My old fast back

Printed from: Sunbeam Rapier Owners Club
Topic URL: http://www.sunbeamrapier.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=212
Printed on: 08 Jan 2025

Topic:

Topic author: Jon
Subject: My old fast back
Posted on: 17 Aug 2010 11:12:46
Message:

Had a bit of filler in her here and there but i loved it

Replies:

Reply author: Holbay120
Replied on: 17 Aug 2010 13:50:47
Message:

Hi Jon, it looks very nice bet you wish you'd lost the photo and kept the car!, I see it has a webasto sunroof did you find that it had a twitchy chassis?, it's just that I wanted to fit a smaller sunroof but was advised against it because as it's a pillarless coupe'the strenght is in the roof,
Regards Etc

David McKenna

Reply author: Jon
Replied on: 17 Aug 2010 14:53:27
Message:

No it held the road really well and found it to be very robust.
I up rated the rear shocks with chevette hsr ones. There pretty much a direct fit and made one hell of a difference. Found it to be relly bouncy on the back, as the standards look like something you would put on a hatch back car to lift the boot! lol

It was great to drive with all the windows down and the webasto back
I miss it

Reply author: janmarine3
Replied on: 19 Aug 2010 06:21:14
Message:

That is nice ! Cool colour & mags.Did you see or hear of this car ever again after you parted with it ?
I would like to see what a liftback & ser Sunbeam will look like after those guys from overhauling get a hold of them. They may come and steal mine any day.

Reply author: Jon
Replied on: 19 Aug 2010 11:01:16
Message:

No ive never seen or heard of it since but it had had lots of welding by me back then so i dont recon it will still be around but you never know!


Hillman Avenger MK1 GT,
Commer PB Pick-Up x2,
Commer PB Panel Van,
Dodge spaceavn Auto sleeper,
Triumph Stag MK1,
Chevette HS x2,
Lancia Delta Integrale,
Fiat Mk1 Uno Turbo,

Reply author: Jon
Replied on: 19 Aug 2010 11:39:39
Message:

Just done a DVLA check and it doesnt look good

The enquiry is complete
The vehicle details for GFD 255N are:

Date of Liability 01 05 2005
Date of First Registration 10 12 1974
Year of Manufacture 1974
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1725CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Export
Vehicle Status Unlicensed
Vehicle Colour YELLOW
Vehicle Type Approval


Hillman Avenger MK1 GT,
Commer PB Pick-Up x2,
Commer PB Panel Van,
Dodge spaceavn Auto sleeper,
Triumph Stag MK1,
Chevette HS x2,
Lancia Delta Integrale,
Fiat Mk1 Uno Turbo,

Reply author: 1922
Replied on: 19 Aug 2010 13:04:30
Message:

Export marker 'export'.
Doesn't that mean it's left the country?

Reply author: steve wilkinson
Replied on: 19 Aug 2010 18:27:58
Message:

have come to the conclusion that like your old car Rapiers look really good with the "smooth" treatment ie loosing some of the exterior furniture from the factory - sill covers badges etc and lowered with some deep dish wheels.
Seems to accentuate the body shape even more - nice.
Here's some others from my pics collection





and some extreme examples!!!!

Reply author: JPSH120
Replied on: 19 Aug 2010 20:05:46
Message:

Some interesting ones there Steve, I would like to find out who owns this one.....



How nice is that?!

Reply author: 1922
Replied on: 19 Aug 2010 23:28:48
Message:

That's been in the club magazine - belongs to a young fella in the club, can't remember his name at the moment ... it'll come to me eventually.

Reply author: Jon
Replied on: 20 Aug 2010 01:03:29
Message:

They look great in gun metal grey
My old man had a gun metal grey one when they were only a few years old back in the day.It had a red pin stripe on it really set it off. Ive got a pic somewhere of it with him standing next to it in his flares lol!


Hillman Avenger MK1 GT,
Commer PB Pick-Up x2,
Commer PB Panel Van,
Dodge spaceavn Auto sleeper,
Triumph Stag MK1,
Chevette HS x2,
Lancia Delta Integrale,
Fiat Mk1 Uno Turbo,

Reply author: janmarine3
Replied on: 20 Aug 2010 16:47:07
Message:

WOW ! that grey and black fastback could change my mind about preferring series Rapiers...it looks as if it came out the box a month ago.

