Media News

The 2008 Dunlop / Gambia MSA-Bristish Historic Rally Championship has two former Champions and Club members competing together for the first time. Patrick Watts (Overall Champion 2006) and Paul Kynaston. After a long break, Kynaston is back for the event he has won four times before and is determined to to put his Tiger alongside Patrick's Tiger on the leader tables. HRCR info. The Historic Robin Hood Stages on 8-9th March saw both upfront until Paul's retirement due to engine failure. Patrick with Elgan Davies in usual storming style took 1st overall Excellent! HRCR Report . Pics with thanks to Ian Hardy.

Good interview article of Don Tarbun in the March issue of Classic&Sportscar. Don was Chief Development Engineer based at Stoke Road and had a big hand in the evolution of the Tiger. He and his team must have driven those MKI 'AF' Tigers many thousands of miles between December 1963 and June 1964. He does say though that his favourite Rootes vehicle was the one off Humber Sceptre fitted with Chrysler's 4.4 litre V8 - "the best Q car ever on the roads of Britain".

"The Works Tigers 1964 - 1967" Released.

Graham Rood signing a dedication in his new book "The Works Tigers 1964 - 1967" for STOC member Malcolm Sedman during its public launch at the NEC Classsic Car Show, Birmingham - Saturday 9th November.

Info on how to obtain a copy.

Check out the REVIEWS

Club member Martin Pester had an unusual entry in the Brighton Speed Trials last week - a "Chop Shop" special that he was asked to drive by the production company that makes the TV series shown on Discovery Channel. Originally an MGB GT just 3 weeks ago, Martin says that even with a Weber and a Kent cam. fitted to the 1.8 litre motor he couldn't manage more than18 seconds on all 3 runs. Pic info links 1 + 2.

Interested in joining STOC's 2008 Tour to the Le Mans Classic? Because of the popularity of this event STOC is now taking advance bookings and invites all interested members to contact the Club. Basic shape - Channel crossing on Thursday 10th July, 4 nights B&B, entry tickets and return crossing on Monday 14th July. Contacts: Nick Bostock-Smith ( Earloc@aol.com), Christian Marshal 01403 822687

Team Tiger's Jackie Cochrane and Stephen Colbert claimed an impressive double victory in the Charterhouse Heritage GT Car Challenge. The race provided some of the best supporting action to the A1 GP feature races at Brands Hatch (28/29 April). Jackie's Sunbeam Tiger proved to be the class of the superb 40-car field, although stern challenges from Grahame and Oliver Bryant (Morgan +8) and Andy Rouse/Stuart Hall (Chevrolet Camaro) ensured that the huge crowd was well entertained by the Heritage field. For a full race report and oics click here

Out now. June issue of Octane magazine (No 48) carries a 9 page + Cover feature on the 'Roaring Tigers' which focusses on a test day at Donington driving the No8 Lister Le Mans Tiger, the HRCR 2006 Championship winning rally prepared Tiger of Patrick Watts and David Smallridge’s very quick "Team Tiger" race car. Pic All of the cars were driven at race speeds and none was ‘spared the lash'. Plus Carroll Shelby writes about "How the Tiger was conceived".. THIS IS A KEEPER !!

Jayne Wignall the peerless classics rally driver and member of the Sunbeam Tiger Owners Club, with long time navigator Kevin Savage, took the winners laurels in the Classic Rally Association's 18th running of the Classic Marathon - October 8th -12th. Staged in Slovakia, this was Jayne's 5th Marathon - this year sponsored by Tatry - having been her first significant rally in LPU 93C back in 1991 when husband Paul was the co-driver. To quote Jayne: "Since then Paul has also completed another four Marathons, whilst Kevin has navigated on the last five. We have always finished in the Top Ten, but never managed to get to the top of the results ladder. It is a credit to the map reading and time keeping abilities of my navigators, and to the meticulous car preparation by Autotech of Thirsk, that we achieved these results" Very well done Jayne & Kevin. To read more about Jayne's and her Tiger's victory check here.

Patrick Watts/Elgan Davies are the overall winners of the 2006 Armajaro HRCR Stage Rally Championship ! They took the crown yesterday in the Exmoor forest after an awesome year of success. Remember - Patrick & Elgan have not only pocketed the Historics Class [upto '67] but the Post Historics [ upto '74] as well. Take a glass and toast em !

STOC's Team Tiger are well set to take 3rd Place in AMOC's Intermarque 2006 Championship, with either Paul Clayson or Tristan Bradfield (STOC's Competition Secretary) gaining a very well deserved Class A victory. Paul took the Class A winners laurels last year and the nail biting finale will be at Donnington on Saturday 7th October. More than justifies a bit of support from Midlands members ! I'm told 7 Tigers are entered.

Patrick Watts/Elgan Davies "were mighty in their Tiger to dominate the Historics finally winning by the 3 mins" the 7th Round (of 9) - Tour of Flanders. (Roeslare, Belgium) on 9/10th Sept. Patrick and Elgan are 1st in the driver and co-driver standings for both the Historics category (C1) and the the Chamopinship overall. With two rounds to go of the HRCR Armajaro it's not too late for STOC members to get along to the 'Trackrod Historic Cup' on 7th Oct and the final 'Historic Somerset Stages' on 28th Oct to do a bit of flag waving !

The 'No8' Lister Sunbeam Tiger is entered in the RAC 'T.T' the feature race of the Revival Meeting. Co-drvers t.b.a. The Fordham Trophy will see Keith Hampson's 62 LM Sunbeam Alpine running and the Elva MK8 of Marc Devis will be driven by Simon Hadfield in the Madgewick Cup. And Nigel Tipping's Tiger will be on the circuit as a Police Course car !

Co-sponsors of the Silverstone Classic with Bonhams, Hegarty International chose the Sunbeam Tiger Owners Club as the Best Classic Club Display within the classic car club arena at last weekends festival. STOC Chairman John Dandy with club organisers Gordon England & Angela Dandy were “ thoroughly delighted to receive this splendid trophy on behalf of the Club. It should encourage more small clubs such as ours to attend this fabulous event in future years”

50 Tigers attended STOC’s National Rally, along with Lewis Garrad the ex Rootes Group works team driver and brother of Ian Garrad, who together with Carroll Shelby, originated the Tiger.

Club member Nigel Tipping is helping old friend Jimmy Pursey of 'Sham 69' promote an alternative peoples anthem for England's World Cup attempt ! The idea being to transform 'Sham 69's' original 'Hurry up Harry' hit of 1978 to 'Hurry up England' (not a bad idea given our performance to date) with all proceeds going to charity. The record is now in the Top 10 due in part to Nigel getting his suitably attired Tiger into the publicity material and in front of the cameras at the Hammersmith Palais after the win over Equador. pic1 pic2.

Simon James and co-driver Adrian Mossop took a well deserved 3rd place in the Classic Sports Car Club 'Swinging Sixties' race series at Donnington on 4th June. Having gridded 9th, Simon took his white machine into the front three within two corners of the start where he and Adrian stayed until the finish. pic (Spa 2005) . Fellow Team Tiger member Kevin Cooper gridded in the front half but tyre failure took him out with a couple of laps to go.

