Bonjour!
Okay, I guess I can9t fool you...I9m an American living in France. Guess you
heard my accent!
> I9ve recently become enamored of Tiger and Alpine Sunbeam9s and was
wondering
> how I could figure out how to buy a left hand drive one in Paris (or France
> for that matter, or even the U.K.) and if in France there was a club and
> sufficient support vendors/mechanics to help me once I9ve bought it! I9m
> wondering also what the difference could be between buying a pretty much
> restored one vs. one that needs restoration (in terms of cost and
> maintenance).
>
> I9m not the mechanic type AT ALL, and so wouldn9t want to spend my life
under
> the hood, so it9s more for the pleasure of driving it and maintaining it
with
> the help of a good mechanic, etc. Doing rallies, meetings, etc.
>
> I9m not sure that I have the money to really buy and then maintain one,
unless
> there is maybe a pretty well established investment value linked to the car
> (obviously above and beyond the passion of it all!) which could convince me
> cause I9m going to have to find a garage to house the car which I will have
to
> pay for as well, plus insurance, etc. But trying to figure out what the
> average monthly cost could be to have one of these as a toy would be fun to
> calculate and see if I could handle it. I wonder if buying one in the U.S.
> And having it shipped over here wouldnt be fun too...and in the end less
> expensive overall...
>
> I think Id like to find a Tiger due to bigger engine and tires which sounds
a
> bit more fun. But I actually prefer the wing tailed look of the Alpine but
> from what I understand the engines are smaller on these, although there
must
> be models with upgraded engines to the V6 model...and I wonder what year is
> the best for these cars anyway?
>
> I just want to be like James Bond in Dr. No driving around the
mountains...my
> version being driving around the French countryside and the Arc de Triomphe
in
> Paris in a convertible oldie! A lifetime dream!
>
> I9ve lived here for over 10 years now. I was looking at 1973-1974 MGB9s
also
> and even some Triumph Spitfires, but I think I like the best the Sunbeams
> even if they are surely more difficult to find, more expensive to buy, and
> probably much harder and more costly to maintain given they are no longer
> produced and there were not that many produced in the first place. But
there
> must be some in France that came over from the UK with left hand drive that
> are sitting around...
>
> Thanks for starting the dialogue with me on this rediscovered dream which I
> hope you can share your passion and knowledge about, not to mention time.
Best,
David
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