CAR CULTURE
Vintage Sunbeam Print Ads: From Rapiers to Tigers
With a proud lineage dating back to 1901, the Sunbeam Motor Car Company built an illustrious reputation across racing, aviation, and road cars. This curated gallery focuses tightly on Sunbeam’s final, spectacular decade of performance from the late 1950s through the late '60s. Tracking the marque's transition under the Rootes Group and Chrysler umbrellas, these original print advertisements showcase a brief but unforgettable era of accessible British sports cars before the historic nameplate was retired.
The Elegant Coupes & Cruisers: Discover the mid-century media campaigns that launched the stylish, pillarless Rapier hardtop and the iconic, fins-and-all Alpine two-seat roadster.
The V8 Tiger & Agent 86: Explore the thunderous print journalism surrounding the legendary, Ford V8-powered Sunbeam Tiger. Famously dubbed the "poor man's Cobra" and immortalized as Maxwell Smart’s getaway car in the hit 1960s TV series Get Smart, this short-lived icon was famously axed when new owners Chrysler refused to sell a vehicle packing Ford horsepower.