Patrick Watts/Elgan Davies blitzed to victory in their Sunbeam Tiger in the historic category (pre- '68) of the Seven Valley Historic Challenge - 3rd June. pic

here

Patrick Watts and Elgan Davies were unstoppable in their Sunbeam Tiger and took a smart 1st overall in this 4th Stage (of 9) of the 2006 HRCR Armajaro Championship. Patrick and Elgan now stand 6th in the Championship after winning the 1st Stage - Robin Hood in March and the 2nd Astra Stage in early April before a DNF in the 3rd Matador Welsh Stage having been taken out by a sheep ! Some excellent quotes from Patrick: Robin Hood Stages - " Today it was flying", "I was just seeing how many post-historics I could beat"; Matador Welsh Rally: "Elgan was concerned about the number of sheep when running 1st but the spin up the hill from Four Ways bent the steering rack, which meant slow progress back to stage end. However the spin dislocated the washer bottle which in turn dislocated the fan belt which in turn dislocated the water in the engine." read more , Check out this video of Patrick and Paul Kynaston (twice former historics champion) during the 2005 Somerset Stages storming & sideways up Porlock Hill nr Minehead - a public road hill like few others at 25% (1 in 4) Click here

Nice snippet in July's CLASSICS MONTHLY. "Heard distinctive roar of Ford small block V8 and tracked 12 Sunbeam Tigers to the sea front at Lynmouth... enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon.... The sound of the Tigers climbing the extremely steep 25% gradient on the hill on the way out of town could be heard for miles ...wonderfull" . pic

The 4th Emerald Isle Classic (15-19th May) saw Jayne & Paul Wignall clean up. Jayne driving her Tiger with co-driver Peter Rushforth achieved 3rd overall, from a 50 car entry, and Paul snuck a Ist overall in his Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint in company with Mark Appleton. Report here. Good pics link here . Jayne's account will be Cats Whiskers 72

Chris Beighton driving his 'Orange Bomber' was victorious in the 2006 "Chasestead Sunbeam Challenge". Run within AMOC's Bank Holiday meeting at Brands Hatch on May 1st, qualifying took place in torrential rain but the weather forecasters got it right this time as the track was dry by late morning and the race events took

in decent sunshine. Chris and Bill Smallridge were on the front row with Jackie Cochrane this year having to settle for 2nd row in his reserve car as his new racer broke a crank during testing. A bullit start by Chris and Bill saw them quickly away from the rest of the grid at lap times 7- 8 secs faster than qualifying. The leaders soon had things sown up and a procession developed but spectators saw some goodly mid field dicing as exampled by Andrew Davenall and Douglas Barker. As ever the control tower commentators were lost for words trying to express their surprise and admiration at the pace and grunt of the leaders - even more so during the Endurance event where the CB/JF Tiger left a Noble, Ultima GTR and 355 Ferrari in its wake. Congratulations to the four quickest who completed 17 laps: Chris Beighton, Bill Smallridge, Jackie Cochrane and Simon James. Steve Smith in the fastest Alpine took the 5th slot. Many thanks to the other Team Tiger competitors: Tristan Bradfield, Kevin Cooper, Tony Eckford; Paul Clayson; Andrew Yates (Ist time out), Andrew Davenall, Douglas Barker, Colin Reed (Harrington Alpine) and Keith Hampson (LM Alpine). And of course ,many thanks to David Smallridge for his sponsorship of the 6th running of the Chasestead. Click here for video of the start, Results.and Pic spread (video courtesy of Andrew D and MSVision)

Octane magazine's May issue carries a good 4 page 'Buyer's Guide' on the Tiger with some excellent graphics but the best bit comes last: "The tiger has never been more sought after than it is now. while it has a well deserved reputation for being a real handful, it also makes a surprisingly civilised tourer. Buy yours now before prices go stratospheric."

Sunbeam Tiger Land Speed record 80th Anniversary honoured. Land speed Sunbeams will be honoured at Southport Sands on Thursday March 16th "to mark the shining achievement of Sir Henry Seagrave" and his land speed record driving the first Sunbeam Tiger in 1926. A later landspeed Sunbeam (the 350bhp car from Beaulieu) will be exhibited and the Sunbeam Talbot Darracq Club will honour this motoring milestone with a tribute run and stationary display on the spot of Seagrave's triumph. Media report1 - Media report2 - History link1 and link2. It would be excellent if a few members from Lancashire and Merseyside could get to Southport and join in the celebration.

Andy Nash and Nigel Raeburn have again taken the top award and a Silver Medal for the 2005 LE JOG - the 11th Land's End to John O'Groats Historic Reliability Trial - their second victory in succession. Jayne Wignall with co-driver Kevin Savage driving her Porsche 356B also won their fourth consecutive LE JOG Gold, an unprecedented achievement. Stunning results for Andy and Jayne particularly, as by all accounts they had to deal with torrentail rain and floods in the early stages. Very well done both Teams. Report/Results link pic

News on the STOC Committee front. After 7+ years as Chairman, Graham Vickery has decided to step down. John Dandy has kindly accepted the Committee's invitation to become the next Chairman of STOC and Gordon England has also kindly agreed to step up to Vice Chairman. After putting in the longest stint so far as Chairman, Graham hasn't gone too far though as he is continuing with his roles of Editor of Cats Whiskers; Web Master and PR !

At the STOC Annual Awards dinner in November the 2005 awards were presented to the following members: "Ian Garrad Member's Choice" - Allen Bedford; "Carroll Shelby Concours d'Elegance" - Judy Beighton; "Best Original Tiger" - John Welham; "Best Restoration" - Jim Oven; The Ken Dalziel 260 Cup for the "Best Competition Newcomer" went to Kevin Cooper; The Ken Dalziel 289 Cup for the "Best Competition Senior" went to Paul Clayson; "Clubman of the Year was presented to Jayne Wignall, and "Club All Rounder" was awarded to Rae Balchin. More in Cats Whiskers 71.

"The Works Tigers 1964 - 1966" written by Graham Rood is to be published winter 2005/2006. The most authoritative and comprehensive record ever on the Rootes Group "Works" european competition programme for the Sunbeam Tiger. This definitive book is unlikely to be surpassed. To read more and get in line for your copy, click here.

Congratulations to Sunbeam Team Tiger for their 3rd Place in the 2005 AMOC Intermarque Championship. 1st Porsche.(584 pts). 2nd AM 6cyl team (520 pts). 3rd Sunbeam Tiger (487 pts). 4th AM V8 (464 pts). 5th American V8 (301 pts). 6th Austin Healey (179 pts). 7th Jaguar team (49 pts). Paul Clayson deserves special mention for winning points for the team in all 7 rounds and becoming the joint winner of his Class (A) in only his second year of racing.

