This Sunbeam Tiger site, about a classic British sport car, is intended to
bring clubs and enthusiasts together. See technical and historical information,
pictures, links, and articles. There is a fantastic search engine to find
what you are looking for, links to other Sunbeam Tiger sites, clubs, and
suppliers of Tiger parts and services.
The Sunbeam Tiger British classic sports car, made by the Rootes Group,
convinced Rootes to hire American Carroll Shelby, the originator of the Shelby
Cobra, to design a new model based on their Sunbeam Alpine roadster, into a
fire-breathing performance machine. Thus starts the story of the
Sunbeam Tiger.
The Carroll Shelby design team removed the Sunbeam Alpine 1.7 liter four
cylinder engine and replaced it with a small block 4.2 liter Ford V-8,
similar to the way he transformed the AC roadster into the Shelby Cobra,
and production began in England in 1964. When Chrysler acquired the Rootes
Group, later, they were dismayed to find one of their most popular cars,
the Sunbeam Tiger, was "Powered by Ford". This low-budget, high
performance sports car captured the hearts, and pocketbooks of enthusiasts.
Although production ceased in 1967, with just over 7,000 total made in total,
the Sunbeam Tiger sports car is still sought today as one of Hemming's top
10 collectibles. The power of the Ford V-8, along with many performance
options offered by Rootes, still burns up the street and tracks today,
winning the SCCA GT2 class in 2000.
The first Tigers United
In 1974 "Tigers United I" was held in Grants Pass, Oregon, with
representatives from: The Sunbeam Tiger Owner's Association
(STOA),
California Association of Sunbeam Tiger Owners
(CAT),
Pacific Tiger Club (PTC) and
Canadian Tiger Association (CTA).
Since then, this frequent event has become something of an institution,
attracting over 159 Sunbeam Tigers and their owners to a typical gathering.
This marvelous spirit of inter-club cooperation and association has been the
inspiration for the genesis of this site. It is our fondest hope that, through
the medium of the Internet, this effort will gather and
"Unite" all the car clubs, and enthusiasts. That it
will sustain the growth of each local group, and foster even more
cooperative efforts around the world.
We dedicate this site to their Pioneering Spirit!
Editor's note: Steve Laifman's tireless energy and initiative got this
website off the ground in 2003. Sadly he passed away in 2013; but we are
continuing the quest to bring together relevant Tiger information from the past
and from current owners' contemporary adventures.
Steve Laifman B9472289 - TigersUnited.com Founder and Past Editor
Malcolm McDonald B3821003 - Chief Mechanic
Theo Smit B382002705 - Associate Editor
Joe Parlanti B382000026 - Associate Editor
John Orzechowski 1997 BGN T-Bird - Server Space Donor & Administrator
