John Marston Limited's first Sunbeam production car, a De Dion-engined voiturette, was sold in 1901, but it was not until 1907, two years after the Sunbeam Motor Car Company had been formed, that the firm produced its first all-British model, the 16/20.

The arrival of designer Louis Coatalen in 1909 and the pursuit of an effective competition programme enabled Sunbeam to establish a formidable reputation prior to WWI, its superbly made products enjoying a reputation rivalling that of the best from Alvis and Bentley thereafter.

Produced between 1929 and 1933, the Sunbeam 'Sixteen' featured a massively built chassis frame, sprung by semi-elliptics all round and was powered by an overhead-valve six-cylinder engine of 2,040cc rated at 16.9hp for taxation purposes.

Hydraulic brakes arrived for 1931 together with a 2,193cc engine rated at 18hp, and in 1932 the four-speed gearbox gained synchromesh on third and top gears.

Sadly, the collapse of the Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq combine in 1935 a...