Several members have asked the name of the photographer who took the great photographs of the Tigers at the ACE Cafe used in the centrefold of Cats Whiskers 70. His name is Eric Richardson and his handiwork together with several photographs of the joint 'Reigate & Thorpe chapters' visit in late August can be found here. Take a look

retro cars September issue has a great front cover photograph of club member Allen Bedford's car under a banner of "Tigers on the Prowl". Can't speak for the copy but the accent must be on horsepower & performance. The several page piece is believed to be in interview format and whilst it may not be one for the purists it's none the less always good to get a front cover. Fellow Club member Dean McGee's car is featured alongside Allen's car as the milder version (at 280bhp!).

An opportunistic businessman in Georgia, U.S.A. has filed an application with the relevant Federal authority to acquire the U.S rights to the brand names "Sunbeam Tiger" and "Sunbeam Alpine" amongst others - seemingly in support of a quest to launch a 'new' Sunbeam Tiger; check here . Whilst on the face of it Peugeot P.S.A UK and their French masters in Paris couldn't care less, even after prompting, many minds across the Atlantic are being exercised as to how to successfully object to & curb this move on the marque's heritage. STOC wishes them well. Readers of this piece may, however, be interested to learn that these 'new models' came to US shores by way of Sweden and a little known enterprise by the name of Jösse Car AB which built the Indigo 3000 in small numbers during the mid-nineties. Take a peek here . To see something of the principals handiwork take a look at some production models here . All came to naught by 1999, notwithstanding evolving a JC 850 MPC (Multi Purpose Truck) prototype in 1995 based on a Volvo 850e which appears to be the origin of the 'new' Sunbeam Alpine SUV. It would be interesting to learn how the means of production, licenses and/or design rights were transferred to the new US interests. If anyone can shed any light on this please drop a line to STOC

Sunbeam Team Tiger are doing rather well in the AMOC Intermarque Championship. At the half way stage the Team of Sunbeam Tigers are 3rd (of 8) in the standings and are poised nicely to challenge for the championship spot. standings after 4 rounds. Well done to Jackie Cochrane, Chris Beighton, Simon James, Tristan Bradfield, David Smallridge, Andrew Davenall, Paul Clayson. And thanks to Bob Cranham for taking the snaps.

The 2005 Chasestead Sunbeam Challenge on 25th June was won by Jackie Cochrance in his new car after a barnstorming start saw Simon James take the lead from the front of the grid. Simon led for 2 laps with sponsor David Smallridge chasing Jackie hard on the drying Donington circuit before Jackie found all the adhesion he needed to slip by Simon James and open up a 15 sec lead by the finish.

1st Jackie Cochrane; 2nd David Smallridge; 3rd Simon James. results . Class wins went to Tony Eckford (289) driving the No8 LM car; Kevin Cooper (260) driving his F.I.A. car and Steve Smith in his ever quick Alpine. The Club would like to thank all the entries for yet another excellent race, including Andrew Davenall; Paul Clayson; Chris Draycott; Keith Hampson; Tristan Bradfield and Bryn Griffiths. Corner 1; 123.

For the second event running - Rounds 4 & 5 of the 2005 Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship, Porshes got in front of the Tiger of Patrick Watts and Elgan Davies. Round five of the championship, the Mid Wales Stages over the weekend of June 25/26 comprised 55 stage miles in the Hafren and Sweet Lamb region saw Patrick take 3rd place aftere a high speed run-off. Patrick has now won 2 Rounds and taken 2 thirds which with a 2nd Round no entry still leaves him leading the pack - just. 4 Rounds to go! link1 , link2

Jayne Wignall with Kevin Savage also began her rallying year in great fashion, taking her Tiger to 1st Overall in April's " La Carrera Mediteranna" a three week rally round the Med - starting in France going through Italy, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece back to Italy, Sicily and then to Tunisia ! The Tiger of John & Judi Catt came in 11th. Read more here . Jayne and Kevin had previously taken 3rd Overall in October in the Hexham Historic Rally, one of the oldeest rally's in the North of England.

Patrick Watts & co-driver Elgan Davies have made a very impressive start to the 2005 Armajaro MSA Bristish Historic Rally Championship. He took his Tiger to 1st Overall and 1st in Class in Round 1 - The Robin Hood Forest Stages in mid March & thoroughly saw off the challenge of 3 Porsche 911's - the 3 other quickest cars of the 2004 Championship. "My car is geared for 115mph and that's enough" ! Pic Link Pic Link2 Results Link Results Link2

It is with great sadness that STOC reports the sudden passing of Michael Cooper on 26th March, long time Tiger enthusiast and one of - if not the best freelance photographer of F1 in the 60's. Mike who some of us in STOC have known even before he bought his Tiger in 1967 was a stalwart of F1 motor racing having become a 'Steering Wheel' Club member in 1959, where many a rowdy evening was spent in the company of Hill, Clark and other F1 icons. His work can be seen here. Our thoughts are with Liz, Ben & Jo. A full tribute will be made in Cats Whiskers. Pictured here with Mike at his home recently are Tony Hussey (long time friend) & Robert Coucher, Editor 'Octane' magazine.

Congratulations to STOC member Terry Pickering who with co-driver Antony Preston won the Winter Challenge Rally - both the Master Class and Sporting Route Cars Class in his TR3A. This rally ran from 26th February to 4th March, starting at the Historic Motor Sports Show at Stoneleigh and finishing in Monte Carlo after blizzards en route. Terry assures me though that he will be running his newly prepared rally spec Tiger in similar events this year. Good for the marque to have another winner join the ever increasing group of

successful Tiger campaigners. Well done too to Malcolm Pickering & Andy Gibson for bringing their Tiger home in 3rd Place " a good effort at Tiger taming by Malcolm in the winter conditions" and David Rayner and Neil Revington also, for finishing in their Tiger 27 out of 60 + starters - Link

STOC congratulates club member Andy Nash & co-driver Nigel Raeburn for winning the Le Jog classic at his fifth attempt, 4-7th December. This the 10th Land's End to John O'Groats Historic Reliability Trial was the toughest yet. pic . There can be little doubt the Sunbeam Tiger is attracting significant interest across the spectrum of classic motorsports and is certainly achieving a heightened competitive reputation - one that is proportionately much greater than supposedly more 'significant' marques. Jayne Wignall took 3rd place and a Gold Medal driving her second choice car - a Porsche 356B

STOC is pretty pleased to report that the Club has won a major award from the Classic & Sports Car magazine. At their annual club awards ceremony staged at the NEC Classic Car Show on 23rd October, 2004, STOC collected "The Best Club Run/Rally" for "40 Years of the Tiger". Peter Shinton is pictured in the December issue being presented with the trophy by David Evans. Many thanks David and C&SC.

The US magazine Classic Motorsports has stolen a march on all of the Tiger clubs by announcing a Tiger restoration project to be featured on their website over the next few months starting in December. Another US mag Autoweek, pictures the SUNI IV event and carries a fascinating article about the Segrave LSR Sunbeam Tiger - it goes through the starting procedure to good effect.

