Keith Yost posted me about sources for early parts and information. I figured
that while I'm sending that to him, I'd share a recent experience with the
rest of the Talbot guys on the list.
The best information source is the Sunbeam Talbot Alpine Register (STAR), a
British club devoted to Sunbeams of the 1936-1957 era. The easiest way of
signing up for us Yankees is through Pete Woodall, 18801 NW 47th Ave.,
Ridgefield WA 98642. Telephone (360) 576-4969. You can send him a check for
28 US dollars and he will take care of converting it into 18 British pounds.
Parts sources:
Sunbeam Talbot Spares, Colin Mumbray, 214 Wolverton Road, Blakelands, Milton
Keynes, Bucks MK14 5AB, UK. There is a 20% surcharge to non-members of STAR,
so you can earn back the membership fee in short order.
Graham Brooks, 19 William Street, Leyton, London E10 6BD, UK
Now my story: When Joan and I were in London in September, I called Graham
and made arrangements to go see him. He gave us directions from the tube
station and said it was about a ten minute walk. We started from our hotel in
Kensington, got to the subway station, then changed trains, and arrived at the
Leyton station. We walked - and walked - and walked. This was early
afternoon and we had just gotten off the airplane several hours sooner, so we
were both kind of spacey. Spotting a sign for the East London Brew Pub, we
stopped in to rehydrate ourselves and called him to make sure we hadn't
overshot his location. He assured us we were nearly there and gave a landmark
to help us zero in. Another patron at the pub allowed that it was much too
far to walk, and recommended taking the bus. Yes, it was another ten minutes
on the bus to get there.
The side lot of his house has piles of parts from dismantled Sunbeams and Land
Rovers plus one of each being taken apart. A metal shed contains mostly Land
Rover stuff. A two story building has three stalls on the ground floor and
a huge loft above. Piles of Sunbeam Talbot parts everywhere. Some were pure
junk (the eye of the beholder?), some were good, and some were new. I was
amazed that some of the NOS Talbot parts were in Chrysler packaging.
Anyhow, to make a long story end, I was by this time fuzzy-brained and my
loving bride growing impatient, so all I acquired was two sets of windshield
wipers and we arrived back at Kensington just in time to be inundated by all
the mourners coming to lay flowers for Princess Diana.
Bob Hamilton - Brooks does have about a half dozen grilles in fairly good
condition if you haven't gotten one yet.
Ramon - do you know where Phil Krueger is now or what happened to his stash of
"proper" Alpines and parts?
"Ole" Olson
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Sep 05 2000 - 10:01:56 CDT