Sunbeam Sports Saloon - 1934 by Perico001 Chassis n° 3123.S
Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais
Bonhams
Estimated : € 15.000 - 18.000
Sold for 10.350
Parijs - Paris
Frankrijk - France
February 2018
- Highly respected quality English car
- Large horsepower model
- Retains original interior
John Marston Limited’s first Sunbeam production car, a De Dion-engined voiturette, was sold in 1901 but it was not until 1907, two years after the Sunbeam Motor Car Company had been formed, that the firm produced its first all-British model, the 16/20. The arrival of designer Louis Coatalen, and the pursuit of an effective competition programme, enabled the marque to establish a formidable reputation prior to WWI, its superbly made products enjoying a reputation rivalling that of the best from Alvis and Bentley thereafter. A Sunbeam was the first British car to win a Grand Prix and the company went to set many land speed records.
Introduced in 1933 and produced for only a couple of seasons, the ‘Twenty-Five’ used
the 3,317cc seven-main-bearing engine of the later 'Twenty’, being in effect an upgraded version of the latter. It was produced on two wheelbase lengths - 130" and 136" - and was among the finest of contemporary sporting motor cars, possessing exemplary steering, brakes and gear change.
The car we offer here was formerly British registered as 'UJ 3284’ and according to a re-issue green log book was originally on the road on 16th May 1934. Its prefix would confirm original use in the Salop region of the U.K. but by 1975 when it is stamped it was resident in Twickenham, near London with a David A. Davis. It was not long after this that the car left the British Isles and moved to the continent arriving in Belgium. There it would reside with a friend of Mr. Vander Stappen’s for a number of years, with him latterly assuming ownership as a gesture of goodwill to the owner and the car.
To view the car today, it is clearly a very honest example of this famed British marque, and while it was neither Belgian built, or bodied, its condition and originality appeared to its collector owner. The interior appears to be remarkably original and yet in very fine order with modest age, while at some point the exterior does seem to have been refreshed. As to its mechanical aspect, it is not known when the car was last run and we would advise recommissioning prior to road use. https://flic.kr/p/24wYDKJ
from Tumblr
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