Description Few owners, the current for 22 years; various choice upgrades including rebuilt MkIII engine and overdrive gearbox; well-maintained by the current STAR President owner; driven 60 miles to the sale; 'come and get me' guide price! Just as the Aston Martin DB5 was immortalised by Sean Connery’s James Bond and the Ford Mustang by Steve McQueen’s Frank Bullitt, the Sunbeam Alpine is forever linked to Grace Kelly cruising the sun-soaked French Riviera in the Hitchcock classic To Catch a Thief .

Launched in 1953, the Alpine was based on the existing Sunbeam-Talbot 90 saloon but with styling input from Raymond Loewy to add the glamour needed to attract the vital American market.

The curvaceous Roadster body was hand-built by Mulliners of Birmingham while the 2,267cc four-cylinder overhead-valve engine received a power boost to 80bhp courtesy of a revised cylinder head.

A further blaze of publicity was achieved when, on its first competitive outing, an Alpine driven by Sheila van...