Lot details Registration No: MD 1139 Chassis No: 16/2641/20 Mot Expiry: June 2014
Brainchild of Louis Coatalen, the Sunbeam 16hp was reintroduced after WW1. Powered by a torquey, long stroke 3016cc four-cylinder engine allied to four-speed manual transmission, it could reputedly cruise at 40-45mph and return 17-20mpg. The equal of contemporary Rolls-Royce products in engineering terms, the model remained in production until 1922 (though, today just 16 examples are believed to have survived). Handwritten annotations to its accompanying continuation buff logbook suggest that chassis 16/2641/20 was first owned by Thomas Seymour of Villa Medici, Thorpe Bay, Essex. Thereafter, the Sunbeam is known to have passed through the hands of Richard Hough, Frank Judson, Francis Bettley, William Rogers, J.L. Cave and Donald Biggs. An accomplished engineer, the latter treated the Sunbeam to an exacting `chassis up' restoration. Photographically documented, the work took some eight years to complete. Returning to the road during the late 1980s, the 16hp subsequently belonged to Peter Kenyon-Smith before entering the current ownership in 2010. A former proprietor of several engineering firms, the vendor lost little time in replacing various bearings and renewing the brake bands. Installing a replacement torque tube fabricated from EN24T steel, he also crack tested the cylinder block before treating the engine to four new alloy pistons and some valves. Further benefiting from repainted wings, the past couple of years have seen `MD 1139' win awards at both the Stafford and Trentham Shows. Boasting a well-stocked dashboard, side-mounted spare wheel, Auster screen, Claudel-Hobson carburettor, deep-button upholstery, fresh MOT certificate, large history file and `Sunbeam' headlamps etc, this imposing Vintage Tourer is only being offered for sale due to ill health.
PLEASE NOTE: This vehicle has an MOT until June 2014.
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