Sunbeam Tiger News

---

Great upcoming article by Tigerman Jules Balme in the April issue of Classic&sportscar magazine - driving the 'Monster' Tiger just after its success at the Goodwood Revival, the article is styled "Flat-out in last year's Revival Star"...can't wait

---

Nice article 'buyers guide' article in this weeks (week beginning 5th November) in Top Marques magazine. Good photo display as well.

---

Promising article upcoming in Practical Classics magazine - April issue (out March), covering 60's police cars. Featuring a Metropolitan police MKIA Tiger of a Club member and a full photo display plus a front cover.

---

The No8 'Sunbeam Lister Tiger' is running with best of class in the Revivals feature race the - RAC "TT". Co-drivers are Chris Beighton and Tony Eckford. And later in the monthe will be racing at SPA. Good club turnout expected at both meetings.

---

STOC congratulates Tony & Dominic Barron for their fine 6th o/a in the 23rd Classic Marathon in late June

---

Nice brace of Tiger media articles coming up soon. First out of the trap is 'Classics Monthly' March 2011 issue. 5 page feature on the restoration of STOC Soc Sec's - Dave Puzey's Tiger. Then we can look forward to a leading feature article of 7 pages in 'Classic Cars' May issue (out very late March). A marque history recap and displays of two splendid Tigers - a MKI and MKII with many great shots of the cars on Pevensey Beach and the South Downs.

---

Alan Fraser 1930 -2010. The man responsible for first putting the Sunbeam Tiger on the UK racing map passed away peacefully aged 80 at his Mountains Sanctury home in Angus, Scotland on 27th October 2010. The team Fraser formed in the early '60's with factory backing took on the Mini Cooper with the Rootes Group Hillman Imp with considerable success before in '65 he also began racing the Tiger as a 'privateer' with the consistently excellent Bernard Unett and Ray Calcutt. Unett just missed out on the 1966 Autosport Championship prior to Fraser taking the team to Tenerife in 1967. Full obit to follow. Small gallery. Imp link. press

---

STOC congratulates Jonathan Gale & James Whitaker for winning the Category 1 Class of HRCR's 2010 Historic Rally Championship over the weekend of 25-26 September. Jonathan & James won the final round (of 8) - The Trackrod Historic Cup - and came within a mere 4 points (182.5 v 186) of winning the Championship. Terrific results!! Report here - another here, drivers points tables here - action shot here. Full Club report in upcoming Cats Whiskers

---

STOC congratulates Andrew Yates & Adrian Mossop for winning the 2010 Classic & Sportscar Swinging 60's Series V8 Rolling Thunder Cup. Andrew tells us "This was a fabulous weekend which allowed us to conclude a challenging and eventful year of motorsport with the *right result* for the team and the Sunbeam Tiger Owners Club helping promote the Tiger as a credible contender in historic racing.". More info 16 Oct

 

 

 

---

Best you get a copy of Classic&Sports car magazine November issue (out now), and catch the excellent 5 page piece about the restoration of ADU 311B by Jules Balme. It reflects very well the importance of this first production and works rally Tiger to our community of enthusiasts.

---

Jonathan Gale & James Whitaker took a Category 1 Class win in HRCR's Isle of Man Historic Rally over the weekend of 10-11 July. After 5 rounds (of 8) Jonathan is running 2nd o/a in the MSA British Historic Rally Championship. Report here - drivers points tables here - action shot here

---

SUCCESSFUL D12 WEEKEND - 5-6 June The Tigers of Malcolm Sedman, Nigel Tipping; Tony Tomaselli - driven by Dean McGee and Andrew Yates - driven by Shelley McGee completely outperformed the Cobras of Class F in last weekend at Brooklands. Following a protest by the Club at some very wayward scoring by the judges or the system, Class F rankings were altered to place Malcolm Sedman 2nd & Shelly 3rd with Dean and Nigel following up. The jiggery pokery at the start of the awards ceremony, when a MKII Cobra was inexplicably brought forward to take the prize from HRH Prince Michael, remains unexplained; something we have made plain to the VSCC. Despite the behaviour of officials the Tiger was the moral victor!!!! The Tigers plus a lone Brock Daytona Cobra kept the crowds properly entertained. Full report in upcoming Cats Whiskers. Check out Tony T's teriffic photography on the Forum and another small gallery is here Brief but nice mention of the Club Tigers at the D12 in Classic&sportscars August issue

---

Good objective "Case Histories" article on a Tiger in Classic&Sports cars March issue (out now). Appraisal of an ex-STOC South African Tiger for sale.

---

The STOC's Angela Dandy with her Tiger is featured in a spirited 5 page "Easy Tiger" article by Ross Alkureishi in the December issue of Classiccars magazine - out now. "People are realising just how underrated Tigers are.."!!

---

Nice multi page article on the Tiger in Classic&Sports car's September's issue (out now); it includes a reliable 'buyers guide' and good observations on the rising demand for the Tiger. It does carry a couple of howlers but they can be lived with for the thorough market place update it provides!

---

The Classic Marathon is one of THE most challenging latter day historic endurance rallys. This year,in late June, 6 Tigers entered the 21st Rally [another record entry for the Tiger], 5 of which being STOC members and one who used to be! This year the Marathon ran through Slovenia, Croatia and Austria, some 2000+ Km. Congratulations to all Teams for a fine set of results and hats off to Jayne Wignall & Kevin Savage for driving to 2nd Overall. Report here

---

It is with great regret that STOC conveys news of the death of Marcus Chambers who passed away on 5th August. Marcus Chambers, born in 1910, sadly passed away at the age of 98, 3 days before his 99th birthday.  His most successful personal motor racing achievement came in 1939 driving an HRG to a class win at Le Mans. After WW2 he became Team Manager for HRG Streamliners and then the first Competition Manager of BMC from 1955 - 1961, before becoming Rootes Group Competition Manager in early 1964. He retired from Rootes in 1969. Link to words from John Sprinzel

---

19 STOC Tigers made a fab Sunday, 21st June, at the Brooklands Museum. Pics

---

The STOC 'Wales Weekend' over 15 -17 May was a bit breezy and blustery but a great time was had by all. A full house of 14 Tigers occupied the charming Brynafon Country House Hotel at Rhayader which was the base for for some easy and not so easy touring of Powys, Wales. End of Tour vote was for the Club to put on more of the same across the country. Wilco. Gallery

---

Top turnout by STOC 'Reigate Crew' for "Drive It Day" on Sunday 26th April. 19 Tigers plus other nice classics joined the run down to the south coast. Along the way visiting a museum honouring Sir Malcolm Campbell's land / water speed exploits, 30 or so then took to a serious Karting track before all retired to The Tiger Inn at East Dean for lunch. An afternoon rumble to Beachy Head turned into a show for the public before making a smart run home. Great occasion, great weather, excellent Club event. Initial Gallery See Classic&Sportscar magazine July 2009 for mention and pic.

---

Belated congratulations to Jackie Cochrane for winning the prestigious 2008 Hawthorn Trophy late last year.The competition is decided over eight rounds but see the HRCA website for full reports. Also reports on 2009 HRCA Championship rounds in which the Tiger is cleaning up. The HRCA recently celebrated their 25th Anniversary and their PRO kindly provided some easy on the eyes photos of competition Tigers. Here's one of model Virginia Macari and Edmund Cassidy's Tiger

---

Jonathan & Graham Gale take the ex Patrick Watts Tiger to their first victory in the season opening Bulldog Historic Rally, Round 1 of 2009 Dunlop/Gambia MSA-Historic Rally Championship over 28/29 March. Congratulations! Here's to more of the same. Excellent HRCR Report

---

With great regret and sadness STOC advises that John Dandy passed away on Monday 2nd March while visiting California with Angela. Angela says he slipped away at peace in a place he loved. John was a leading light of STOC for many years and he will be greatly missed by the Club. John was associated with the Sunbeam Tiger from its very beginnings in the U.S.A. A full notice will be posted shortly. Please see a min-bio of John by Mike Taylor here.

