An ex-works Sunbeam Tiger – one of just seven – is being offered in Brightwells' 14 May sale at Leominster. It is estimated to sell for £100,000.
The 1964 car is from the first year of production and features a Ford 4.2-litre V8 engine; it is described as being the most campaigned of all seven works Tigers. The car made its competition debut on the 1964 Geneva Rally, just three months after it was first registered. With "Tiny" Lewis and Barry Hughes at the controls a class win was secured, plus second place in the prestigious team prize; two other Tigers also took part in the same event.
"AHP 294B" continued its competitive career the following year, tackling the Monte Carlo Rally at the hands of Maurice Gatsonides. Success didn't follow, however, with the majority of the Paris starters – including Gatsonides – failing to finish; the car eventually became trapped in a snow drift in the Alps.
Unperturbed, Gatsonides took the car to Amsterdam to promote the sale of the road car, while also taking in a spell of endurance racing at the Zandvoort circuit. The Sunbeam performed admirably, shattering Dutch National Records in three, six, 12 and 24 hour categories. It averaged a speed of 75.47mph over the course of 23 hours, despite regularly pulling into the pit lane to be topped up with water. The car so impressed Gatsonides that he christened it "Thunderbus".
