THE UNITED 2000 will be AUGUST 24-27 in South Portland MAINE.
Not quite fall yet I hope,haven't seen much summer yet.
Robert Jaarsma
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-alpines@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-alpines@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Thomas Wiencek
Sent: Monday, June 05, 2000 8:23 AM
To: Message Alpine
Cc: Silverstein, Steve
Subject: H-e-l-p Needed Shipping Engine to Portland, ME
Is anyone going to the TE/AE United through Chicago and would be
willing to deliver a 1600 engine to h-e-l-p Steve with his restoration?
Please contact me if you can h-e-l-p.
------------------------------
Date: 6/5/00 10:05 AM
To: Wiencek, Thomas
From: Steve, Silverstein,
RE: zip code needed
That's unfortunate. Let me see if the 1725 block can be welded. I should
have it out of the car shortly.
Do you think anybody from the Chicago area is going to the Sunbeam Event in
Portland, Maine in the Fall?
If they had room on a trailer that would be Ideal. Most everybody will
pass with 10 miles of my house assuming they use the Mass. Pike. to get to
Portland.
Thank you for checking.
----------
From: Thomas Wiencek
Reply To: Thomas Wiencek
Sent: Monday, June 5, 2000 10:58 AM
To: Silverstein, Steve
Subject: RE: zip code needed
Shipping would be $353 or $320 if I bring it to
em. ------------------------------
Date: 6/4/00 10:16 AM
To: Wiencek, Thomas
From: Steve, Silverstein,
RE: zip code needed
01752
I talked to a friend who recently shipped an engine. He said the best
thing to do is to get a pallet and band the engine to the pallet. The
freight company will come out and pick it up. I don't know the logistics
of getting the pallet on the truck but it would be a good thing to ask
about.
Let me know if you find out more.
Thanks again,
Steve
----------
From: Thomas Wiencek
Reply To: Thomas Wiencek
Sent: Friday, June 2, 2000 4:46 PM
To: Silverstein, Steve
Subject: zip code needed
Importance: High
I need your zip code for a shipping quote from yellow freight.
------------------------------
Date: 6/2/00 1:31 PM
To: Wiencek, Thomas
From: Steve, Silverstein,
I wrote an article for Ian's web page.
The article won't be out for awhile but I thought you might be interested.
I have found many photos of both my car and the Series I that Sports Car
Forum raced. As far as the history I am still trying to piece together
the history. You know, when you look at the results, the Alpine was very
successful....
Please let me know the shipping on the head. I will send a check
immediately. Is your address still:
8757 Sunshine Court
Orland Park, ILL 60462
Thanks,
Steve
====================================================================
My interest in the Sports Car Forum team began with the discovery of my car
the Series IV Alpine that took the National Title in F-Production. There
has been very little documented regarding Sunbeam Alpines competing in the
US with the possible exception of the Sebring Cars.
There were really two teams that had true support from the factory. One is
the Sports Car Forum team and the second was the Hollywood Sports Car team.
Both teams had close ties to the factory and were very competitive.
Sports Car Forum was a Rootes Dealership located in Columbus, Ohio. The
actual name of the dealer was "Carl Kremer's Sports Car Forum". This is a
little confusing since I do know that H.J. Meyers and Bill Koch were
owners/partners in the dealership. Perhaps someday somebody could shed
light on the Carl Kremer connection and when the dealership changed hands.
The Sports Car Forum team began to prepare a Series I Alpine (unconfirmed,
could be a
Series II) in the beginning of 1961. This car's preparation was completed
in the middle of the season. Some how, yet to be researched, they secured
Don Sesslar as a driver for the team. Don had been successful driving a
Porsche with a number of wins. With the combination of Don and his crew,
Shorty Bickel and
Claude Gains, the team went out mid-season and finished in the top three for
National Title points.
The following year was just as successful, again in the top 3 in the
National Title points. During this period one of Don's toughest competitors
was Skip Barber.
Skip drove a Turner that was very fast but not as fast as Don during the
Bridgehampton race in June. This was a very memorable race
because Don just edged out Skip for top position. I suspect there were
many more races like this. Talking with Don, a close race was far more fun
and an overall win was better than a class win.
1963 must have been a highlight year for the team. At this point the
factory support really started to develop. The team must have been as well
prepared as ever. Race preparation was everything. If the car couldn't
be loaded on the truck ready to race then they wouldn't participate. I am
sure this was a major psychological boost to arrive at the track and know
the car was in top form. As the season ended Don was tied for first place
in National Title points (38). Unfortunately, the other driver in the
running held more first place finishes so the title defaulted to him.
For Don the 1964 season was the peak of his Alpine career, which would lead
him to move into B-production driving the ex-Carrol Shelby Tiger. 1964 was
the year Don won the National Title. 22 races and no DNFs. Yes, the team
was very prepared when they left the dealership in Ohio.
The car that the team was now running was a 1964 Series IV. This car,
which I now have, was stripped to the bone and even had all the lead melted
out of the seams. Regarding the preparation of the engine it would take
Shorty about 2 weeks to build an engine. Based on the details of the
engine in my car all that effort was tedious handwork detailing out the
engine for top horsepower and durability. Amazing work. From the .125"
shave head, I'm not sure how but they did it, to the polished and detailed
carburetors.
My research show numerous successes in 1964 with incredible performances at
Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glenn. Some of Don's big competition was the little
Porsches, Brooks Noah's Lotus 7 and Alan Barkley in an Austin-Healey. I
may
be mistaken, but I do not believe the Healey was in Don's class but I don't
think it mattered.
As the season ended the Sunbeam marketing capitalized on the wins and
included them in their advertising. One ad, "You should see it on the
track", Sept. 64, Car and driver mentions the success and "What brings the
class "F" Champ home?" which features a beautiful picture of Don winning a
race. In the ad they state, "$2399!" Right, don't forget the team, Don,
Shorty and Claude.
By 1965, the Tiger being a B-Production car had the greatest focus. The
reality is
that the AP and BP feature races were the big crowd draws.
Dan Carmichael became the next driver for my Alpine. My history on Dan is
very thin up
until recent race activity, 1996-99. Most may know Dan C. for his success
in his Ralt competing as one of the oldest active drivers in the SCCA. He
hung up his helmet last year. Dan also had his successes. The victory
photo at VIR is just one example.
By this time you know what happened to the Sunbeam Company in 65/66-time
period. With the sale of Sunbeam to Chrysler, the Rootes dealer in
Columbus became Geo. Byer. This put an end to the factory support and the
efforts
of the Sports Car Forum team. Unfortunately, a victim of incidents and
business deals which
occurred half way around the world.
Dan campaigned the Series IV Alpine on his own until 1967. One of the
last race documents that I have was a race sponsored by the Detroit Region
SCCA on September 24, 1967. It shows Dan entered in the Sunbeam. I
have one other document that shows the car ran at Daytona (not the
Continental race) in 1967. After that Dan C. sold the car in April/May of
1968.
Ironically, when I found the car I had no idea of the history except that it
looked well prepared even in its state of disuse. When I first saw it an
interesting detail struck me. The Rootes center grill badges was upside
down in its chrome frame. Whoever made that modification was probably
feeling the pain of seeing one of the best F-Production teams disbanded.
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