This rare British roadster packs American muscle.
Taking a page right out of the AC Cobra playbook, the Sunbeam Tiger is a blend of classic British styling and powerful American muscle, and that's in stock form. The 1965 Sunbeam Tiger you see here has been modified for maximum performance and style, and it recently sold at RM Sotheby’s Online Only: Driving into Summer auction for $60,500 including the buyer's fee.
According to the listing, only 2,706 of the Mk 1A versions were built, but none of them ever packed the performance that this one does. In place of the Mk I's factory 260 cubic-inch Ford V8, this one comes with a 347 cubic-inch V8 that has been tuned to produce a whopping 426 horsepower, which is laid to the rear tires through a Tremec five-speed manual gearbox. Add in the MagnaFlow performance exhaust, roll bar and Wilwood four-wheel disc brakes, and you're looking at a small British roadster that is ready to dominate any road course. With the modern setup, it's just as capable of cruising to car shows, too.
From the factory, the Sunbeam Tiger was a surprising little roadster, but this example is by no means a sleeper thanks to that Competition Yellow paint job and the lowered stance; there's no doubt that this car is all business. The polished set of American Racing wheels finishes off the Tiger's aggressive stance, and the interior received equally sporty upgrades with bolstered leather seats and vintage-style gauges. Finally, the engine compartment and undercarriage are just as clean as the rest of the car.
This modded 1965 Sunbeam Tiger was one of more than 80 classic and collectible vehicles that was up for auction during RM Sotheby’s Online Only: Driving into Summer event. This auction came on the heels of the successful Online Only: Palm Beach event, which had an impressive sell-through rate of over 70 percent and netted sales of over $14 million.
