Would anyone be interested in obtaining a restoration guide for a Sunbeam
Alpine Series I? I recently purchased a '60 Alpine with only 5,400 original
miles on it from a man in Cincinnati. (Some of the Sunbeam club members
there may have gone to his house to check out this car before my transporter
picked it up in December.) I had planned to get this car back to running
condition and simply use it as a low-mileage daily driver, as it had not
been driven since the early '60s, but when it arrived at my place, I
couldn't believe how intact it was. Rather than monkey around with its
unbelievable originality, I decided to get the history on the car, if
possible, first. Fortunately, the original owner was still alive and lucid.
I talked with her by phone and she said the car was purchased by her and her
husband on a whim while out driving in late spring of '60, but after using
it for about 3 months, the summer ended and they put the top up for the
first time. The top kept hitting her husband's head so he stopped using the
car. The wife only drove it about once every 2 or 3 months and finally
stopped driving it altogether. They stored it in their garage because,
although her husband wanted to sell it, she liked the looks of it and wanted
to keep it as it was their first new car together. It sat in the garage of
a new home they purchased in the early '60s until 3 months ago, when she
moved into an assisted living place (her husband died a year ago). The car
is so original, it still has the original oil in it from when it was
purchased new, according to the original owner. Every nut, bolt, clamp, and
wire is positioned exactly as it came from the factory. It still has the
original Dunlop tires on it, and the tread is barely worn. The couple never
had any kids, so the car was never disturbed the whole 40+ years it sat in
the garage of the same house.
Now I'll finally get to the point of this note -- I am thinking about taking
hundreds of close-up pictures of every system on this car and then
publishing them in a book so that anyone who is restoring a Series I Alpine
will know exactly what the car is supposed to look like as it came from the
factory. It should be the equivalent of looking at hundreds of close-up
archive photos of contemporary Series I Alpines. Would there be any
interest in a restoration guide like this among Series I restorers out
there? I have already checked the costs for printing a book like this,
which would be about 11" by 9" in size and probably around 250 pages, with 6
to 9 detailed black and white photos with captions per page. It would cover
every system on the car, especially the more "controversial" areas, like the
engine compartment, under dash area, wiring attachments, etc, and would
probably cost a buyer around $50 each if the print run is around 300 books.
If anyone has an opinion one way or the other about a restoration guide like
this, let me know what you think. If there's not much interest, I'll still
preserve this "once in a lifetime" find with pictures, but will just keep
them in a file instead.
Bob
boxweed@thebest.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "drmayf" <drmayf@mayfco.com>
To: "LSR" <land-speed@autox.team.net>; <tigers@autox.team.net>; "Alpines"
<alpines@autox.team.net>; <PowerStroke@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 01, 2006 3:03 PM
Subject: 2005 in Review, Plans for 2006
> First, let me say Happy New Year to one and all! May this new year be far
> better than the last one! So what did I get done this past year? And what
> is is store for this new one?
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