One of the more pleasant, and somewhat expensive, experiences in the classic car world is multi-day touring. While many of the major clubs have long offered tours through the most scenic parts of the country, there are now many private companies offering an immersive tour experience for folks with cool cars and deep pockets. Most specialize in tours for vintage sports cars. If this idea appeals to you and you have the means to indulge, then Rocco B. may have found the ride for you. This 1966 Sunbeam Tiger for sale on Craigslist in Winston Salem, North Carolina is a very beautiful and capable steed for such outings. Well sorted and ready for a week of top-down touring, this American V-8-powered British sports car can be had for a heady $55,000. Is this the perfect car for a multi-day organized cruise? Thanks again go to Rocco B. for this marvelous find!
The basic idea behind these commercial tours is simple. A scenic area of the country with some twisty roads. A good example would be the Great Smokey Mountains. Then, a route that hits many of the scenic or historic spots in the area is drawn, with an emphasis on stopping somewhere very nice for lunch and ending in an upscale spot for dinner, drinks, and lodging every night. Most often these tours take place from a Sunday night to a Friday afternoon. This allows the tour to take place outside the usual weekend rush and during times when fixed costs such as food and lodging can be had at a reduced rate for the organizers. Organizers also customarily provide a chase vehicle that can carry luggage and deal with any breakdowns on a limited basis. Some of the more high-end adventures will even provide a modern car if yours breaks down along the route. Most often a luxury or sporty European import is provided by a dealer looking for well-heeled customers.
So, if you have the means to partake in such exciting and mildly extravagant getaways, the choice of car is crucial. You want something reliable and pleasurable to drive for three to five days straight. You also want something that has some horsepower to enjoy pushing things a bit. Handling is important too, as these trips are often done over challenging roads. Finally, the choice you make will reflect on you in the eyes of your fellow tourers. You need something presentable, but not a vehicle that you will cry over should something happen to it. In other words, don’t bring your original, mint condition 427 Cobra or Ferrari Daytona Spyder. Don’t plan on bringing the Mercury Marquis Brougham used in the movie Uncle Buck either.
A very happy medium would be this 1966 Sunbeam Tiger. As the first picture suggests, this is a nice sports car made for spirited touring. The story of the Tiger can be summed up rather succinctly. Sunbeam produced a very nice but sedate sportscar called a Sunbeam Alpine. Then, maybe ten seconds after the first one was built, someone looked at that little four-cylinder engine under the hood and declared that a Ford 260 cubic inch V-8 might fit in there. With a little coaxing and a lot of shoehorning, it did. Having a 260 under the hood made the car a cheaper, somewhat more practical version of the Shelby Cobra.
The Tiger you see here is described by the seller as being “showable,” and “driver quality.” We are told that the interior has been redone in leather and that it comes with both a removable hard top and the convertible top as well. For those times that you want to cover the cockpit but do not need a top, a tonneau cover is included. Items such as the lights, gauges, horn, and wipers all operate properly. Even the clock in the car tells time with near Rolex-level perfection. How? Its original movement has been replaced with a modern quartz setup.
Under the hood is what is believed to be the original 260 cubic-inch engine. The engine is date coded to October 1965 and the car was built in 1966. This engine was rebuilt in the 1990s according to the seller, and currently wears a four-barrel 600cfm Edelbrock carburetor, a mid-rise aluminum intake, roller rockers, and a set of headers was also installed. The measured compression across all eight cylinders is 125-135 psi cold.
As for modifications, other than the handful of speed parts mentioned above, the top loader manual transmission has been re-geared to provide a wider gap between each gear to likely reduce shifting and take advantage of the V-8’s torque in such a light automobile. Recently, the fuel system and the cooling system have been refurbished to provide as much trouble-free use as possible. The car also rides handsomely on a set of Panasport wheels shod with Yokohama tires.
The whole car appears to be well sorted and the perfect weapon for performance touring. While the price of entry for this car would be a bit high, consider that a Sunbeam Tiger is a well-respected performance car that has shown steady appreciation in value over the past three decades. If you look at it as an investment that you can enjoy on occasion, then the price might be a little more palatable. Who says you can’t have fun in this hobby once in a while?
Very impressive example of a somewhat unsung hero to many sports car drivers and perfect for the venue you’ve covered here. The Panasports set it off well and make for a good tire selection. The replacement clock is a nice feature but when you’re in a car like this, time isn’t really a factor for all the enjoyment of driving it on the twisties. The seller has well cared for this little rocket and whoever is the lucky buyer should follow up your idea to start booking interesting tours-PC 1 in the spring, Tail of the Dragon in the summer, the change of the season in the fall would be amazing in this British/American hot rod.
Been on a few tours with the Porsche Club of America (PCA) and they were a lot of fun. Most of the tours were in Arkansas mountains and in a well set up Porsche it’s a blast.
2700 lbs. 16.7 quarter tyev stock 2 bbl version was meh 164hp.