---

STOC extends belated congratulations to the 4 Tiger teams that did very well in The Hero Classic Reliability Trial of Iceland last September. Styled an 'Icelandic Odyssey' it was Hero's first rally in Iceland and the 1st rally to feature 4 Sunbeam Tigers out of 65 entries. STOC's Rally Secretary John Dandy reports that Jayne Wignall with Kevin Savage took 3rd O/A + Gold Medal; Drexel & Pat Gillespie were 13th O/A + 3rd in Class; Peter & Sarah Goldsbrough gained 20th O/A + 4th in Class and George & Elizabeth Baird gained 30th O/A + 6th in Class. Should add that Paul Wignall with Fred Bent achieved an excellent 2nd O/A in his Porsche 911S. Hero reports Gallery

---

Classiccars

The February (09) issue of Classic Cars carries an excellent feature article by STOC man Mike Taylor about the leading rally ladies of the 50's to the 80's, including 'Tiger Lady' Rosemary Smith.

---

The Tiger of STOC member Nigel Tipping is featured in the latest Girls Aloud music video production. Nigel and pal Adrian have managed another great promotion stunt for the Tiger. "The Promise" video can be seen on the 4Music freeview channel and at Youtube. A bunch of stills can be viewed here. Look out for the white machine with Shelby stripes.

CHAMPIONS - Patrick Watts and Elgan Davies have won the Dunlop / Gambia MSA-British Historic Rally 2008 Championship outright + their class. Having bagged another win in the final round (8) - Trackrod Historic Cup over the weekend of 27th/28th September. Patrick and Elgan are provisional Champions pending the outcome of appealed stewards decision. This provisional status stems from a championship contender appealing a stewards post- event scrutineering decision after the Tour of Flanders. See HRCR's excellent reporting here and stewards decision here.

The No8 'Sunbeam Lister Tiger' is running with best of class in the Revivals feature race the - RAC "TT". Co-drivers are Vern Schuppan and Tony Eckford. STOC is also very pleased to advise that Peter Procter, our President, is among the Friends Reunited invited to take part in the Goodwood Legends Tribute, honouring the 60th Anniversary of the opening of the Goodwood Circuit. Short report on Message Board (Forum). Gallery

Patrick Watts and Elgan Davies clean up in Tour of Flanders. After Round 7 of the Dunlop / Gambia MSA-Bristish Historic Rally Championship, over the wekend of 13th/14th September, they are up with the leaders in the Championship points table. " 'It's been a good fun event,' said Watts after another fine performance". See HRCR's excellent reporting here.

"A History of JENSEN All The Models" by Richard Calver (Jensen authority) is well worth seeking out, not only for the content covering the Tiger 1 & II but also because...'The little firm of Jensen Motors Ltd, tucked away in the town of West Bromwich in Greater Birmingham, was responsible for some of the most innovative and memorable designs in the history of the automobile". Interested then click here.

Practical Performance Car magazine (August) carries a short prelim article on the 'blown Tiger' of STOC man Bob McDowell. There are some plumbing details still to sort out but the kit, configuration and pulley layout is installed and the end result should be ready for testing in a few weeks. The mag will cover the end result in a later issue. Pics to follow.

The Le Mans Classic saw STOC member Keith Hampson and co-driver Tristan Bradfield take a 2nd placeein the reenactment of the prestigious "Index of Thermal Efficiency" which the Alpine 3000 RW won in 1961. "It is really an handicap system where each car's fuel efficiency is measured based on its class, capacity and age" says Keith, adding "We won a large cup and an equally large bottle of Champagne! 9201 RW will be on the ARCC stand at the Silverstone Classic (25 - 27th July) so we will display the trophy and probably an empty bottle!" Well done lads

The "Brooklands Motoring Festival: ‘The Double Twelve’, saw the Sunbeam Tiger of STOC man Nigel Tipping take 2nd in Class - Spirit of Brooklands Post War & best test hill climb time. Competitors in The Double Twelve participated in six tests based on and around the original Brooklands circuit: Test Hill, Steering Test, Wiggle Woggle, Parking, The Half-Mile and Quick Start. Nigel topped things off by putting in a best of day 10.6s run up the historic You Tube clip Test Hill. YouTube clip So so quality but provides the flavour. Brooklands Link . See 2009 Events page

C&SC say it is now the September issue of Classic&Sportscar magazine (out early August) that will carry a 'shoot out' article on STOC member Malcolm Sedman's immaculate MK1 in high speed road tests versus a Daimler SP250 (Dart). No competition for the Tiger but a very nice article.

James Bond did 'No' about the Sunbeam Tiger - since he asks a femme fatale in the latest episode 'Devil May Care' why she's driving him around Paris in an Alpine and not a Tiger! For continued reading about this and Faulks new novel. Can't see his DB5 moving out though!

Round 2 of the 2008 Dunlop / Gambia MSA-Bristish Historic Rally Championship (18/19 April) in the Kielder region saw Patrick Watts & Elgan Davies snap up another Category 1 win in fine style taking out a 1.20s lead over the trailing Porsche but not before a late scare - "We hit a bridge with a back wheel, but got away with it," said Watts. "But we didn't go loony today," he added! With thanks to HRCR . For continued reading of the Pirelli Historic Rally

"Tigers to the fore at Donington" Chris & Jackie go head to head in opening round of the 2008 Heritage GT Challenge, dominating the lot! Sunbeam Tigers set a scorching pace as the Heritage GT Car Challenge season opened in fine style at Donington Park over the weekend (12/13 April). The Tiger Racing closed cockpit car of Chris Beighton and Jon Finnemore duelled throughout with the open-cockpit machine of Jackie Cochrane and Andy Rouse, and honours were shared with a win a piece". Heritage Report

The 2008 Dunlop / Gambia MSA-Bristish Historic Rally Championship has two former Champions and Club members competing together for the first time. Patrick Watts (Overall Champion 2006) and Paul Kynaston. After a long break, Kynaston is back for the event he has won four times before and is determined to to put his Tiger alongside Patrick's Tiger on the leader tables. HRCR info. The Historic Robin Hood Stages on 8-9th March saw both upfront until Paul's retirement due to engine failure. Patrick with Elgan Davies in usual storming style took 1st overall Excellent! HRCR Report . Pics with thanks to Ian Hardy.

The Hollywood remake of Get Smart , remember it? The mid 60's US spoof spy thriller TV series in which Agent 86 Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) among other things drives a 'Sunbeam Tiger' will be released in the USA this year. No idea when it will be viewable in Blighty but a couple of trailors are now on You Tube check here as well

Good interview article of Don Tarbun in the March issue of Classic&Sportscar. Don was Chief Development Engineer based at Stoke Road and had a big hand in the evolution of the Tiger. He and his team must have driven those MKI 'AF' Tigers many thousands of miles between December 1963 and June 1964. He does say though that his favourite Rootes vehicle was the one off Humber Sceptre fitted with Chrysler's 4.4 litre V8 - "the best Q car ever on the roads of Britain".

