Your classic: Sunbeam Alpine

| 26 Dec 2023

In 1983, when I lived in Essex, I bought a 1965 Sunbeam Alpine.

The car became known as ‘Alpi’ and I drove her every day through sun, rain and snow.

We went all over Europe together, and when I worked at Buckingham Palace I drove from mid-Essex to the Palace and back every day.

‘Alpi’ on tour with Sunbeam chums during Tim Raymond’s first ownership

Alpi was more of a family friend than a car; she kept going when she really should have broken down, and had the most fantastic character.

Once, while I was being a little too enthusiastic along the French back-roads, the exhaust touched down and snapped off.

We entered Germany with half of the exhaust pipe on the parcel shelf and Alpi sounding like a tractor, but she kept going until I found a local blacksmith who was able to weld the detached pipe back on.

The Sunbeam Alpine as part of the Raymond family in the early ’90s

After nearly nine years of ownership, and by then with two young children, we very reluctantly sold Alpi.

She simply couldn’t accommodate everything we needed to carry, so the new owner drove away a beautiful car glowing with polish.

A few years later we found ourselves with a bit of spare money, so we tried to find our Alpi again to buy her back – but without success.

Then, a Sunday evening about 18 years ago, we were on the internet (which was still quite a novel thing back then) and saw our Alpi for sale on a showroom forecourt.

Alpi as recovered in Essex in 2016, after living a hard life outside in all weathers in Ireland

We contacted the dealer first thing the next morning to be told she had already been sold and their records were marked only as ‘For export’.

The DVLA wouldn’t even tell us which country Alpi had gone to, and we thought she really had gone for ever.

We subsequently owned several Sunbeams. Both of our sons bought their own when they were 13 or 14 years old, and then restored them to a high standard.

They are in their 30s now and still own their cars.

Tim had to learn to weld to restore his adored Sunbeam Alpine

No other Alpine was quite like the original Alpi, though, and this car took on near-mythical status in our family as the nicest, most reliable example you could ever have.

Alpi was registered with the Sunbeam Alpine Owners’ Club as ‘missing and trying to trace’.

Every few months, more in hope than anticipation, we searched the online index hoping to locate her again – usually when reminiscing after a couple of beers.

Restoring this Sunbeam Alpine was a labour of love

Then one evening in 2016 we searched Alpi’s numberplate and got a hit.

An internet search picked up a classic car advertisement in Ireland, in which the seller had quoted Alpi’s original UK registration number in the text and Google had found it!

When we made contact we found that, frustratingly, Alpi had already been sold and exported – again!

We asked the seller if he would contact the new owner on our behalf, explain to them the story of how much we wanted the car back, and see if they would talk to us about selling it.

Tim’s Sunbeam back together, primed and ready for paint

Alpi’s new owner later called us, and amazingly the car was in Upminster in Essex, only about nine miles from where she used to live with us in the 1980s.

We knew that she now needed a complete restoration and negotiated a price without even seeing her.

Our old friend was back in the garage at our new home in Kent within a couple of days.

More than 12 years of sitting outside in all weathers in Ireland had caused every part of the car to rust out; in truth, Alpi should have been scrapped because she was not economically viable, but that just was not an option in this case.

It has been quite a circuitous journey, but the Raymond family’s beloved Sunbeam Alpine is now fully restored and back home once again

I didn’t know how to weld so hired a mobile welder on a day rate, on the understanding he would teach me, and I taught myself to lead-load by watching videos online.

Alpi’s restoration progress has featured regularly on YouTube, on The Sunbeam Alpine Channel.

Three years later and Alpi passed an MoT with no advisories. She now has her original registration number back, and is being used regularly once again.

In 2019, she even won a commendation at the Sunbeam Alpine Owners’ Club National Concours.

It just goes to show that you can successfully trace cars that you used to own, and it is definitely worthwhile to keep looking.

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