Jackie Cochrane took the winners laurels and the "Mike Windebank Memorial Trophy" in the 4th running of the Chasestead Sunbeam Challenge at the Snetterton circuit on Sunday 29th August - with Simon James 2nd and Chris Weedon 3rd. The reduced grid also saw Paul Clayson driving a Tiger for the first time in his first racing event. Paul had a good tussle with Andrew Davenall and both showed the fun you can have with a road going Tiger. Excellent close racing too between sponsor David Smallridge and Chris Weedon gave the public a darn sight more entertainment than the Belgian F1 Grand Prix !

Several stirring column inches about the Tiger by Mick Walsh in his 'From the Cockpit' column in the latest issue (October) of Classic &Sports Car. Here is a small piece "Twilight hour at Le Mans is always magical but, after watching the leading group of GT40's blast under the Dunlop bridge, I found myself punching the air as the Lister Tiger Coupe growled around, heading everything else including the Cobra army. What better way to celebrate the Rootes rocket's 40th birthday". Also excellent coverage by David Evans in his Clubs pages piece on "Tiger Fleet Tours Europe for 40th Do" and some other comments in the the feature article "24 Hour Party People" !!

Classic Car Weekly (August 4th) were the first to report on STOC 'exploits' at the Le Mans Classic. Martin Pester and his MKII are pictured among the period racers receiving treatment, curtesy of a stump jack, to an oil seal '"that let go at speed". . Pic. Nice caption. Mind you Martin was going flat out down the Mulsanne when it happened - during the club members Track Lap ! Here's another pic from Bob Cranham emphasising the man power involved.

Henny Cates's Tiger B9472757 HROFE (pic) will be featured on the cover of the April issue of Classic & Sportscar magazine. The accompanying article compares the Tiger back to back with a late Healey and decides which is best for a classic driving holiday. Henny has criss crossed Europe several times in his Tiger, twice in the Euroclassic. In the last one he turned around at Prague. I don't know what C&SC conclude so I'm looking forward to reading the piece. What's the expression...no brainer? Out early March.

The January issue of Octane carries a report on the latest Classic Adelaide which briefly mentions STOC member Edward Baker's Tiger and how he was eliminated in a spectacular roll on day three. This was Edward's third crack at the biggest rally in the Antipodes. After finishing in the top half dozen in 2002, Edward with co-driver Stella Plenderleith was again in the leading group until day three and his 80+mph roll off the tarmac. I understand both walked away pretty well unharmed but the car is another matter as this pic conveys ! But expect the team to be back in 2005.

Whilst B38201833 LRXFE the ex-Dutch Tiger lost in the 2002 wreck of the 'MV Tricolor' has purportedly been raised from the grip of Davy Jones locker, STOA have been told by SMIT - the salvage company - that "All cars on board of the vessel Tricolor will be completely destroyed, even when some parts maybe still useable; we are contractually obliged to do so". See Norm Miller's site (The Magic) for the initial story line. Anyone making a 'boose cruise' to Zeebrugge might just see the wreckage on the dockside and wonder whether the Tiger is in this piece. And to think I used the same RoRo line to ship my MKII to Tigers United in 1997 !

STOC is very pleased to announce that Peter Procter has agreed to become the Honorary President of the Club. Peter Procter was one of the first men to drive a competition Tiger when he tested the Lister built 'Mule' (B9499999) at Le Mans on 18th April 1964 before going on to drive ADU 180B (B9499998) with Jimmy Blumer, against all the odds, at that years' LM 24Heures. 38 years later Peter came out of retirement to again race his old car at the 2002 Le Mans Classic ahead of taking the car to Goodwood for the Revival Meeting. 2003 saw Peter back in No9 at the 30th Monterey Historics in the US and a month later he was awarded the "Spirit of Goodwood" Trophy by Lord March. If I may say so, a most fitting and deserving award. During his acceptance speech at a packed Club Dinner last weekend Peter was presented with a token of the Club's appreciation of his continuing contribution to the marque. Many thanks Peter

Classic & Sports Car magazine awards STOC "Best Small Club Website" (fewer than 5000 members). STOC was presented with the 2003 award by Editor, James Elliott at C&SC's annual awards party at the NEC International Classic Car Show and whilst the webmaster was unable to be there to collect the award in person due to a prior engagement at the Club's Annual General Meeting, I understand the man is quite delighted !

The STOC stand at the NEC International Classic Car Show was confined to three Tigers this year owing to the increased demand for show space. Nonetheless, the cars on display drew in a considerable amount of interest both from the public and the marque's enthusiasts. 5 new members and some fresh historical anecdotes was a plus as well. The Rally Tiger of Peter Lloyd, the Hartwell MKII Tiger of Alisdair Naylor and Angela Dandy's 2003 'Best Rebuild' MK1 Tiger did the business. pic1

STOC members Christopher and Heather Darwin had another excellent outcome to their September Goodwood Track Day event, raising their prostate cancer charities funding by another £4,500. pic. Christopher regularly arranges charity track days at the Goodwood Motor Circuit (home of the Revival Meeting) and STOC Chairman Vickery hopes more members of the Club will feel able to get along to one of the 2004 days. Watch the Events Diary page or contact Christopher c.darwin@virgin.net or 01403 783458

STOC Tigers grab Team award in The Champagne Classic Rally Tour AND Peter Lloyd and Suzanne May take 2nd overall,missing 1st o/a by 4 secs. Graham & Sue Cowland (24th), Dave Herning (29th), Trevor Part (38th) and John & Moira Hilbery (48th Retired). May be a low key rally but it is still fantastic to see so many Club Tigers entered. At the last count that makes 17 STOC rallying members competing in everything from the leading national historic championship events, through the toughest International & European classics, to the rally tours. report link

Another rally success by a STOC Tiger to report. Peter Lloyd & Suzanne May drove to a 3rd Overall place in the Iberian Classic which over 8 days (27/09-5/10) ran from Biarritz, Western France across the Pyrenees and via ferry to Palma, Mallorca. They took the 'mixed team' class award too. Well done Peter and Suzanne. Report in CW 65. pic. The weekend beginning 17th October sees a large team of Tigers running in the "Champagne Rally" through unsurprisingly the Champagne region East of Paris - just in time to drink a toast to this year's harvest! STOC members entered include, Dave Herning, Trevor Part, John Hilberry, Graham Cowland and the irrepressible Peter & Suzanne for what will be their 6th rally this year!

Must be a record - 7 pages on the Sunbeam Tiger in the November issue of Sportscar Classics. The competition life of Jayne Wignall, ace STOC rallyist, is explored and several good shots of LPU 93C are included. Better get out to the shops fast though because this issue - No5 - is the last. Sadly it is being withdrawn by the publisher. pic .

STOC also congratulates Jayne and navigator Kevin Savage for a great 3rd Overall result in the top notch 2003 15th Classic Marathon (23 - 26 September), running across France and northern Spain. Another terrific result to add to Jayne's list of achievements. Husband Paul took his Alfa Romeo to 14th overall and among the 103 entries was the Tiger of non-member Malcolm Pickering who came in 23rd O/A. Link

Chris Beighton and John Finnemore thrashed a huge 80+ entry at Spa-Francorchamps in the One Hour 'British Sports & Saloon Car Challenge' race, the first of two, over the weekend of 12-14th September. Chris & John took the Ardennes track by storm in the 'orange bomber' and led most of the race, finishing 4 secs ahead of the 2nd place Aston Martin. Results link Simon James ran well in his Tiger until something broke (details awaited). Tony Eckford and Chris then went on to take the 'No 8' Lister Sunbeam Tiger into the leading group of cars in the 'Gentlemen Drivers' event completing 29 of 35 laps before retiring. Pics to follow.

