Vehicle Description
1962 Sunbeam Alpine Series II. The car is a right-hand drive model.
The serial number indicates it was built for export from Great
Britain. Most likely it was shipped to Japan and brought to Seattle
by a member of the military. The dual fender mounted rear view
mirrors are required equipment in Japan. It has never been driven
on a road where salt has been applied. It was last driven in snow
in Seattle in about 1970. It was last driven in rain in Seattle in
about 1977. It has been stored inside and never driven in bad
weather since 1978 it is remarkably rust free. The battery box
under the rear seat / shelf has a corner rusted from battery acid.
The box has been reinforced with angle iron. Mechanical. The
original 1600 cc engine has been replaced with a rebuilt 1725 cc
engine in 2017. The work was done by the owner and a local machine
shop. It has been driven about 1,500 miles since. The later and
larger engine has 5 main bearings rather than the 3 of the original
engine, although it looks almost identical. The newer engine also
uses a modern full flow oil filter. One cylinder had to be relind
and new pistons and rings were fitted. The original 1600 cc engine
is available if desired. That block has also been rebuilt. The
original head is also available. Both show the same serial number
as the car.The head has been decked a couple of times and probably
should be welded up and milled because the compression ratio would
be too high. The carburetor and intake have been replaced with a
Weber twin choke carburetor in 2016. Parts for the original twin
Zenith carburetors are no longer available and these carburetors
were too tall for the factory to install effective air cleaners.
The original set-up including linkage is available too should the
buyer want it. No permanent modifications were made to the car in
order to change the carburetor set-up.The starter was upgraded to a
modern gear drive model. The front crankshaft cover and front
pulley were replaced with a cover