"The Works Tigers 1964 - 1967" Released. Graham Rood signing a dedication in his new book "The Works Tigers 1964 - 1967" for STOC member Malcolm Sedman during its public launch at the NEC Classsic Car Show, Birmingham - Saturday 9th November. Info on how to obtain a copy. Check out the REVIEWS

Club member Martin Pester had an unusual entry in the Brighton Speed Trials last week - a "Chop Shop" special that he was asked to drive by the production company that makes the TV series shown on Discovery Channel. Originally an MGB GT just 3 weeks ago, Martin says that even with a Weber and a Kent cam. fitted to the 1.8 litre motor he couldn't manage more than18 seconds on all 3 runs. Pic info links 1 + 2.

Team Tiger remain top the 2007 AMOC Intermarque Championship table after yesterday's (27th August) 5th Round meeting at Castle Combe. With 2 rounds to go Team Tiger look more than capable of taking the Championship crown plus a Class win. See new Team Tiger pages. Results summary

Interested in joining STOC's 2008 Tour to the Le Mans Classic? Because of the popularity of this event STOC is now taking advance bookings and invites all interested members to contact the Club. Basic shape - Channel crossing on Thursday 10th July, 4 nights B&B, entry tickets and return crossing on Monday 14th July. Contacts: Nick Bostock-Smith ( Earloc@aol.com), Christian Marshal 01403 822687

Team Tiger top the 2007 AMOC Intermarque Championship table after round 3 at Silverstone (2nd June). Jackie Cochrane the outright winner tops the Individual Class C and Tristan Bradfield, Paul Clayson & Andrew Yates are to 1 to 3 in Class A. Excellent Results. Points Table Report follows

The Sunbeam Challenge was won by Jackie Cochrane with Stephen Colbert 2nd and David Smallridge 3rd. The event now sponsored by J.O. Engineering, for which many thanks from STOC, saw 14 Tigers and Alpines on the Silverstone circuit grid and close racing through the order. Results. June 2007 Report follows

---

Kevin Cooper and Adrian Mossop of Rumbar Racing took the Classic and Sportscar V8 class honours at the New Anglesey Circuit last weekend."we enjoyed every sideways moment of it!". More info

Team Tiger's Jackie Cochrane and Stephen Colbert claimed an impressive double victory in the Charterhouse Heritage GT Car Challenge. The race provided some of the best supporting action to the A1 GP feature races at Brands Hatch (28/29 April). Jackie's Sunbeam Tiger proved to be the class of the superb 40-car field, although stern challenges from Grahame and Oliver Bryant (Morgan +8) and Andy Rouse/Stuart Hall (Chevrolet Camaro) ensured that the huge crowd was well entertained by the Heritage field. For a full race report and oics click here

---

Out now. June issue of Octane magazine (No 48) carries a 9 page + Cover feature on the 'Roaring Tigers' which focusses on a test day at Donington driving the No8 Lister Le Mans Tiger, the HRCR 2006 Championship winning rally prepared Tiger of Patrick Watts and David Smallridge’s very quick "Team Tiger" race car. Pic All of the cars were driven at race speeds and none was ‘spared the lash'. Plus Carroll Shelby writes about "How the Tiger was conceived".. THIS IS A KEEPER !!

---

"Peugeot: Coventry's Last Car". BBC Radio 4 FM Monday 15 January 2007 11:00-11:30. link Yes, you can "listen live" via the internet http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/index.shtml?logo

---

Jayne Wignall the peerless classics rally driver and member of the Sunbeam Tiger Owners Club, with long time navigator Kevin Savage, took the winners laurels in the Classic Rally Association's 18th running of the Classic Marathon - October 8th -12th. Staged in Slovakia, this was Jayne's 5th Marathon - this year sponsored by Tatry - having been her first significant rally in LPU 93C back in 1991 when husband Paul was the co-driver. To quote Jayne: "Since then Paul has also completed another four Marathons, whilst Kevin has navigated on the last five. We have always finished in the Top Ten, but never managed to get to the top of the results ladder. It is a credit to the map reading and time keeping abilities of my navigators, and to the meticulous car preparation by Autotech of Thirsk, that we achieved these results" Very well done Jayne & Kevin. To read more about Jayne's and her Tiger's victory check here.

---

Patrick Watts/Elgan Davies are the overall winners of the 2006 Armajaro HRCR Stage Rally Championship ! They took the crown yesterday in the Exmoor forest after an awesome year of success. Remember - Patrick & Elgan have not only pocketed the Historics Class [upto '67] but the Post Historics [ upto '74] as well. Take a glass and toast em !

---

STOC's Team Tiger are well set to take 3rd Place in AMOC's Intermarque 2006 Championship, with either Paul Clayson or Tristan Bradfield (STOC's Competition Secretary) gaining a very well deserved Class A victory. Paul took the Class A winners laurels last year and the nail biting finale will be at Donnington on Saturday 7th October. More than justifies a bit of support from Midlands members ! I'm told 7 Tigers are entered.

---

Patrick Watts/Elgan Davies "were mighty in their Tiger to dominate the Historics finally winning by the 3 mins" the 7th Round (of 9) - Tour of Flanders. (Roeslare, Belgium) on 9/10th Sept. Patrick and Elgan are 1st in the driver and co-driver standings for both the Historics category (C1) and the the Chamopinship overall. With two rounds to go of the HRCR Armajaro it's not too late for STOC members to get along to the 'Trackrod Historic Cup' on 7th Oct and the final 'Historic Somerset Stages' on 28th Oct to do a bit of flag waving !

---

STOC member Martin Pester clocked 13.96s and 101m.p.h. terminal Saturday last driving Bob McDowell's 5 speed, 302 Tiger at the BST & got a 2nd in class. "Best technique was starting off in 2nd and leaving it in 3rd to the finish" Doesn't change the record books but a nice result nevertheless ! pic

---

The 'No8' Lister Sunbeam Tiger is entered in the RAC 'T.T' the feature race of the Revival Meeting. Co-drvers t.b.a. The Fordham Trophy will see Keith Hampson's 62 LM Sunbeam Alpine running and the Elva MK8 of Marc Devis will be driven by Simon Hadfield in the Madgewick Cup. And Nigel Tipping's Tiger will be on the circuit as a Police Course car !

---

Co-sponsors of the Silverstone Classic with Bonhams, Hegarty International chose the Sunbeam Tiger Owners Club as the Best Classic Club Display within the classic car club arena at last weekends festival. STOC Chairman John Dandy with club organisers Gordon England & Angela Dandy were “ thoroughly delighted to receive this splendid trophy on behalf of the Club. It should encourage more small clubs such as ours to attend this fabulous event in future years” 50 Tigers attended STOC’s National Rally, along with Lewis Garrad the ex Rootes Group works team driver and brother of Ian Garrad, who together with Carroll Shelby, originated the Tiger.

---

Nice qtr page article in Classic&Sportscar (September) about Club member Neil Wakeling and his Tiger and the Jersey Speed Festival being held between 26-28th Aug.

---

Club member Nigel Tipping is helping old friend Jimmy Pursey of 'Sham 69' promote an alternative peoples anthem for England's World Cup attempt ! The idea being to transform 'Sham 69's' original 'Hurry up Harry' hit of 1978 to 'Hurry up England' (not a bad idea given our performance to date) with all proceeds going to charity. The record is now in the Top 10 due in part to Nigel getting his suitably attired Tiger into the publicity material and in front of the cameras at the Hammersmith Palais after the win over Equador. pic1 pic2.