"As the sun sets in the west on the sixth Revival Meeting, Lord March paid tribute to the drivers, marshals, medics and spectators who had helped to make this yet another truly glorious historic race meeting. As the late departers assembled in a huge throng on the track, the prize giving ceremony unfolded with trophy after trophy presented for stunning race after race.The Spirit of Goodwood award, presented by Roger May of the Goodwood Supporters Association, went to Peter Procter, who suffered horrendous burns following a huge accident in the 60s, and returned last year with the Sunbeam Tiger he raced at Le Mans in 1964 and this with the Sunbeam Alpine he also raced in period at Le Mans". Well done Peter !

STOC member Martin Pester and his Metropolitan Police Tiger II will be the subject of a 'man and his car' three page spread in the November issue of Thoroughbred & Classic Cars. This magazine which was first published 30 years ago this October is celebrating its 30th Anniversary and since Martin's Tiger was featured in that first edition of October 1973 (then titled "Classic Car"), what better way to mark the occasion than to update the piece from 30 years ago! 1973 pic can you spot what's wrong with Martin's MKII?

STOC is very pleased to announce a very special party - the "SUNBEAM TIGER AT 40" . This celebration of the launch of the Tiger at the 1964 New York Motor Show will be staged in central England during late July 2004 and is open to all enthusiasts of the Sunbeam Tiger. info We believe this event holds something for every Tiger nut and STOC is looking forward to making it memorable for everyone who participates!

The Monterey Historics in California - 14-17th August will see five Tigers competing. Including the No9 Sunbeam Lister Tiger of STOC member Darrell Mountjoy, Dave McDermott's Targa Florio works Tiger and Steve Alcala running in a competition Tiger. Also it seems the Alan Fraser 'Monster' Tiger is being brought out of a long hibernation by keeper Chris Gruys to be driven by C.A.T. ace Dan Walters. STOC's own literary racing ace Julian Balme will be tackling the Laguna Seca circuit in his Falcon as well - info

A big well done to STOC member Robin Sherwood for winning the MSA Motorsport Classic Challenge in April. Driving his pristine MKII with his do-driving father they dealt with a large field and picked up two big mugs to boot. Pics and link to follow. There is a general report in the July issue of Classic & Sportscar plus pictures of the two Sherwoods..

Classics magazine June issue carries a photo spread of B9473638 HROFE, Phil Blay's immaculately restored Tiger. In a feature article Phil's car is compared with a last of line Austin Healey 3000 -BJ8; no contest really but the author concludes the test is a draw. May be, but nothing convinces me that a Big Healey is worth 40% more than a Tiger. Great cover pic; action pic

How does this sound then? The Sunday Times newspaper's Motoring column of 9th March says...."in the £15,000 - £20,000 range the buzz in the classic car world is the Sunbeam Tiger. This extraordinary Anglo-American hybrid uses the pretty body and chassis of a humble Sunbeam Alpine and equips it with a 4.7 litre V8 engine not unlike that used in the Ford GT40 at Le Mans in the 1960's. Expect huge power, thrilling drives and (seemingly!) terrible rust. Find a clean one however, and as Elliot says: "You'll have a hell of a car for the money. Sounds great, looks great and shouldn't ever let you down"..". Well I can pretty well go along with that. link

After a peerless 2002 season during which Chris Beighton crushed all comers in the Lighthouse Anglo-American Challenge series, Chris deservedly took AMOC's Championship and the winners laurels in the penultimate round. Seasons' news digest. action shot profile

The Tiger is included by Classic & Sportscar in a "Dream Sports Cars for £10,000" feature in the April issue. A nicely put mainly factual piece from Alastair Clements with a right to the point 'Expert's View' contribution from Keith Hampson - but ten grand remains a tight budget other than for unrestored examples. From where I sit running Classifieds, very few ten grand cars go through nowadays. Also a tad misleading to picture a £35K+ MKII among the contenders on the cover. Many thanks anyway to the supporters at C&SC!!

Interesting two page interview of Rosemary Smith in Classic Car Weekly (19th Feb). The article doesn't get around to Rosemary's drives in Tigers but the piece is still worth the read! historic pic

A 2003 Membership Register was posted to the membership Feb 10th. Please let the Club know about any mistakes!

A well done four page article about STOC member Dave McDermott's 1965 Targa Florio race/rally Tiger - AHP 483B, can be found in the December issue of Grassroots Motorsports magazine {"'America's sports car magazine"). Dave who is also the President of the Colorado Association of Tiger Owners keeps this tale of his Tiger straight!

I hear from Julian Balme he has a feature article about the Goodwood Revival Meeting and Peter Procter's heroic return to the circuit in the December/January 2003 issue of Vintage Motorsport. This US magazine is out now and will no doubt be an excellent read. Not sure though where it can be found/ordered in England - if any one knows please let me know - STOC

"Cats Whiskers" gains another award from the classic car media ! Our Club magazine received a 3rd place prize in the Classic Car Weekly 'classic car club magazine awards 2002' (Club's of 250 - 1000 members) at the NEC International Classic Car Show. This complement follows a 2nd place and a 'highly commended' award for Best Club Magazine of 2001 (less than 500 members) from the Classic & Sports Car magazine at their annual awards party during last year's International Classic Motor Show. pic1 pic2

STOC members clinch Best Marque Team trophy in Hero's 2002 Lisbon Rally. The Tigers of Peter Lloyd/Suzanne May and George/Elizabeth Baird with a 1954 Alpine took the winners laurels on 14th October in Lisbon. This coming on top of the Bairds taking 1st in Class - 5th overall and Peter and Suzanne taking 2nd in Class & 6th Overall. A great result. Pics & story

STOC Member Michael Cooper, the sixties FI photographer, has many of his excellent photographs displayed in Connelly's London West End shop at 41 Conduit Street from November 22 until early in the New Year. Mike also has put together a website of his work - take a look here and his 2003 motorsport calendar as well

"Tigers get too close for comfort" so reports Classic&Sports Car in the December issue. Under a great pic of the starting grid a tight narrative says it all..." An all Sunbeam Tiger race produced one of the closest battles of the Sports Car Festival at Brands Hatch on September 28-29. See Sunbeam Team Tiger for C&SC's report and pics. The Chasestead Sunbeam Challenge was without a shadow of doubt the best race of the weekend. Maybe a cliche - but the race had every one of the couple of thousand spectators in the stands on their feet!

