Thursday 19th June 2014

Tiger Sunbeam (and others!): Time For Tea?

Petrolicious finds a rally fan with a penchant for 60s European heroes

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Something a little different from the latest Petrolicious video, with three cars vying for attention and all a little less exotic than some vehicles recently featured. Alright, Sunbeam Tigers, Volvo 123s and MGBs aren't exactly common but then by the same token they aren't BMW M1s or Ferrari GTOs.

But as proven with vids such as the Honda CRX and BMW M3, a great Petrolicious video is about the story and not necessarily the cars. That of Hans Abrahams is another where childhood dreams are realised as an adult, where his English father introduced him to European rallying. There begun a lifelong obsession resulting in the three rally-prepped cars seen here.

The Tiger is probably the most special of the trio, particularly with a more potent V8 now in it. For Hans it represents the perfect combination of his English heritage and American upbringing. In fact the video is worth watching just to see (and hear) the Tiger being driven hard through on mountain roads. Volvo's pretty cool too.

Watch it here.

 

[Switch]

Lovely, after listening to that Tiger I'm reminded of this....

(Any excuse to watch it again!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zDl4lrMGFU

[cookie1600]

Whats with all the 1978, S registration plates then?

[bridgland]

cookie1600 said:

Whats with all the 1978, S registration plates then?

My thoughts exactly. I assume he is trying a little too hard to show the English heritage and getting it wrong by over a decade. Both cars have 828S as the final characters, so maybe something in it for him personally.

Edited by bridgland on Thursday 19th June 15:49

[Dave Hedgehog]

The Crack Fox said:

Brilliant video, I really enjoyed that. That guy's teeth aren't NHS maintained, are they ?

I particularly like the Amazon but all 3 cars are great, thanks for posting such an interesting feature

my fav utoob channel and what fantastic cars, but hell yeah WTF with the teeth lol


and that tiger looks and sounds

Edited by Dave Hedgehog on Thursday 19th June 16:13

[Oddball RS]

The 289 engine in the Tiger in place of the 260 is simply a Mk2 engine instead of the correct Mk1 - ok so its tuned too, but not outrageously so.

And they reason they stopped building them was Chrysler wouldn't build a car with a Ford engine and their own wouldn't fit, although by all accounts they hardly tried as they wanted to kill it off anyway, it no longer fitted the image they wanted.

[sideways man]

For me,the Tiger was one of the cars that got away. In the early 1980's I couldn't afford the £2000 it cost to buy one,and had to make do with the std model,an Alpine that only cost £650.

It was one of my favourite cars,but it could have been even better with a v8.

[mikial]

Here's mine in period, happy days indeed.

[skyrover]

Tiger for me too thanks

Amazon in second

MGB in third

[rogerhudson]

That Amazon is superb, I didn't know they made then in Canada? All the 2 door ones i've seen were made by Carbodies in Coventry, shipped to Sweden for finishing. Does't the Amazon have the milage record? the distance to the moon and back at least twice . They will be with us for ever, timeless.

[Buff Mchugelarge]

I remember seeing a Tiger at the Maderia Speed Trials years back and thinking it was just a little 60's four pot thing. Right up to the moment it smoked both rear tires for 50 meters off the line whilst making awesome V8 noises!

Lovely cars

Edited by Buff Mchugelarge on Thursday 19th June 22:48

[carl_w]

All original paint on the Tiger? The driver’s side door is a completely different colour to the panels either side of it… check from about 5’16” onwards.

[George 500]

sideways man said:

For me,the Tiger was one of the cars that got away. In the early 1980's I couldn't afford the £2000 it cost to buy one,and had to make do with the std model,an Alpine that only cost £650.

It was one of my favourite cars,but it could have been even better with a v8.

While I grant they aren't cheap- they re still ridiculously good value compared to the alternatives.

I mean half the price of a Healey? Less thn a TR5? 5% of a Cobra?

While the rest of the world goes crazy a great Tiger is still only £30k on a good day

I love mine to bits and as someone who has a choice of of cars it is amazing how often I pick the keys to the Tiger. The only person who loves it more is my old man who is vicariously reliving the fact that he did have one for a few years in the early 80s!

[dukeboy749r]

Just great to see someone with such a passion and desire to use his cars every day.

Well done to him

[plasticpig]

It's a Sunbeam Tiger. Not a Tiger Sunbeam

[Harald1974]

Anorak fact : Sunbeam Tiger's were built at the Jensen factory in West Bromwich where they made some other V8 bruisers as well ...

Cheers Harald

note : and yes indeed I also thought at one point it was an advert for Colgate . Nice cars and guy's attitude though

[PistonBroker]

Great to see the Amazon and the MG but I'd happily watch a whole film of him thrashing the Tiger around. Awesome sound.

Plus, we wouldn't see so much of his teeth . . . :-p