---

Simon James and co-driver Adrian Mossop took a well deserved 3rd place in the Classic Sports Car Club 'Swinging Sixties' race series at Donnington on 4th June. Having gridded 9th, Simon took his white machine into the front three within two corners of the start where he and Adrian stayed until the finish. pic (Spa 2005) . Fellow Team Tiger member Kevin Cooper gridded in the front half but tyre failure took him out with a couple of laps to go.

---

Patrick Watts/Elgan Davies blitzed to victory in their Sunbeam Tiger in the historic category (pre- '68) of the Seven Valley Historic Challenge - 3rd June. pic

---

here

Patrick Watts and Elgan Davies were unstoppable in their Sunbeam Tiger and took a smart 1st overall in this 4th Stage (of 9) of the 2006 HRCR Armajaro Championship. Patrick and Elgan now stand 6th in the Championship after winning the 1st Stage - Robin Hood in March and the 2nd Astra Stage in early April before a DNF in the 3rd Matador Welsh Stage having been taken out by a sheep ! Some excellent quotes from Patrick: Robin Hood Stages - " Today it was flying", "I was just seeing how many post-historics I could beat"; Matador Welsh Rally: "Elgan was concerned about the number of sheep when running 1st but the spin up the hill from Four Ways bent the steering rack, which meant slow progress back to stage end. However the spin dislocated the washer bottle which in turn dislocated the fan belt which in turn dislocated the water in the engine." read more , Check out this video of Patrick and Paul Kynaston (twice former historics champion) during the 2005 Somerset Stages storming & sideways up Porlock Hill nr Minehead - a public road hill like few others at 25% (1 in 4) Click here

---

Nice snippet in July's CLASSICS MONTHLY. "Heard distinctive roar of Ford small block V8 and tracked 12 Sunbeam Tigers to the sea front at Lynmouth... enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon.... The sound of the Tigers climbing the extremely steep 25% gradient on the hill on the way out of town could be heard for miles ...wonderfull" . pic

---

Chris Beighton driving his 'Orange Bomber' was victorious in the 2006 "Chasestead Sunbeam Challenge". Run within AMOC's Bank Holiday meeting at Brands Hatch on May 1st, qualifying took place in torrential rain but the weather forecasters got it right this time as the track was dry by late morning and the race events took in decent sunshine. Chris and Bill Smallridge were on the front row with Jackie Cochrane this year having to settle for 2nd row in his reserve car as his new racer broke a crank during testing. A bullit start by Chris and Bill saw them quickly away from the rest of the grid at lap times 7- 8 secs faster than qualifying. The leaders soon had things sown up and a procession developed but spectators saw some goodly mid field dicing as exampled by Andrew Davenall and Douglas Barker. As ever the control tower commentators were lost for words trying to express their surprise and admiration at the pace and grunt of the leaders - even more so during the Endurance event where the CB/JF Tiger left a Noble, Ultima GTR and 355 Ferrari in its wake. Congratulations to the four quickest who completed 17 laps: Chris Beighton, Bill Smallridge, Jackie Cochrane and Simon James. Steve Smith in the fastest Alpine took the 5th slot. Many thanks to the other Team Tiger competitors: Tristan Bradfield, Kevin Cooper, Tony Eckford; Paul Clayson; Andrew Yates (Ist time out), Andrew Davenall, Douglas Barker, Colin Reed (Harrington Alpine) and Keith Hampson (LM Alpine). And of course ,many thanks to David Smallridge for his sponsorship of the 6th running of the Chasestead. Click here for video of the start, Results.and Pic spread (video courtesy of Andrew D and MSVision)

---

Octane magazine's May issue carries a good 4 page 'Buyer's Guide' on the Tiger with some excellent graphics but the best bit comes last: "The tiger has never been more sought after than it is now. while it has a well deserved reputation for being a real handful, it also makes a surprisingly civilised tourer. Buy yours now before prices go stratospheric."

---

Sunbeam Tiger Land Speed record 80th Anniversary honoured. Land speed Sunbeams will be honoured at Southport Sands on Thursday March 16th "to mark the shining achievement of Sir Henry Seagrave" and his land speed record driving the first Sunbeam Tiger in 1926. A later landspeed Sunbeam (the 350bhp car from Beaulieu) will be exhibited and the Sunbeam Talbot Darracq Club will honour this motoring milestone with a tribute run and stationary display on the spot of Seagrave's triumph. Media report1 - Media report2 - History link1 and link2. It would be excellent if a few members from Lancashire and Merseyside could get to Southport and join in the celebration.

---

The May 2006 issue of the US magazine Classic Motorsports has an excellent 9 page article on the No 9 Le Mans Lister Sunbeam Tiger. This magazine is also restoring a Tiger and progress can be checked out online here.

---

retro cars September issue has a great front cover photograph of club member Allen Bedford's car under a banner of "Tigers on the Prowl". Can't speak for the copy but the accent must be on horsepower & performance. The several page piece is believed to be in interview format and whilst it may not be one for the purists it's none the less always good to get a front cover. Fellow Club member Dean McGee's car is featured alongside Allen's car as the milder version (at 280bhp!).

The 2005 Chasestead Sunbeam Challenge on 25th June was won by Jackie Cochrance in his new car after a barnstorming start saw Simon James take the lead from the front of the grid. Simon led for 2 laps with sponsor David Smallridge chasing Jackie hard on the drying Donington circuit before Jackie found all the adhesion he needed to slip by Simon James and open up a 15 sec lead by the finish.

1st Jackie Cochrane; 2nd David Smallridge; 3rd Simon James. results . Class wins went to Tony Eckford (289) driving the No8 LM car; Kevin Cooper (260) driving his F.I.A. car and Steve Smith in his ever quick Alpine. The Club would like to thank all the entries for yet another excellent race, including Andrew Davenall; Paul Clayson; Chris Draycott; Keith Hampson; Tristan Bradfield and Bryn Griffiths. Corner 1; 123.

For the second event running - Rounds 4 & 5 of the 2005 Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship, Porshes got in front of the Tiger of Patrick Watts and Elgan Davies. Round five of the championship, the Mid Wales Stages over the weekend of June 25/26 comprised 55 stage miles in the Hafren and Sweet Lamb region saw Patrick take 3rd place aftere a high speed run-off. Patrick has now won 2 Rounds and taken 2 thirds which with a 2nd Round no entry still leaves him leading the pack - just. 4 Rounds to go! link1 , link2

Jayne Wignall with Kevin Savage also began her rallying year in great fashion, taking her Tiger to 1st Overall in April's " La Carrera Mediteranna" a three week rally round the Med - starting in France going through Italy, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece back to Italy, Sicily and then to Tunisia ! The Tiger of John & Judi Catt came in 11th. Read more here . Jayne and Kevin had previously taken 3rd Overall in October in the Hexham Historic Rally, one of the oldeest rally's in the North of England.

Patrick Watts & co-driver Elgan Davies have made a very impressive start to the 2005 Armajaro MSA Bristish Historic Rally Championship. He took his Tiger to 1st Overall and 1st in Class in Round 1 - The Robin Hood Forest Stages in mid March & thoroughly saw off the challenge of 3 Porsche 911's - the 3 other quickest cars of the 2004 Championship. "My car is geared for 115mph and that's enough" ! Pic Link Pic Link2 Results Link Results Link2

It is with great sadness that STOC reports the sudden passing of Michael Cooper on 26th March, long time Tiger enthusiast and one of - if not the best freelance photographer of F1 in the 60's. Mike who some of us in STOC have known even before he bought his Tiger in 1967 was a stalwart of F1 motor racing having become a 'Steering Wheel' Club member in 1959, where many a rowdy evening was spent in the company of Hill, Clark and other F1 icons. His work can be seen here. Our thoughts are with Liz, Ben & Jo. A full tribute will be made in Cats Whiskers. Pictured here with Mike at his home recently are Tony Hussey (long time friend) & Robert Coucher, Editor 'Octane' magazine.