How many mentions did Sunbeam Tigers, STOC and STOC members get in Dec's Classic & Sports Car mag? ..(10) ..Julian Balme's "Wooly Bully" and Michael Cooper (p9), Chasestead Race + two nice pics (p17), "Bullit proof" - John Harrison (p116/117), Peter Procter "Saturday Night Fever" + pic (p124). Same article: Julian Balme and his drive in STOC member - Kevin Kivlochan's- Cobra. Martin Pester (p151), Tigers burn bright at Brands (p154), Pither's racers/ADU 312B (p158).

STOC member Andrew Davenall clinches 3rd spot in the 2002 SEMSEC John Taylor Handicap Championship on Saturday, 26th October - "with a fine last place which carried enough points to get me there". Andrew has competed in several other classic motorsports events/series this year, including The Brighton Speed Trial, The Chasetead Sunbeam Challenge and hillclimbs. All together more than justifying being awarded the "Ken Dalziel 260" trophy for Most Promising Newcomer 2002 at the Club's Annual Dinner in early November. actionpic. See SEMSEC

Some smashing copy about Peter Procter and his Goodwood exploits in November's issue of Classic & Sports Car. I'm sure Editor, James Elliott won't mind me quoting what he had to say about Peter in his Editorial. ".. the unique way that Goodwood ploughs the field of history and turns up endless forgotten treasures, [Sheene's] equal in heroism to my mind was Peter Procter in a Le Mans Tiger....remember that when Procter last raced, at Goodwood in 1966, he suffered injuries so horrific......That he chose the same venue to make such a modest and unheralded return more than 35 years on speaks volumes about ....the quality of its heroes". "For insight into into this remarkable character see Full Throttle on p32." Much more on this elsewhere and in the upcoming Cats Whiskers 63, pic

Jayne Wignall and Kevin Savage took Top Brits & 4th overall in the Rallye des IIles that ran across Corsica and Sardinia 27 Sept - 5th Oct. Jayne reports - "The Tiger was in its element. With ample grunt and a wonderfully high first gear, we were able to make mincemeat of a 1 in 4 hillclimb with 18 successive hairpin bends. Sheer joy! pic

The Brighton National Speed Trial saw three STOC Tigers this year. No one won anything but Tigers always attract media interest not the least Martin Pester in his ex-police MKII, which together appeared in the Brighton Argos newspaper and the C&SC mag. Here are the three Tiger men, Ben May, Martin Pester and Andrew Davenall - play this mpg loud! More in CW63

Good report on the Goodwood TT in Autosport 12th September..." a 30 car field including both splendid 1964 Le Mans Sunbeam Lister Tigers...". Nice pic of the start too.

Excellent Goodwood Revival Meeting preview in the September issue of Motorsport - "the greatest race meeting on the planet.."

The No8 LM Tiger was successfully tested by Howden Ganley and Chris Beighton Tuesday 3rd September at the Bruntingthorpe circuit. This follows on from an aggressive test of the No9 LM Tiger by Peter Procter at Goodwood last week. STOC wishes the best of luck in the TT this Sunday to Tony Eckford, Darrell Mountjoy, Peter Procter, Chris Beighton & Howden Ganley (No9 pics:- UK base Brooklands 1907 track peaceful Goodwood )

Nice piece by Mike Taylor in the September issue of The Automobile. Styled as a 'Buyer's Guide' it is very good to see Mike Taylor back on the writing Tiger trail - excellent photographs too !

Recently seen Goodwood Revival Meeting PR.. "Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration race.... Described as the 'greatest race on earth', this one-hour battle features £20million of 1960's GT cars, driven by some of motorsport's most famous names. Indycar champion Bobby Rahal will line up in a Ferrari 250 GTO against Sir Stirling Moss, Derek Bell, Jackie Oliver, Jochen Mass, Patrick Tambay, Brian Redman, Howden Ganley, Jason Plato, Win Percy and Gerry Marshall. Le Mans winner Emanuele Pirro plans to defend his victory last year in a Jaguar E-type Lightweight, fending off Aston Martin Project cars, AC Cobras, Chevrolette Corvettes and a brace of Sunbeam Lister Tigers"..

Chris Beighton dominated the Anglo-American Challenge race at Mallory Park last weekend (14th July) and is now nicely placed in the overall championship stakes - results.

Good to see another magazine praising the Tiger. "Just how much do you want one of these...?". CLASSICS August issue reckons their poll puts the Tiger just 18 from the top of a 100 car review!

B9472867HROFE joined the Jubilee celebrations and the motorcade down Pall Mall for the drive by presentation to the Queen and the Royal family of important British cars manufactured since the Coronation!!

Jayne Wignall lifts Classic Malts Gold Medal tally to 5 ! This time Jayne took the navigator's seat with Kevin Savage driving the Tiger and led on "Team Tiger" (George Baird/John McKelvey & Andy Nash/Melanie Kanerek) to be National Team Wiinners and a host of other awards. Husband Paul did rather well too with his "Northern Raiders" team, albeit in an Alfa Romeo. Loads of congratulations to Jayne & Kevin and "Team Tiger". Full results and some pics at 'Hero'.

Peugeot PSA donate Rootes Engineering Drawings to the ARCC and member clubs! The entire collection of the engineering department technical drawings library from the Chrysler era has been handed over covering the 60's to the beginning of the 80's, with a selection of material from as early as the 50's. The library includes any redrawings of, or modifications to, drawings from the earlier Rootes era as well but it is too soon to tell how much deals with the Tiger. The quantity of material is enormous and comprises of 1200 sq ft of storage space in some 50 metal cabinets and 1,500 tubes, each containing 30 drawings, in all in excess of 100,000 drawings. there is also a large selection of bound ledgers and card indexes: more or less complete sets of Model Assembly Lists that detail specifications of all overseas export models in assembled and CKD form; and Engineering Release Lists that detail when modifications were passed by Engineering for incorporation in the production schedule. The whole beats Alladin's cave! More in Cats Whiskers 62. See full ARCC press release

Mike Windebank, long time STOC member and Tiger racer passed away today (8th May). Mike always highly regarded among senior and junior members of Team Tiger most bravely dealt with his illness and managed to find the strength to support his will to get along to Brands Hatch over last weekend to watch for the last time his friends racing the cars he had both raced and admired for so long. A nice kind man, with a sharp wit and generous in the extreme. Mike will be sadly missed by all of us.

Chris Beighton won the second running of the Chasestead Sunbeam Challenge at Brands Hatch on Sunday 5th May. Motorsport News gave Chris the 'Drive of the Day' award and said " Sunbeam Tiger ace Chris Beighton won three of his four races and finished a closing fourth in the other - he was awesome in the May sunshine." Attrition during practice took the final grid down to 18 and Jackie Cochrane was one of the fallers due to significant top end damage. So whilst the long anticipated opportunity to see Chris tussling again with Jackie Cochrane will have to wait until September, the race was nevertheless enlivened by the entry of Rod Birley driving Chris Weedon's Tiger who pushed Chris hard all the way to the line. A terrific turnout by Team Tiger and Team Alpine, excellent effort lads. Roll on September. Results & pics to follow

The keepers of the 1964 Le Mans Tigers have been invited by the Goodwood Racing Car Club to enter the Royal Automobile Club "TT" Celebration Cup THE feature race of the prestigous Goodwood Revival Meeting. Peter Procter will co-drive No9 with Darrell Mountjoy and we hope to announce the co-driver of No8 in a day or two. More info on TIGERS INTERNATIONAL pages

David Rainer/Phil Smith achieved 5th overall and 1st in Class in Round 1 of last weekends TAC Flanders Ardennes Historic Challenge Rally in Belgium. David competing in Category C - 'MSA 1960 - 1967' had a hard tussle in his Tiger with the leading Opels from Category A but was very happy with his result.

