Seeking more performance for this trusty if timidly styled four-cylinder roadster, Rootes contracted with Shelby for a prototype with Ford small-block power. Dubbed the Tiger -- after Sunbeam’s 1928 land-speed-record car -- it debuted at the 1964 New York Auto Show and soon went into production in England.
Visually similar to the concurrent Sunbeam Alpine, the Sunbeam Tiger shared the Cobra’s 260-cid Ford V-8, but in milder tune than that 260-hp bomb. Still, its 164 hp was more than twice what the Alpine had and, at 9.5-seconds 0-60 mph, it was nearly twice as quick. The live-rear-axle and four-speed gear box were Ford’s, but the chassis was Sunbeam Alpine’s modified by Shelby with a stiffer suspension and rack-and-pinion steering. Brakes remained front discs and rear drums. Handling, roadholding, and ride comfort earned high marks, though the skinny tires and torquey V-8 added up to axle hop and poor traction off the line.
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