Congratulations to STOC member Terry Pickering who with co-driver Antony Preston won the Winter Challenge Rally - both the Master Class and Sporting Route Cars Class in his TR3A. This rally ran from 26th February to 4th March, starting at the Historic Motor Sports Show at Stoneleigh and finishing in Monte Carlo after blizzards en route. Terry assures me though that he will be running his newly prepared rally spec Tiger in similar events this year. Good for the marque to have another winner join the ever increasing group of successful Tiger campaigners. Well done too to Malcolm Pickering & Andy Gibson for bringing their Tiger home in 3rd Place " a good effort at Tiger taming by Malcolm in the winter conditions" and David Rayner and Neil Revington also, for finishing in their Tiger 27 out of 60 + starters - Link

Must be a record - 7 pages on the Sunbeam Tiger in the November issue of Sportscar Classics. The competition life of Jayne Wignall, ace STOC rallyist, is explored and several good shots of LPU 93C are included. Better get out to the shops fast though because this issue - No5 - is the last. Sadly it is being withdrawn by the publisher. pic .

STOC also congratulates Jayne and navigator Kevin Savage for a great 3rd Overall result in the top notch 2003 15th Classic Marathon (23 - 26 September), running across France and northern Spain. Another terrific result to add to Jayne's list of achievements. Husband Paul took his Alfa Romeo to 14th overall and among the 103 entries was the Tiger of non-member Malcolm Pickering who came in 23rd O/A. Link

STOC member Martin Pester and his Metropolitan Police Tiger II will be the subject of a 'man and his car' three page spread in the November issue of Thoroughbred & Classic Cars. This magazine which was first published 30 years ago this October is celebrating its 30th Anniversary and since Martin's Tiger was featured in that first edition of October 1973 (then titled "Classic Car"), what better way to mark the occasion than to update the piece from 30 years ago! 1973 pic can you spot what's wrong with Martin's MKII?

STOC is very pleased to announce a very special party - the "SUNBEAM TIGER AT 40" . This celebration of the launch of the Tiger at the 1964 New York Motor Show will be staged in central England during late July 2004 and is open to all enthusiasts of the Sunbeam Tiger. info We believe this event holds something for every Tiger nut and STOC is looking forward to making it memorable for everyone who participates!T

he Monterey Historics in California - 14-17th August will see five Tigers competing. Including the No9 Sunbeam Lister Tiger of STOC member Darrell Mountjoy, Dave McDermott's Targa Florio works Tiger and Steve Alcala running in a competition Tiger. Also it seems the Alan Fraser 'Monster' Tiger is being brought out of a long hibernation by keeper Chris Gruys to be driven by C.A.T. ace Dan Walters. STOC's own literary racing ace Julian Balme will be tackling the Laguna Seca circuit in his Falcon as well - info

A big well done to STOC member Robin Sherwood for winning the MSA Motorsport Classic Challenge in April. Driving his pristine MKII with his do-driving father they dealt with a large field and picked up two big mugs to boot. Pics and link to follow. There is a general report in the July issue of Classic & Sportscar plus pictures of the two Sherwoods.. Classics magazine June issue carries a photo spread of B9473638 HROFE, Phil Blay's immaculately restored Tiger. In a feature article Phil's car is compared with a last of line Austin Healey 3000 -BJ8; no contest really but the author concludes the test is a draw. May be, but nothing convinces me that a Big Healey is worth 40% more than a Tiger. Great cover pic; action pic

How does this sound then? The Sunday Times newspaper's Motoring column of 9th March says...."in the £15,000 - £20,000 range the buzz in the classic car world is the Sunbeam Tiger. This extraordinary Anglo-American hybrid uses the pretty body and chassis of a humble Sunbeam Alpine and equips it with a 4.7 litre V8 engine not unlike that used in the Ford GT40 at Le Mans in the 1960's. Expect huge power, thrilling drives and (seemingly!) terrible rust. Find a clean one however, and as Elliot says: "You'll have a hell of a car for the money. Sounds great, looks great and shouldn't ever let you down"..". Well I can pretty well go along with that. link

After a peerless 2002 season during which Chris Beighton crushed all comers in the Lighthouse Anglo-American Challenge series, Chris deservedly took AMOC's Championship and the winners laurels in the penultimate round. Seasons' news digest. action shot profile

The Tiger is included by Classic & Sportscar in a "Dream Sports Cars for £10,000" feature in the April issue. A nicely put mainly factual piece from Alastair Clements with a right to the point 'Expert's View' contribution from Keith Hampson - but ten grand remains a tight budget other than for unrestored examples. From where I sit running Classifieds, very few ten grand cars go through nowadays. Also a tad misleading to picture a £35K+ MKII among the contenders on the cover. Many thanks anyway to the supporters at C&SC!!Interesting two page interview of Rosemary Smith in Classic Car Weekly (19th Feb). The article doesn't get around to Rosemary's drives in Tigers but the piece is still worth the read! historic pic

A 2003 Membership Register was posted to the membership Feb 10th. Please let the Club know about any mistakes!

A well done four page article about STOC member Dave McDermott's 1965 Targa Florio race/rally Tiger - AHP 483B, can be found in the December issue of Grassroots Motorsports magazine {"'America's sports car magazine"). Dave who is also the President of the Colorado Association of Tiger Owners keeps this tale of his Tiger straight!

I hear from Julian Balme he has a feature article about the Goodwood Revival Meeting and Peter Procter's heroic return to the circuit in the December/January 2003 issue of Vintage Motorsport. This US magazine is out now and will no doubt be an excellent read. Not sure though where it can be found/ordered in England - if any one knows please let me know -

STOC"Cats Whiskers" gains another award from the classic car media ! Our Club magazine received a 3rd place prize in the Classic Car Weekly 'classic car club magazine awards 2002' (Club's of 250 - 1000 members) at the NEC International Classic Car Show. This complement follows a 2nd place and a 'highly commended' award for Best Club Magazine of 2001 (less than 500 members) from the Classic & Sports Car magazine at their annual awards party during last year's International Classic Motor Show. pic1 pic2

STOC members clinch Best Marque Team trophy in Hero's 2002 Lisbon Rally. The Tigers of Peter Lloyd/Suzanne May and George/Elizabeth Baird with a 1954 Alpine took the winners laurels on 14th October in Lisbon. This coming on top of the Bairds taking 1st in Class - 5th overall and Peter and Suzanne taking 2nd in Class & 6th Overall. A great result. Pics & story

STOC Member Michael Cooper, the sixties FI photographer, has many of his excellent photographs displayed in Connelly's London West End shop at 41 Conduit Street from November 22 until early in the New Year. Mike also has put together a website of his work - take a look here and his 2003 motorsport calendar as well

"Tigers get too close for comfort" so reports Classic&Sports Car in the December issue. Under a great pic of the starting grid a tight narrative says it all..." An all Sunbeam Tiger race produced one of the closest battles of the Sports Car Festival at Brands Hatch on September 28-29. See Sunbeam Team Tiger for C&SC's report and pics. The Chasestead Sunbeam Challenge was without a shadow of doubt the best race of the weekend. Maybe a cliche - but the race had every one of the couple of thousand spectators in the stands on their feet!

