Well yesterday my friend Mike Owen and I drove to Zanesville to look at the mysterious Sunbeam. It is a late model Series V (B395018418). The car is painted blue metallic, the original paint code is 107, Holly Green. No wires, but bolt on wheels. The wheels on it look like those cheap mags that came on 70 Capris. The odometer reads 23,768, but from the condition of the car, this has to be at least 123,768.
At first appearance, the car looks pretty good. The top is in nice condition (only one hole), paint looks ok and the interior is dirty but in decent shape. Only after a close inspection does the true nature of the car become known: the sills are gone. There is putty everywhere in the body, on the cowling near the windscreen, all four fenders, both doors and almost the entire length of both sills. It appears that some one has put some new metal in the sills (pop rivets on the underside of the car) and then back filled with putty to make it smooth. Ack! Thpt!
The boot pan has had a new piece welded in (about 1/5 the size of the pan) and there is still rust and holes showing near the gas transfer lines. No spare or jack.
Interior is in decent shape and it has high back seats just like my Series V (B395017314), exactly the same. (Someone (Jay maybe) said that no Alpine came with high back seats. Interesting that this model has the exact same seat switch as mine.) The carpet and upholstery are in good condition, but the mat is soaked. I pulled some back to look at the floor pan, it seems ok, but I would worry if the mat is soaked (I don't believe the car has been covered at all). The dash has a full compliment of instruments including clock, ammeter (Lucas) and cigarette lighter. By the way the needle on the Lucas ammeter points toward 6:00 and the meter on a Jeager ammeter (My car) points toward 12:00. The steering whell has been replaced with a smaller diameter after market wheel. No overdrive switch. The keys were in the car, but it would not turn over (dead battery).
The engine compartment looks pretty good, no parts missing and no major oil leaks anywhere. Someone had used spray foam to seal up the pass-throughs in the fire wall (looks like hell). I did not try to turn the engine over by hand.
The guy who owns the car is Terry Thompson and his telephone number is 614/454-0000. The asking price is $2495, delivered anywhere in Ohio. Mr. Thompson claims the car was driven daily from Zanesville to OSU (Columbus) by a student. This is about 130 miles round trip. He got the car on a trade for a Triumph motorcycle. To get to the car, take the 152 exit from I-70. Go west on US 40 about 0.6 miles and turn left at the Moose Lodge onto Kopchak road. Kopchak makes a sharp right turn after crossing a one lane bridge, then climbs a steep hill, goes over I-70. Take the first left turn after going over I-70 (mail box says Flying T Stables). You'll drive into a field with a lot of junk cars. The Alpine is near the end of the line of cars. Thompson's house is on up the lane about a half-mile on top of the hill. I admit when driving up to talk to the owner I had a strange feeling of floating down a river in WV with banjos and guitars playing in the distance. If you deal with this guy, admit that you inhaled and that you think Clinton lied. You should get off on the right foot. It would also help if you did time in Vietnam.
I went to see the car hoping I could get it for parts. And fortunately it has all of the hard to find items I need. However $2495 is a bit high. IMHO the car is worth about $600 if it will start and about $400 if not. Any other opinions?
-- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mike Fisher
fisher(at)tomahawk.dst.battelle.org "The leader has a sense of humor. He is not a stuffed shirt. He can laugh at 614/424-3620 himself. He has a humble spirit." 614/424-3918 (FAX) If I knew what I was doing, it wouldn't Battelle be research. 505 King Avenue Columbus, OH 43201-2693 "In science we can't let some guy from Podunk have the same vote as Fermi."
'93 Volvo 940 Turbo Wagon (for mom and the kids) '85 Jetta GLI (to get me to work) '68 Sunbeam Alpine Series V B395017314 (just for fun) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------