Couldn’t agree more. The Cobra got all the PR. These were just under appreciated back in the day. What would have happened if Chrysler had said, “Let’s just build it with our own small block.” and kept going. What would it have become?
It wouldn’t fit. I have a story on my website.
Sunbeam Tiger, the little cat that roared.
Very nice example of a fun little sportscar, priced reasonably enough. These are way under rated as far as comfort and styling goes (IMHO). Good luck to the seller and buyer.
Maybe Maxwell Smart needs another one.
Hi Howie, my mentor, Andy Rooney drove a green Tiger.
“Missed it by THAT much!”
Agent 86: “I have a photographic memory, I know the layout of this entire complex like the back of my hand! 99?”
Agent 99: “Yes, Max?”
Agent 86: “Where’s the back of my hand?”
Agent 99: “Oh, Max!”
One of these, not sure the motor dusted me twice in 🚥 stoplight races. Had me by 1/2 car. We were in a stock 89LX 5.0
Very nice Tiger.Like the period double swaybar mounting.Did that on a Cortina autocross car decades ago.
Door cards are not original but a nice touch with the wood. Also turn signal knob is not original, would like to know what it is. If you are looking for a Tiger this is a good one to consider. Looks well sorted and I think the price is in the ballpark.
As a teenager in the 60’s I was a member of “Narrows Grand Touring” and we did tours every weekend, but they always devolved into impromptu road races with the resulting wrecks.
Sweet example, wonder if that first photo is Tail of the Dragon. Nicely sorted, all the goodies, such as was available, why spend near that much restoring one when you can be driving this one tomorrow?
2700 lbs. 16.7 quarter the stock 2 bbl version was meh 164hp.
True, but a four-barrel intake was as close as your local auto parts store or junkyard!
If it was red, I consider purchasing. Liz Taylor drove and died in one in Butterfield 8, a great movie.
Sorry Fred- Elizabeth Taylor drove a Sunbeam Alpine (4-cylinder power) in the movie Butterfield 8, not a Sunbeam Tiger (V-8 power)
My ’67 Tiger saw over 150K miles, including some memorable cruises. New in ’67, wife and I took our daughter, then 2, from New Hampshire to Pittsburgh for baby sitting while we took a vacation tour.
From Pittsburgh to Detroit, across into Canada, to Expo 67 then down through Maine and back to NH. Many adventures, many surprised DE-troit Iron drivers.
Tiger was a great car for touring. Drove it from new ’till ’72 replaced it with 240Z…but therein hang many more tales!
Very fair price; about 1/2 true restoration costs. Buy it , drive it and smile.
Good looking Tiger. Well except for the Look at me (incorrect) hood scoop. I had a stock, white 260 in the late ’60’s. For you “only 164 HP” negatives, that 260 was plenty strong for that small car. I was in my late 20’s and very much into sports cars & GP/F1. I didn’t abuse mine, but I certainly got away with everything I could.
It would smoke the tires if you launched it right, but I had opportunities to keep it singing…..making distant band gigs on lite-trafficed rural highways in S. Miss. & Alabama. Rumbling along at 110-120 in the night w/no cops. I’ve owned several other fast sports cars since then, but other than the dual-engined CRX, it’s the one I would dearly love to have back.
None Of Chryslers Motors Would Fit In A Sunbeam Tiger So It Was Discontinued. They Did Not Want To Sell A Sunbeam Tigar With A For Motor In It.
A Chrysler warranty on a Ford engine. 😁
While the price looks rich, I like the presentation of this car and the BRG looks better on this car than the red on the Get Smart car. This one’s made for touring in the NC hills and I’m kicking myself for not getting one of these while they were in the low teens.
My 65 w/2bl freely revved to above 6500 rpm while smoking the average Vet. I sold my modified 289 car to a man that had a collection of Shelby Mustangs and he said it was faster than all of them.
I had a Sunbeam Alpine, one mechanical problem after another and I would have to order electrical parts from a company in California. Problems too many to list here. I told the buyer about all the problems, and he still bought it. He was going to make the Alpine a Tiger, a conversion like that worth the money? Glad I got that monkey off my back.
What is it about British cars and electrical gremlins? Jokes about Lucas electrics aside, you’d think that the country that produced such giants in the Physics of electromagnetism as Michael Faraday and James Clark Maxwell could figure out how to build cars with better wiring than they did! The well documented issues with British Labor Unions may have had something to do with it, aggravated by Managements’s upper-class snobbishness, which was throwing salt into open wounds, combined with failures to innovate in response to foreign, i.e, Japanese competition.
I never had even one electrical problem with my ’65 Tiger. I CAN remember that some of the rubber strap supports under the driver’s seat broke – causing sag. I cut & installed replacements from an inner tube. Also, the rack & pinion steering lost it’s lube and wore the rack teeth on one end. I could only turn right so far and then it would click and not turn any further. I drove it like that for awhile, sometimes having to stop and do a 2 point right turn. I even drove it at higher speeds like that as I knew where the limit was. It was finally repaired. Young and dumb?