How many mentions did Sunbeam Tigers, STOC and STOC members get in Dec's Classic & Sports Car mag? ..(10) ..Julian Balme's "Wooly Bully" and Michael Cooper (p9), Chasestead Race + two nice pics (p17), "Bullit proof" - John Harrison (p116/117), Peter Procter "Saturday Night Fever" + pic (p124). Same article: Julian Balme and his drive in STOC member - Kevin Kivlochan's- Cobra. Martin Pester (p151), Tigers burn bright at Brands (p154), Pither's racers/ADU 312B (p158).

STOC member Andrew Davenall clinches 3rd spot in the 2002 SEMSEC John Taylor Handicap Championship on Saturday, 26th October - "with a fine last place which carried enough points to get me there". Andrew has competed in several other classic motorsports events/series this year, including The Brighton Speed Trial, The Chasetead Sunbeam Challenge and hillclimbs. All together more than justifying being awarded the "Ken Dalziel 260" trophy for Most Promising Newcomer 2002 at the Club's Annual Dinner in early November. actionpic. See SEMSEC

Some smashing copy about Peter Procter and his Goodwood exploits in November's issue of Classic & Sports Car. I'm sure Editor, James Elliott won't mind me quoting what he had to say about Peter in his Editorial. ".. the unique way that Goodwood ploughs the field of history and turns up endless forgotten treasures, [Sheene's] equal in heroism to my mind was Peter Procter in a Le Mans Tiger....remember that when Procter last raced, at Goodwood in 1966, he suffered injuries so horrific......That he chose the same venue to make such a modest and unheralded return more than 35 years on speaks volumes about ....the quality of its heroes". "For insight into into this remarkable character see Full Throttle on p32." Much more on this elsewhere and in the upcoming Cats Whiskers 63, pic

Jayne Wignall and Kevin Savage took Top Brits & 4th overall in the Rallye des IIles that ran across Corsica and Sardinia 27 Sept - 5th Oct. Jayne reports - "The Tiger was in its element. With ample grunt and a wonderfully high first gear, we were able to make mincemeat of a 1 in 4 hillclimb with 18 successive hairpin bends. Sheer joy! pic

The Brighton National Speed Trial saw three STOC Tigers this year. No one won anything but Tigers always attract media interest not the least Martin Pester in his ex-police MKII, which together appeared in the Brighton Argos newspaper and the C&SC mag. Here are the three Tiger men, Ben May, Martin Pester and Andrew Davenall - play this mpg loud! More in CW63 Good report on the Goodwood TT in Autosport 12th September..." a 30 car field including both splendid 1964 Le Mans Sunbeam Lister Tigers...". Nice pic of the start too.Excellent Goodwood Revival Meeting preview in the September issue of Motorsport - "the greatest race meeting on the planet.."

The No8 LM Tiger was successfully tested by Howden Ganley and Chris Beighton Tuesday 3rd September at the Bruntingthorpe circuit. This follows on from an aggressive test of the No9 LM Tiger by Peter Procter at Goodwood last week. STOC wishes the best of luck in the TT this Sunday to Tony Eckford, Darrell Mountjoy, Peter Procter, Chris Beighton & Howden Ganley (No9 pics:-

UK base Brooklands 1907 track peaceful Goodwood )Nice piece by Mike Taylor in the September issue of The Automobile. Styled as a 'Buyer's Guide' it is very good to see Mike Taylor back on the writing Tiger trail - excellent photographs too !Recently seen Goodwood Revival Meeting PR.. "Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration race.... Described as the 'greatest race on earth', this one-hour battle features £20million of 1960's GT cars, driven by some of motorsport's most famous names. Indycar champion Bobby Rahal will line up in a Ferrari 250 GTO against Sir Stirling Moss, Derek Bell, Jackie Oliver, Jochen Mass, Patrick Tambay, Brian Redman, Howden Ganley, Jason Plato, Win Percy and Gerry Marshall. Le Mans winner Emanuele Pirro plans to defend his victory last year in a Jaguar E-type Lightweight, fending off Aston Martin Project cars, AC Cobras, Chevrolette Corvettes and a brace of Sunbeam Lister Tigers"..

Chris Beighton dominated the Anglo-American Challenge race at Mallory Park last weekend (14th July) and is now nicely placed in the overall championship stakes - results.Good to see another magazine praising the Tiger. "Just how much do you want one of these...?". CLASSICS August issue reckons their poll puts the Tiger just 18 from the top of a 100 car review!

B9472867HROFE joined the Jubilee celebrations and the motorcade down Pall Mall for the drive by presentation to the Queen and the Royal family of important British cars manufactured since the Coronation!!Jayne Wignall lifts Classic Malts Gold Medal tally to 5 ! This time Jayne took the navigator's seat with Kevin Savage driving the Tiger and led on "Team Tiger" (George Baird/John McKelvey & Andy Nash/Melanie Kanerek) to be National Team Wiinners and a host of other awards. Husband Paul did rather well too with his "Northern Raiders" team, albeit in an Alfa Romeo. Loads of congratulations to Jayne & Kevin and "Team Tiger". Full results and some pics at 'Hero'.Peugeot PSA donate Rootes Engineering Drawings to the ARCC and member clubs! The entire collection of the engineering department technical drawings library from the Chrysler era has been handed over covering the 60's to the beginning of the 80's, with a selection of material from as early as the 50's. The library includes any redrawings of, or modifications to, drawings from the earlier Rootes era as well but it is too soon to tell how much deals with the Tiger. The quantity of material is enormous and comprises of 1200 sq ft of storage space in some 50 metal cabinets and 1,500 tubes, each containing 30 drawings, in all in excess of 100,000 drawings. there is also a large selection of bound ledgers and card indexes: more or less complete sets of Model Assembly Lists that detail specifications of all overseas export models in assembled and CKD form; and Engineering Release Lists that detail when modifications were passed by Engineering for incorporation in the production schedule. The whole beats Alladin's cave! More in Cats Whiskers 62. See full ARCC press release

Mike Windebank, long time STOC member and Tiger racer passed away today (8th May). Mike always highly regarded among senior and junior members of Team Tiger most bravely dealt with his illness and managed to find the strength to support his will to get along to Brands Hatch over last weekend to watch for the last time his friends racing the cars he had both raced and admired for so long. A nice kind man, with a sharp wit and generous in the extreme. Mike will be sadly missed by all of us.

