some wear to the driver’s seat back. The instrument panel, however, gives no indication of gauge or switchgear vacancies, except for the radio, it’s missing unless it’s with the mentioned included parts. Of note is the rear seat legroom – it’s non-existent, and the back seat is probably just a place to put stuff, not people.
The seller tells us that he’s owned this Sunbeam for three years and he’s open to offers. I would have thought that such a rare car would trade for more but I imagine it probably needs more work than the images present. Regardless, it’s a great find, one for the books perhaps, and it certainly deserves to be saved. It might be too much of a stretch for our U.S. enthusiasts to consider, but how about you U.K. residents, any interest?
That is one odd front end. A view from the side and rear however has more grace and a definite Italian style. When I first saw the front of the fenders I thought cats ears. While it may be interesting and exclusive there is no excitement on my part. A car without a good heart (engine) is a car without a soul.
Ya, that front end got whacked by the Ugly Stick for sure…
Those fender-top vents scream Hudson Italia to me
There’s also a hint of 1955 and 1956 Packard to the headlight eyebrows, and the grille seems to have been copied from a Riley or Wolseley.
Looks like “from Russia with love” design.
Rootes is lucky that Touring went bust before they built more of these things. That is one of the ugliest front ends ever.
Put a set of whiskers on the front and it would pe purrrrfect!
Cartoonist front, otherwise looks similar to the Alpine.
Josie and the Pussycats might want it.
I was thinking Courageous Cat might put in a bid.
Touring did many nice looking cars, but what happened with the front here is a mystery. Those weird cat ears, the grille that doesn’t fit. Wouldn’t one think that someone would have said “hmm, we’ll need to try some different design ideas for the front”
Sometimes designers offer sub-par alternative design proposals to help their favored design win approval; unfortunately, sometimes the client approves one of those alternatives instead of the favorite anyway.
It may be super rare, but I don’t think anybody would come after me with pitchforks & torches if I commission someone to reimagine a new front end.
Humber-ish grille.
Looks nice enough side-on.
Ok I can see why these didn’t sell very well. Weak engine with a very odd front end. Hard pass on it. Especially since the chassis need repair work.
Does anyone else see a Facel Vega HK want to be. If I had the money I would fix the face on this thing.
Back before I retired, my company had locations in several parts of the world, including two plants in Italy. I was involved in teaching Ethics for my company, and one of the gentlemen in one of our weekly day-long class was from Avezzano had a picture of one of these in his wallet, and it belonged to his dad.
The son never cared for the car, but his dad loved it.
I think the reason for the ” ugly” front wings is that the base car is the Hillman Super Minx and Touring modified the original ” half moon” front wings on that car. The grille is Himber Sceptre and the badge is Sunbeam, so car is a mash up anyway.
It was a 2+2, so rear seat is missing. I think the colour maybe Wedgewood blue, though it looks like primer. A Ford V8 as in the Tiger would improve this car a lot.
These cars don’t make a lot of money and I recently saw a much better car for sale in Spain for similar money to this one. They represent good value for handbuilt 60s Italian coachwork.
The instant I saw this I thought Touring. Long ago I had a Lancia Flaminia GT, and this could well be the same body- possibly a GTL, which was a 2+2.
The Flaminia is beautiful, to my eyes. This poor thing definitely got the ugly stick, probably because Rootes did it on the cheap.
Anyway, I never knew such a thing existed, and I hope to never see one again!
Here’s a BF Flaminia GTL from 2018:
https://barnfinds.com/bellissima-1965-lancia-flaminia-gtl/
“Of note is the rear seat legroom – it’s non-existent, and the back seat is probably just a place to put stuff, not people.”
It appears to me that the front seats are scooted all the way back, which would have a significant impact on rear seat legroom.
I imported a very nice example from Belgium to California. It was accepted to be displayed at The Quail in Monterey (not easy to get in) and it also won Automobile Magazine’s Best of Show award at the Highway Earth show in Beverly Hills. This car had been restored and had an upgraded 1725 motor with a Holbay head, twin Webers, an electric overdrive, wire wheels, etc. Stunning color combination of dark blue with red leather. The grill was used on other Rootes group models and used here to maintain corporate identity – I’m sure there were some arguments at Carrozzeria Touring as the Italians would certainly come up with a more elegant solution. I always felt that this was like a mashup of an early Alfa GTV and a Bentley!
At one of our local Cars & Coffee events in Santa Barbara-
Beautiful! I wouldn’t have guessed it was the same kind of car. Maybe you should send the seller a pic to post for inspiration to the potential buyers.
I think this would make a great little resto-mod. A modern driveline, some subtle bod mods ( I actually kinda like the front end. It just needs a little something,), and get the interior back into shape and this could be a sweet little ride. You’d need to get the price down quite a bit and you’d still be upside down if your into to as an investment, but I think it could be a great looking and fun driver. Od, and find the right color to paint it. I’d leave the interior black.
Beautiful lines from every angle – except for that poor front end! I could see re-positioning the headlights, stacked vertically beneath the “cat ears”, and a 3-section grille à la Facel Vega
I can see the scene as the prototype arrived at Rootes for review. The stuffed-shirt, pipe-smoking, stick-in-the-muds there absolutely insisted that it had to have that grille to maintain its corporate identity. Too bad that by then the Rootes corporate identity was halfway down the drain.
I believe the front end could be quickly and cheaply improved simply by creating a couple of chromed brackets to go from the front bumper supports upwards on either side of the center grill, between the grill and the existing headlights. On top of the brackets would sit a pair of the larger round Lucas SLR700 driving lights, to break up that flat expanse of painted metal.
The SLR700 lights are 7″ instead of the typical 5.75″ Lucas lamps, and were often used on cars like the Bentley Continental or the Jag XK120 to 150 cars. Visually the 700 series will help to spread out the tiny upright grill, while the smaller lamps will simply appear as added lights.
If I WAS to do a restoration of this car where money was not an issue, I think I would buy a second Humber grill shell, and have a qualified metal shop & plater cut the original grill into 3 pieces [the 2 vertical cuts located on either side of the upper grill badging], and using pieces of the extra grill, insert about 4″ on either side to widen the original grill by 8 inches. I would estimate this would add another 4 or 5 vertical ribs to each side.
Even if the original metal body panels were left untouched [but painted flat black behind the grill slats] the wider grill would be a huge improvement. By not modifying the front body panel, should a future owner want to convert back to the original, all they would need is another standard Humber grill.
To Paraphrase a popular credit card ad [prices are very approximate]:
Extra Humber grill — $500
Cost to widen and chrome plate original grill — $1,500
The results –Priceless!