Reply author: UMU
Replied on: 24 Sep 2010 08:18:57
Message:

Hey nice to see my fastback on here (the grey one on the beach)
Im just getting to grips with the form, but so far so good

Reply author: bigt80
Replied on: 16 Oct 2010 19:44:59
Message:

quote:

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Originally posted by 1922

That's been in the club magazine - belongs to a young fella in the club, can't remember his name at the moment ... it'll come to me eventually.

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Reply author: UMU
Replied on: 17 Oct 2010 10:21:22
Message:

It would be good to get our grey ones together - but Bedford isnt too close, humm

Reply author: 65beam
Replied on: 25 Jan 2011 00:14:28
Message:

the white fastback in the first photo is a U.S. car. it spent over 32 years in a garage in washington,d.c. i bought it on e bay for 300 u.s. dollars. we found no rust when we stripped it back to bare metal prior to restoration.

Reply author: arrocuda
Replied on: 25 Jan 2011 08:42:49
Message:

quote:

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Originally posted by 65beam

the white fastback in the first photo is a U.S. car. it spent over 32 years in a garage in washington,d.c. i bought it on e bay for 300 u.s. dollars. we found no rust when we stripped it back to bare metal prior to restoration.

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Reply author: 65beam
Replied on: 26 Jan 2011 03:33:22
Message:

i know of several here in the states,but many parts are not available so very few are on the road. this is my fifth fastback. when i finished this car in 2008 i put rapier scripts on it in place of alpine scripts but the wife had me remove them for SUNI 5.i had an nos h 120 grill along with many other nos parts and i used everthing i could on this car. even the bumpers and over riders were nos along with all the rubber parts except for the rear window. i had one of the locking bonnet cable and handle for imps so i installed that. it's much stronger and easier to pull.i have more photos on my photobucket site. http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt142/65beam/ there are also photos of some of my other alpines.

Reply author: arrocuda
Replied on: 26 Jan 2011 09:02:30
Message:

Love the tombstone seats 65.

It's strange that over here they were standard on the later Alpine models and even the H120 had the short back seats. I was looking out for a pair of original high back seats when I first got the car but gave up when I decided to customise it... as fitting a pair of modern tombstones will hardly make much difference to the car's 'originality' now.

Building the 'Mark II' fastback Rapier ('Arrocuda').

Reply author: mikesunbeamH120
Replied on: 26 Jan 2011 20:06:51
Message:

WOW.. that looks gorgeous nice and shiny well done you.
I saw a red Alpine on ebay last year in America it was on there twice, i think the guy was struggling to sell it but it did look nice ..

Regards Mike.

Reply author: 65beam
Replied on: 27 Jan 2011 04:07:45
Message:

the cars sold here in the states were required to have head rests at this time. it's amazing how similar they are to the seats in my plymouth duster 340. the thing i did different was to use cloth for the seating section of the seats with vinyl backs and sides. i also used vinyl at the top of the doors with cloth pleated to match the seats in the center and vinyl at the bottom. we did away with the original lighter and installed a covered outlet to charge the cell phone and installed the controls for my hidden radio in the area where the ash tray originally was. we also made a cover for the storage area in the console with two drink holder openings. my next project after i finish the restoration of my series 4 is to install air conditioning on this car.

Reply author: arrocuda
Replied on: 27 Jan 2011 08:48:29
Message:

quote:

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Originally posted by 65beam

the cars sold here in the states were required to have head rests at this time. it's amazing how similar they are to the seats in my plymouth duster 340. the thing i did different was to use cloth for the seating section of the seats with vinyl backs and sides. i also used vinyl at the top of the doors with cloth pleated to match the seats in the center and vinyl at the bottom. we did away with the original lighter and installed a covered outlet to charge the cell phone and installed the controls for my hidden radio in the area where the ash tray originally was. we also made a cover for the storage area in the console with two drink holder openings. my next project after i finish the restoration of my series 4 is to install air conditioning on this car.

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Reply author: 65beam
Replied on: 28 Jan 2011 04:35:43
Message:

there are photos of the interior on my photobucket site. http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt142/65beam/ i do know of a car in the dayton ohio area that has the dealer installed a.c. unit. the ac compressor is VERY LARGE! vintage air makes a unit that would take up very little space. the fellow that pioneered the V6 conversion for alpines is convinced that it would be easy to install the 2.8 ford V6. he spent a lot of time thinking and measuring when we had it at the alpine meet in N.C last year.but since we don't drive the cars very much we really have no reason to change the engine. there is one here in the states that tiger tom originally built in the late 70's with a mazda rotary engine. it was wrecked in 1989 and has not been on the road since. the photo showing the front of the car was taken at the te/ae united in maine this last october.