Chris Beighton won the second running of the Chasestead Sunbeam Challenge at Brands Hatch on Sunday 5th May. Motorsport News gave Chris the 'Drive of the Day' award and said " Sunbeam Tiger ace Chris Beighton won three of his four races and finished a closing fourth in the other - he was awesome in the May sunshine." Attrition during practice took the final grid down to 18 and Jackie Cochrane was one of the fallers due to significant top end damage. So whilst the long anticipated opportunity to see Chris tussling again with Jackie Cochrane will have to wait until September, the race was nevertheless enlivened by the entry of Rod Birley driving Chris Weedon's Tiger who pushed Chris hard all the way to the line. A terrific turnout by Team Tiger and Team Alpine, excellent effort lads. Roll on September. Results & pics to follow

The keepers of the 1964 Le Mans Tigers have been invited by the Goodwood Racing Car Club to enter the Royal Automobile Club "TT" Celebration Cup THE feature race of the prestigous Goodwood Revival Meeting. Peter Procter will co-drive No9 with Darrell Mountjoy and we hope to announce the co-driver of No8 in a day or two. More info on TIGERS INTERNATIONAL pages

David Rainer/Phil Smith achieved 5th overall and 1st in Class in Round 1 of last weekends TAC Flanders Ardennes Historic Challenge Rally in Belgium. David competing in Category C - 'MSA 1960 - 1967' had a hard tussle in his Tiger with the leading Opels from Category A but was very happy with his result.STOC member Marc Devis has been accepted for the "Le Mans Classic" and will drive his ex-works Alfa 33/2 Daytona. That makes 6 STOC member entries to date!. - 2 LM Tigers, 1 LM Alpine, 1 AC Cobra, 1 Aston Martin and 1 Alfa Romeo. See couple of mentions about STOC plans in May issue of Classic & Sports Car magazine.STOC member Keith Hampson has been accepted for the "Le Mans Classic" this September and will drive his 1963 LM Sunbeam AlpineSTOC is very pleased to say that having contacted Claude Dubois the co-driver of No8 in 1964, we hope he will be able to join the STOC party and celebrations at the Le Mans Classic. At least in part since Claude has entered and will be driving a Mustang Shelby in the main event!STOC member Jim Campbell has been accepted for the "Le Mans Classic" and will drive his 1935 Aston Martin Ulster. Anybody else with the similar plans!!!"

Kynaston tigers his Sunbeam to head off strong historic field" - says Motorsport News (2Mar02). "Paul Kynaston and Gary Bully powered their Sunbeam Tiger to victory in last weekends's opening round of the Minilite British Historic Rally series on the Robin Hood Historic Forest Stages. The 2000 winners were upstaged at the start though as the Nutt/McBride Porsche 911 took an early lead and extended it to 19secs at the overnight halt on Saturday. However, daylight tipped the balance and the Tiger crew started to eat into the 911's lead. First time through the two long fast stages in Clipstone Forest proved decisive with Kynaston/Bully taking more than 30 seconds off Nutt/McBride, on their way to the fastest time over every on eof Sunday's nine stages."STOC member Kevin Kivlochan has been accepted for the "Le Mans Classic" and will drive his 1963 AC Cobra MK II . The fist list of entries of 150 cars includes 15 Aston Martins, 5 Bentleys, 2 Bugatti, 7 Chevron, 16 Ferraris, 5 GT40's, 10 Jaguars, 5 Lola, 7 Lotus, 6 Maserati, 18 Porsche and 2 Sunbeam Tigers!

Classic & Sports Car magazine (April) name the Sunbeam Tiger in Top 20 of "Most Underrated Classics" - "Tenth of the price of a Cobra and just as desirable in our book. Pretty, pokey and nimble, the Tiger came with 260 or 289 (MK11) Ford V8 power, is good for 120mph-plus. Some 7000 built, excellent spares/club support: buy well and you're laughing"....The best-kept secrets and criminally undervalued!An Appeal. From Darrell Mountjoy: To All Members of the Sunbeam Community: Thank you for all the kind words on my recent acquiring of the Sunbeam Tiger Le Mans Coupe, ADU180B. What an honor, as well as responsibility, it is. As its new keeper I feel a strong obligation to respect and restore its heritage. Over the decades 180B has gone through many changes from its original configuration. In addition to returning the car to its previous glory I'm trying to document it's running changes; what was done, when, by whom, and for what purpose. To that end I am soliciting for information you may have regarding 180B. I have most of the "published" information. I am seeking, in particular, early history, ownership, competition, photo documentation, original bits & spares, etc. All original documents received will be treated with the utmost care and will be promptly returned, unless indicated for my possession. Any assistance you may be able to provide will be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Darrell Mountjoy 22042 Tanbark Lane Lake Forest California 92630 USA mtjoy@telis.org Tel: 001 949.830.7086

British "Tigers Reunited'" ! John Dandy with niece Susanne Young daughter of Ian and Laura Garrad, enjoyed a happy reunion in California recently and added this snap of John and Susanne modelling some pretty rare LAT items to the family photo album.

The STOC stand at the C&CS International Classic Motor Show at the NEC Birmingham, will be bannered "The Sunbeam Tiger - still winning" and feature three stunning Tigers. Jane Wignall's record achieveing rally Tiger, Chris Beighton's AMOC Class winning race Tiger and Judy Beighton's eye poppingly original MK1 and 2001 Best Tiger winner. On day two, Sunday the 11th, Rosemary Smith will be on the stand with Jimmy Blumer, driver of the No9 Le Mans Tiger in 1964.C&SC's December magazine has a good piece & interview with Rosemary Smith about her goings on - in a Rapier - at the Goodwood Motor Circuit Revival Meeting (Sept 14-16). Let's see if that can be repeated with a Tiger in 2002. Also nice mention and pic of Chris Beighton running out the winner of the AMOC Lighthouse AA Challenge at Donnington on Sept 30th. The new date for the first Classic Le Mans next year is September 21/22. ACO are staging this event as a direct result of the success of this year's 'Le Mans Legends' race. We expect that certain STOC members will be registering their interest to enter and a number of members have already booked their ticket for the trip. promoCongratulations to STOC member Jane Wignall and her co-driving mother, former Rally champ Beryl Neate, for becoming a record setting consecutive 4th Gold Medal winner in The Classic Malts. Pic See this successful Rally Tiger on STOC's stand at the NEC Classic & Sports Car Show this Nov 10/11. Small mention in December's C&SC magazine.Small piece in November Classic Car magazine about September's Brighton Speed Trial and STOC member Martin Pester's ex-police MK2 + a pic of Martin 'laying down rubber'. Pic Chris Beighton took Ist Place in the A-AC race at the Donington Park circuit on 30th September. "A three-way Anglo American Challenge battle went to Chris Beighton's Sunbeam Tiger, after a move on the inside of the chicane on lap eight took him past Ralf Avis's Shelby GT350 Mustang".(Motorsport News). His win means that Chris is this season's winner of the AMOC "Over 3 litre Class" trophy.Brief mention about Anglo American and small pic in November Classic & Sports Car. As you were, don't bother catching Classic Cars Weekly, out 2nd October. Apart from a good quote from Keith Hampson (Team Tiger) about points to look for when inspecting the Tiger/Alpine body - the rest is pure 'pot boiler' slap dash page filler. Not even a picture of a Tiger. If any body from Classic Cars Weekly reads this - if there is a next time, please try harder. After Chris Beighton's terrifying 'off' during practice at Silverstone in August, from which remarkably he emerged unharmed, Chris returned to the AMOC Anglo-American series last weekend (8th Sept) at Mallory Park and scored a third place driving the Tiger Simon James usually competes in. "Third place went to Chris Beighton having initially led this closely-fought race". (Motorsport News) No 9 Le Mans Tiger - ADU 180B, fetches USD 156,000 incl, buyers premium (GBP 110,000) at the RM Monterey Sports Car auction, California, USA on 17th August, 2001. PicHaving started from the pit lane Chris Beighton's Sunbeam Tiger blasted through the Anglo American field at the Croft Circuit last Sunday (8th July) and despite a spin at the hairpin he was still able to catch race-long leader Ralf Avis, making the decisive move at Clervaux on the last lap! (Motorsport News).Sir Stirling Moss visited STOC's stand at the Bromley Pageant of Motoring on Sunday 24th June. During a 20 minute walk about admiring the17 Tigers present Sir Sterling remarked "The Tiger is underated and undervalued and it is a car I would like to enter and drive in a European Rally". He took a copy of CW59 with him ! Pic1. Article Tony Eckford's Le Mans No 8 1964 works entry driven by Chris Beighton finished 24th out of 61 entries in the LeMans Legends race - the spectacular pre-race to the 2001 24 hrs. Following a main bearing failure during practice and phone calls to the group of Club Tigers travelling down from Le Havre, Steve Beighton most sportingly agreed to loan his engine. After a high speed run to Arnage and making use of a Peugeot garage generously loaned by the owner, the engine was swapped and running by Friday evening. On the morning of the race, knowing that top speed would be down, the Jaguar team were approached and a set of bigger section tyres obtained which lifted 'Mulsanne' top speed closer to 145 m.p.h.. Whilst an excellent grid position was achieved in practice ,being some 20 - 30 mph slower than the leaders left the Tiger down the pack but didn't stop Chris 'going for it' as best he could and getting No 8 to the chequered flag - 37 years on. Congratulations to all involved (see Cats Whiskers 60 out in August). Only slightly lower on the emotion scale was seeing Keith Hampson bring his 1963 Alpine works entry home after head failure on the penultimate lap! Results video pic1 pic2 pic3Chris Beighton scored a deserved double at Donnington Park on Sunday 10th June, claiming the Anglo-American Challenge on top of his victory in the Classic Saloon versus Sportscar encounter. (Motorsport News 13/6)Julian Balme tells me his race report on the Chasestead Sunbeam Challenge will be in the July Classic & Sports Car magazine - out 7th June. (also another piece under Club reports)Jackie Cochrane wins inaugural Chasestead Sunbeam Challenge race at Brands Hatch Saturday 28th April.. 2nd Place went to John Young driving Chris Weedon's Tiger and Chris Beighton took the 3rd Place podium spot. A sunny start saw Chris Beighton quickly open up a 4 second lead on Jackie, which he gradually pegged back until the last lap when in rainy slippy conditions Chris Beighton had a moment heading into Graham Hill bend that let Jackie and John Young through. A two car drag down the finishing straight saw John and Chris's Tigers cross the line together but John snicked the second spot by the width of a headlamp bezel ! Steve Smith - SAOC did a splendid job getting his Alpine into the top six and taking the Outright Alpine award. David Smallridge - race sponsor - presented his magnificient Tiger trophy to Jackie that evening at the Holiday Inn Hotel together with place and handicap winners awards The word is no one wants to wait until 2002 for a rematch....It might just be Donnington later this year? Results and a picture spread can be found via the Team Tiger page. - Oh yes, and 70 plus Tigers & Alpines got onto the Track as well.Catch the "Classics" magazine summer issue. It carries a big feature about STOC member Barry Colclough's restoration of his Tiger B9473689HROFE. Out June.The Tiger of David Rayner/Phil Smith takes 7th place and a class win at the inaugural Ringmeister event at a snowy and icy Nordschliefe Nurburgring. Paul Wignall/Martin Griffiths also placed & class winner in a Porsche. Link Practicing for the Chasestead Sunbeam Challenge race during STOC's Spring Meeting at Brands Hatch - 28/29th April !Read the 5 page feature article about Doane Spencer - 'A rod's journal' - with a side piece on the Hollywood Sports Car Tiger -- in March Classic & Sports Car magazine 1966 Monte Carlo Rally Tiger, FRW 667C, ( + a pile of spares) fetches £41,000 at H & H Classic Auctions, Buxton on 14th February.