STOC member Marc Devis has been accepted for the "Le Mans Classic" and will drive his ex-works Alfa 33/2 Daytona. That makes 6 STOC member entries to date!. - 2 LM Tigers, 1 LM Alpine, 1 AC Cobra, 1 Aston Martin and 1 Alfa Romeo. See couple of mentions about STOC plans in May issue of Classic & Sports Car magazine.

STOC member Keith Hampson has been accepted for the "Le Mans Classic" this September and will drive his 1963 LM Sunbeam Alpine

STOC is very pleased to say that having contacted Claude Dubois the co-driver of No8 in 1964, we hope he will be able to join the STOC party and celebrations at the Le Mans Classic. At least in part since Claude has entered and will be driving a Mustang Shelby in the main event!

STOC member Jim Campbell has been accepted for the "Le Mans Classic" and will drive his 1935 Aston Martin Ulster. Anybody else with the similar plans!!!

"Kynaston tigers his Sunbeam to head off strong historic field" - says Motorsport News (2Mar02). "Paul Kynaston and Gary Bully powered their Sunbeam Tiger to victory in last weekends's opening round of the Minilite British Historic Rally series on the Robin Hood Historic Forest Stages. The 2000 winners were upstaged at the start though as the Nutt/McBride Porsche 911 took an early lead and extended it to 19secs at the overnight halt on Saturday. However, daylight tipped the balance and the Tiger crew started to eat into the 911's lead. First time through the two long fast stages in Clipstone Forest proved decisive with Kynaston/Bully taking more than 30 seconds off Nutt/McBride, on their way to the fastest time over every on eof Sunday's nine stages."

STOC member Kevin Kivlochan has been accepted for the "Le Mans Classic" and will drive his 1963 AC Cobra MK II . The fist list of entries of 150 cars includes 15 Aston Martins, 5 Bentleys, 2 Bugatti, 7 Chevron, 16 Ferraris, 5 GT40's, 10 Jaguars, 5 Lola, 7 Lotus, 6 Maserati, 18 Porsche and 2 Sunbeam Tigers!

Classic & Sports Car magazine (April) name the Sunbeam Tiger in Top 20 of "Most Underrated Classics" - "Tenth of the price of a Cobra and just as desirable in our book. Pretty, pokey and nimble, the Tiger came with 260 or 289 (MK11) Ford V8 power, is good for 120mph-plus. Some 7000 built, excellent spares/club support: buy well and you're laughing"....The best-kept secrets and criminally undervalued!

An Appeal. From Darrell Mountjoy: To All Members of the Sunbeam Community: Thank you for all the kind words on my recent acquiring of the Sunbeam Tiger Le Mans Coupe, ADU180B. What an honor, as well as responsibility, it is. As its new keeper I feel a strong obligation to respect and restore its heritage. Over the decades 180B has gone through many changes from its original configuration. In addition to returning the car to its previous glory I'm trying to document it's running changes; what was done, when, by whom, and for what purpose. To that end I am soliciting for information you may have regarding 180B. I have most of the "published" information. I am seeking, in particular, early history, ownership, competition, photo documentation, original bits & spares, etc. All original documents received will be treated with the utmost care and will be promptly returned, unless indicated for my possession. Any assistance you may be able to provide will be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Darrell Mountjoy 22042 Tanbark Lane Lake Forest California 92630 USA mtjoy@telis.org Tel: 001 949.830.7086

British "Tigers Reunited'" ! John Dandy with niece Susanne Young daughter of Ian and Laura Garrad, enjoyed a happy reunion in California recently and added this snap of John and Susanne modelling some pretty rare LAT items to the family photo album.

The STOC stand at the C&CS International Classic Motor Show at the NEC Birmingham, will be bannered "The Sunbeam Tiger - still winning" and feature three stunning Tigers. Jane Wignall's record achieveing rally Tiger, Chris Beighton's AMOC Class winning race Tiger and Judy Beighton's eye poppingly original MK1 and 2001 Best Tiger winner. On day two, Sunday the 11th, Rosemary Smith will be on the stand with Jimmy Blumer, driver of the No9 Le Mans Tiger in 1964.

C&SC's December magazine has a good piece & interview with Rosemary Smith about her goings on - in a Rapier - at the Goodwood Motor Circuit Revival Meeting (Sept 14-16). Let's see if that can be repeated with a Tiger in 2002. Also nice mention and pic of Chris Beighton running out the winner of the AMOC Lighthouse AA Challenge at Donnington on Sept 30th.

The new date for the first Classic Le Mans next year is September 21/22. ACO are staging this event as a direct result of the success of this year's 'Le Mans Legends' race. We expect that certain STOC members will be registering their interest to enter and a number of members have already booked their ticket for the trip. promo

Congratulations to STOC member Jane Wignall and her co-driving mother, former Rally champ Beryl Neate, for becoming a record setting consecutive 4th Gold Medal winner in The Classic Malts. Pic See this successful Rally Tiger on STOC's stand at the NEC Classic & Sports Car Show this Nov 10/11. Small mention in December's C&SC magazine.

Small piece in November Classic Car magazine about September's Brighton Speed Trial and STOC member Martin Pester's ex-police MK2 + a pic of Martin 'laying down rubber'. Pic

Chris Beighton took Ist Place in the A-AC race at the Donington Park circuit on 30th September. "A three-way Anglo American Challenge battle went to Chris Beighton's Sunbeam Tiger, after a move on the inside of the chicane on lap eight took him past Ralf Avis's Shelby GT350 Mustang".(Motorsport News). His win means that Chris is this season's winner of the AMOC "Over 3 litre Class" trophy.

Brief mention about Anglo American and small pic in November Classic & Sports Car. As you were, don't bother catching Classic Cars Weekly, out 2nd October. Apart from a good quote from Keith Hampson (Team Tiger) about points to look for when inspecting the Tiger/Alpine body - the rest is pure 'pot boiler' slap dash page filler. Not even a picture of a Tiger. If any body from Classic Cars Weekly reads this - if there is a next time, please try harder.

After Chris Beighton's terrifying 'off' during practice at Silverstone in August, from which remarkably he emerged unharmed, Chris returned to the AMOC Anglo-American series last weekend (8th Sept) at Mallory Park and scored a third place driving the Tiger Simon James usually competes in. "Third place went to Chris Beighton having initially led this closely-fought race". (Motorsport News)

No 9 Le Mans Tiger - ADU 180B, fetches USD 156,000 incl, buyers premium (GBP 110,000) at the RM Monterey Sports Car auction, California, USA on 17th August, 2001. Pic

Having started from the pit lane Chris Beighton's Sunbeam Tiger blasted through the Anglo American field at the Croft Circuit last Sunday (8th July) and despite a spin at the hairpin he was still able to catch race-long leader Ralf Avis, making the decisive move at Clervaux on the last lap! (Motorsport News).

