As British sportscars go, a Sunbean Alpine is probably my favorite. Why, you ask? It’s all about the styling and that’s pretty much it. Yeah I know, pretty superficial – sort of like saying, “I like the blue one!” but that’s the deal. Anyway, today’s find is a 1966 Alpine barn find and it’s worthy of a review. Located in Englishtown, New Jersey, this Alpine is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $510 with four bids tendered so far.
This Sunbeam is actually a Series V that was offered between ’65 and ’68 – the last year of Alpine production and is one of about 19K assembled over that four-year run. The V8-powered Sunbeam Tiger gets all the attention but the standard Alpine can be a fine car in native form just as it sits. And this example has supposedly been sitting for twenty years – it looks it! The seller suggests, “use for parts or restoration project” and it seems to be headed that way as the removable hardtop has already been removed and sold.
Unfortunately, this Alpine has a lot of flaking and surface rust that may be more invasive than just what shows. The details in the listing are unfortunately light, so additional information would need to be requested. When one notices topside corrosion, it usually leads to thoughts about what the unphotographed underside looks like.
The 93 HP, 1,725 CC, in-line four-cylinder engine is listed as a non-runner and there are no accompanying images so there’s no way to tell if the parts reaper has paid it a visit. The interior, however, is another matter and it is pictorially well presented. In a nutshell, it’s going to need a lot of work. The folding top is falling apart, the floors are showing some kind of dreck spread about – no idea about their integrity, the dash pad is split, the steering column/wheel is missing some trim or parts but the seats are not revealed well enough to make a determination as to their condition. The instrument cluster, however, looks complete and what can be spied of the gauges show instruments with clear faces as well as no sign of missing switchgear – a common occurrence with neglected British sports cars.
Yes, I like Alpines but maybe not this one too much. It surely shows as a barn find and may have possibilities beyond parting but a thorough inspection would really be necessary to make that determination. Of course, the flip side of the coin is that it’s only trending at $510, so if a parts car is its fate, there could be value there, right?
If I were single I’d buy it.
On the other hand, if I bought it I’d soon be single.
The rust does not look like surface rust. When it comes through from the underside it is like an iceberg. Most of the truly bad stuff is lurking below, while the surface area leads one to think it might not be all that bad. There is probably next to no metal left beneath most of the paint. I wouldn’t be surprised if it came back from the sandblaster with under 10% of the original metal left, or 20% at the most.
I am inclined to see this Alpine as what is left of an Alpine, with possibly a few good and/or salvageable parts. While theoretically just about anything can be restored, to refurbish this one nicely will cost way more than it will ever be worth. I would say this is–at most–a $700-800 parts car, unfortunately. Had it been taken better care of it could have been preserved.
However, it is cars like this one–not worth restoring–that push up the prices of the ones that were taken care of and still around.
So we just ignore the GTX, right? I mean… that’s the polite thing to do, isn’t it?
No pictures of lower rocker panels, or underneath, won’t go very high unless someone looks underneath it and it’s not rotted. I bought a 1966 from Wisconsin, and it was urprisingly solid, but still ahd some rusted spots.
What’s funny is there are 5 Alpines on Ebay, priced from $17k to $23k, somebody is dreaming they have Tigers.
No pictures of lower rocker panels, or underneath, is it so hard to hold a camera down there for some pics? It won’t go very high unless someone looks underneath it and it’s not rotted. I bought a 1966 from Wisconsin, and it was urprisingly solid, but still ahd some rusted spots.
What’s funny is there are 5 Alpines on Ebay, priced from $17k to $23k, somebody is dreaming they have Tigers.
$1,179 now, also has a Fiero go cart with reserve not met.
How about the Mopars? Did he buy all of them to get the good stuff?
I’d rather see the Mopars.
You could ask Andy to cover them, that would be the polite thing to do, isn’t it?
JO