A Sunbeam Tiger will be the front cover of Classic & Sports Car magazine.! - February issue, out January 5th. (last time July 1996). The "Shelby Legends" piece shows and reports on a " Wild Bunch" of Robin Sherwood's splendid MK2, a MK3 AC Cobra and a Shelby Mustang 350, both race prepared. There is also an "interview with the man himself"! picture ".....but the Tiger has to be the pick of the bunch: it's a honey".

ARCC Millennium Rally and TIGERS2000 National wins the "Classic & Sports Car" award for "Best Club Event of the Millennium Year"

Chris Beighton capped a very fine season by winning the final race at the Donnington Park meeting on 1st October. No details to hand at the moment. Tremendous Chris!!! action image And another fine win for Chris Beighton at Oulton Park on 16th September. (Now I hear STOC and SAOL have been asked by the AMOC if we can field 25 competion Tigers and Alpines for a feature race at Brands Hatch next season - details in this month's Newsletter.) Motorsport News said " Chris Beighton was a jubilant winner in the Anglo-American encounter, just keeping his Sunbeam Tiger ahead of Mark Wright's Jaguar E-type." First: Chris Beighton (Sunbeam Tiger) 14m 03.93s; Second: Mark Wright (Jaguar E-type) 14m 06.85s; Third: Ralph Avis (Ford Mustang); Fourth: Nick Randall (Jaguar E-type).It's all happening in Team Tiger folks. C

hris Beighton has won again at Croft on 19th August. First: Chris Beighton (Sunbeam Tiger) 13m 14.05s (77.14mph) Second: Alec Hammond (Chevrolet Camaro) 13m 18.74s Third: Mark Wright (Jaguar E-Type) Fourth: Mike Adams (Jaguar E-Type) - 8 Laps. Motoring News said " Alec Hammond did his best to stay with Chris Beighton's Tiger at the start of the Anglo American Challenge but after five laps he began to lose touch as Mark Wright's E-Type edged closer". However, I hear Simon James 'cartwheeled' off the circuit without undue personal consequences but I understand that cannot be said of his Tiger! STOC congratulates Chris Beighton and Team Tiger for his maiden 1st Place win in the Anglo-American Thoroughbred Challenge series meeting at Snetterton on 6th August. A great success! In fact the first 'first' at thislevel since David Barraclough's 1985 Sliverstone win.Pic# First: Chris Beighton (Sunbeam Tiger) 13m 44.857s (85.19mph) Second: Alec Hammond (Chevrolet Camaro) 13m 46.61s. Third: Roddie Feldon (Chevrolet Camaro). Motorsport News says " A delighted Chris Beighton won the Anglo-American race to beat the fast closing Alec Hammond to the line for his maiden victory". And Steve Beighton was a Class Winner driving an Alpine.

Get hold of the October issue of 'Thoroughbred and Classic Car' magazine. It features B382100128 a recently restored MK II re-imported from the USA with an almost complete set of original LAT options. Mark Dixon has written an on the button feature about Frank Dugdale's (STOC member) Tiger.You can just about see Bob Mc Dowel's Tiger in the "Historic Police Vehicle Enthusiasts' Club" small report in the October edition of 'Classic and Sports Car'

Lookout for the November issue of 'Classic and Sports Car' and the feature on the ARCC Rally and TIGERS2000 written by Julian Balme (STOC member). "Rootes Rockers - Meeting the doting owners at giant rally". You can depend on Julian to write an inspiring piece!The Sunbeam Tiger goes back to The Motor Show - Oct 15 - 28th. Yes, the modern manufacturers yearly extravaganza will feature a stand celebrating "100 Years of the British Sports Car", which will include a Sunbeam Tiger....along with among others - Jaguar E Type, AC Cobra 289, Allard, Morgan, Ford GT 40, TVR Griffiths - to name but a few of the august entries that will surround Andy Todd's B9472843 Tiger. Picture

STOC will have a stand at the The Classic & SportsCar Show this November 5-6th at the National Exhibition Centre - Birmingham. STOC has not appeared at this premier show for some years. Exhibiting Tigers will be selected in September. See you there!!