Sir Stirling Moss visited STOC's stand at the Bromley Pageant of Motoring on Sunday 24th June. During a 20 minute walk about admiring the17 Tigers present Sir Sterling remarked "The Tiger is underated and undervalued and it is a car I would like to enter and drive in a European Rally". He took a copy of CW59 with him ! Pic1. Article

Tony Eckford's Le Mans No 8 1964 works entry driven by Chris Beighton finished 24th out of 61 entries in the LeMans Legends race - the spectacular pre-race to the 2001 24 hrs. Following a main bearing failure during practice and phone calls to the group of Club Tigers travelling down from Le Havre, Steve Beighton most sportingly agreed to loan his engine. After a high speed run to Arnage and making use of a Peugeot garage generously loaned by the owner, the engine was swapped and running by Friday evening. On the morning of the race, knowing that top speed would be down, the Jaguar team were approached and a set of bigger section tyres obtained which lifted 'Mulsanne' top speed closer to 145 m.p.h.. Whilst an excellent grid position was achieved in practice ,being some 20 - 30 mph slower than the leaders left the Tiger down the pack but didn't stop Chris 'going for it' as best he could and getting No 8 to the chequered flag - 37 years on. Congratulations to all involved (see Cats Whiskers 60 out in August). Only slightly lower on the emotion scale was seeing Keith Hampson bring his 1963 Alpine works entry home after head failure on the penultimate lap! Results video pic1 pic2 pic3

Chris Beighton scored a deserved double at Donnington Park on Sunday 10th June, claiming the Anglo-American Challenge on top of his victory in the Classic Saloon versus Sportscar encounter. (Motorsport News 13/6)

Julian Balme tells me his race report on the Chasestead Sunbeam Challenge will be in the July Classic & Sports Car magazine - out 7th June. (also another piece under Club reports)

Jackie Cochrane wins inaugural Chasestead Sunbeam Challenge race at Brands Hatch Saturday 28th April.. 2nd Place went to John Young driving Chris Weedon's Tiger and Chris Beighton took the 3rd Place podium spot.

A sunny start saw Chris Beighton quickly open up a 4 second lead on Jackie, which he gradually pegged back until the last lap when in rainy slippy conditions Chris Beighton had a moment heading into Graham Hill bend that let Jackie and John Young through. A two car drag down the finishing straight saw John and Chris's Tigers cross the line together but John snicked the second spot by the width of a headlamp bezel ! Steve Smith - SAOC did a splendid job getting his Alpine into the top six and taking the Outright Alpine award. David Smallridge - race sponsor - presented his magnificient Tiger trophy to Jackie that evening at the Holiday Inn Hotel together with place and handicap winners awards The word is no one wants to wait until 2002 for a rematch....It might just be Donnington later this year? Results and a picture spread can be found via the Team Tiger page. - Oh yes, and 70 plus Tigers & Alpines got onto the Track as well.

Catch the "Classics" magazine summer issue. It carries a big feature about STOC member Barry Colclough's restoration of his Tiger B9473689HROFE. Out June.

The Tiger of David Rayner/Phil Smith takes 7th place and a class win at the inaugural Ringmeister event at a snowy and icy Nordschliefe Nurburgring. Paul Wignall/Martin Griffiths also placed & class winner in a Porsche. Link Practicing for the Chasestead Sunbeam Challenge race during STOC's Spring Meeting at Brands Hatch - 28/29th April !

Read the 5 page feature article about Doane Spencer - 'A rod's journal' - with a side piece on the Hollywood Sports Car Tiger -- in March Classic & Sports Car magazine

1966 Monte Carlo Rally Tiger, FRW 667C, ( + a pile of spares) fetches £41,000 at H & H Classic Auctions, Buxton on 14th February.

A Sunbeam Tiger will be the front cover of Classic & Sports Car magazine.! - February issue, out January 5th. (last time July 1996). The "Shelby Legends" piece shows and reports on a " Wild Bunch" of Robin Sherwood's splendid MK2, a MK3 AC Cobra and a Shelby Mustang 350, both race prepared. There is also an "interview with the man himself"! picture ".....but the Tiger has to be the pick of the bunch: it's a honey".

Chris Beighton capped a very fine season by winning the final race at the Donnington Park meeting on 1st October. No details to hand at the moment. Tremendous Chris!!! action image

And another fine win for Chris Beighton at Oulton Park on 16th September. (Now I hear STOC and SAOL have been asked by the AMOC if we can field 25 competion Tigers and Alpines for a feature race at Brands Hatch next season - details in this month's Newsletter.) Motorsport News said " Chris Beighton was a jubilant winner in the Anglo-American encounter, just keeping his Sunbeam Tiger ahead of Mark Wright's Jaguar E-type." First: Chris Beighton (Sunbeam Tiger) 14m 03.93s; Second: Mark Wright (Jaguar E-type) 14m 06.85s; Third: Ralph Avis (Ford Mustang); Fourth: Nick Randall (Jaguar E-type).

It's all happening in Team Tiger folks. Chris Beighton has won again at Croft on 19th August. First: Chris Beighton (Sunbeam Tiger) 13m 14.05s (77.14mph) Second: Alec Hammond (Chevrolet Camaro) 13m 18.74s Third: Mark Wright (Jaguar E-Type) Fourth: Mike Adams (Jaguar E-Type) - 8 Laps. Motoring News said " Alec Hammond did his best to stay with Chris Beighton's Tiger at the start of the Anglo American Challenge but after five laps he began to lose touch as Mark Wright's E-Type edged closer". However, I hear Simon James 'cartwheeled' off the circuit without undue personal consequences but I understand that cannot be said of his Tiger!

STOC congratulates Chris Beighton and Team Tiger for his maiden 1st Place win in the Anglo-American Thoroughbred Challenge series meeting at Snetterton on 6th August. A great success! In fact the first 'first' at thislevel since David Barraclough's 1985 Sliverstone win.Pic# First: Chris Beighton (Sunbeam Tiger) 13m 44.857s (85.19mph) Second: Alec Hammond (Chevrolet Camaro) 13m 46.61s. Third: Roddie Feldon (Chevrolet Camaro). Motorsport News says " A delighted Chris Beighton won the Anglo-American race to beat the fast closing Alec Hammond to the line for his maiden victory". And Steve Beighton was a Class Winner driving an Alpine.

Get hold of the October issue of 'Thoroughbred and Classic Car' magazine. It features B382100128 a recently restored MK II re-imported from the USA with an almost complete set of original LAT options. Mark Dixon has written an on the button feature about Frank Dugdale's (STOC member) Tiger.

You can just about see Bob Mc Dowel's Tiger in the "Historic Police Vehicle Enthusiasts' Club&q