The Sunbeam marque was a force to be reckoned with in the 1920s, manufacturing a range of superb quality cars appealing to the discerning motorist with the funds to afford one.

Clutton and Stanford wrote in their excellent book The Vintage Motor Car : ‘The Sunbeams of the Vintage period and early Thirties occupy a unique position.

They combined smoothness with reasonably high performance and good handling.

Mechanically, they showed considerable Continental influence, especially in the clean external design of the engines.

In appearance they combined dignity and dash with remarkable success.

To drive them is a delight, in a peculiar way, not unlike the small contemporary Rolls-Royce.’ The continental influence to which they refer came from the genius of Louis Coatalen, Sunbeam’s brilliant chief engineer.

Spearheading Sunbeam’s aero engine development during WW1, Coatalen used his experience to develop Sunbeam’s racing and Land Speed Record machines in the early Twenties.

Perhaps ...