To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' Amelia
Island event, 8 - 9 March 2019.
Estimate:
$20,000 - $30,000
- Offered from the Leon-Hackney Collection
- Bought new by Mrs. Leon-Hackney in 1961
- Unusual and rare Mexican-delivery example
- Largely original and unrestored condition
- Includes factory removable hardtop
Javier "Jay" Leon first noticed Berta Graham when she drove past
him in a red convertible, blonde hair blowing in the wind. It is
natural, then, that a red convertible remains in their collection,
this Sunbeam Alpine Series I, which also happens to be among the
last of its kind still in the care of its original owner.
Berta Leon-Hackney acquired her Alpine new on 8 February 1961, from
Europeos de Calidad S.A., the Sunbeam-Hillman-Singer distributors
in Mexico City, location of Jay Leon's business and a place the
couple spent much time at during their marriage. Interestingly,
according to a note in the file, the car was assembled in Puebla
for the Mexican market, with a completion date of 28 October 1960,
and bears a serial number plate from O'Farrill, the country's main
Sunbeam importer.
Finished in bright red with a removable hardtop, it was registered
and used by the Leons in Mexico for many years, with the last
insurance certificate on file being from 1979. Aside from an older
repaint, it remains in original condition, with 45,378 km at the
time of cataloguing, and is largely solid aside from typical
corrosion in the trunk floor. It is offered with a file that
includes Mexican registrations between 1961 and 1978, as well as
the original Bill of Sale and other paperwork from its 58 years
spent in Berta Leon-Hackney's care.
This is undoubtedly one of the few early Alpines remaining with its
original owner, and it boasts a history as fascinating and romantic
as the lady herself.
To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction,
please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/am19.