Reply author: JPSH120
Replied on: 28 Jan 2011 19:12:45
Message:

Interesting that the C pillars are covered as the UK Rapiers and not body coloured like the Alpine.

And is that the original engine?? Again twin carb like the UK Rapier.

___________________________________________________________________________

Reply author: mikesunbeamH120
Replied on: 28 Jan 2011 19:33:50
Message:

on the c pillar dose it say.. GT that,s what it looks like to me .
Hi jason how is H120 coming on now did you sort out the head ... dont know if your interested but i know of a Holbay engine for sale well i did a few years ago but i can check if you like if it is still available
its not to far from me, when i enquired about it they wanted £500 but i thought that was to much .

Reply author: JPSH120
Replied on: 28 Jan 2011 20:59:50
Message:

Hi Mike - Yes I think you are right, looks like GT badges are in the place of the normal Sunbeam Lions/Dogs whatever they are!

Not been making the progress I would have liked for various reasons so not yet sorted the head. Thanks for the offer but hopefully I will be OK, if not I'll let you know.

___________________________________________________________________________

Reply author: 65beam
Replied on: 28 Jan 2011 22:13:42
Message:

here in the states the rapier was sold as an ALPINE GT and the alpine was just that. the GT had the twin carb 1725 with the emmision carbs which meant that there was no mixture adjustment on them. the GT had the vinyl covered c pillars with GT emblems, full instruments, bumber over riders,rocker moulding,wider moulding on the trunk lid,full wheel covers,etc. the alpine did not have full instuments, down graded interior,etc. i own both versions and i prefer the GT.two of my GT's are automatic trans as is my alpine. the othere are standard trans. this car has the original engine and transmission. it does not have overdrive. according to the dealer literature i have, overdrive was not an option here in the states in 1969. this car now has the 3.70 rearend gears in it.something you may not know about the U.S models was that the intake manifold and the exhaust manifold bolted together with the intake manifold actualling bolting to the top of the exhaust with a copper shielded exhaust gasket between them for heat to the carbs for emission reasons. i did polish a series 2 alpine aluminum valve cover for it and added a tudor washer fluid bag with an electric pump in the bag and moved it to the opposite side away from the battery.i installed a honda brake light switch in the original washer pump handle in the dash to operate the electric pump. we also made a new dash for the car. there are many other subtle updated changes that i made that are not obvious. i spent a lot of time correcting things that i didn't like on my other cars over the past 30 years.

Reply author: 65beam
Replied on: 28 Jan 2011 22:21:06
Message:

i forgot to say that the alpine has the lion badges on the pillar, the GT doesn't have that badge anywhere on the car.

Reply author: Rapierdave
Replied on: 29 Jan 2011 09:07:05
Message:

What a lovely US spec Alpine GT.

Is the chrome around the arches standard ?

My UK spec Alpine (1971) also has the highback (tombstone) seats & i think they suit the car.




Did all UK spec Alpines have the tombstone seats ?

Were they available as an option on Rapiers & H120's ?



Coupes are cool

Reply author: arrocuda
Replied on: 29 Jan 2011 09:26:02
Message:

None of the Rapiers had the tombstone seats, even the H120, and they weren't an option either. Alpines got them as standard but not in the early models. The irony of this car is that when it was first introduced in '67 it was way ahead of its time. By the end of the decade and the Capri and the Manta had arrived on the scene it still held its own, but the lack of interest in updating the exterior styling and little if any improvements in the interior resulted in the Ford & GM products beating the hell out of it in the showroom along with the Japanese imports that also turned up in the coupe market in the early 70's.

TBH I love the product but Chrysler's marketing team were so out of touch with reality it was inevitable the model would be discontinued. My only surprise is that it lasted as long as it did.

Building the 'Mark II' fastback Rapier ('Arrocuda').

Reply author: mikesunbeamH120
Replied on: 29 Jan 2011 13:20:44
Message:

I think that they are lions jason.
well good luck with the head anyway

Reply author: mikesunbeamH120
Replied on: 29 Jan 2011 13:24:17
Message:

just looked back and 65beam has said that they are lions
did,nt see that untill now

Reply author: 65beam
Replied on: 29 Jan 2011 16:42:33
Message:

the wheel well moldings were on the alpine GT starting with the 1970 models.

Reply author: bigt80
Replied on: 11 Jun 2011 10:38:35
Message:

quote:

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Originally posted by Jon

Just done a DVLA check and it doesnt look good

The enquiry is complete
The vehicle details for GFD 255N are:

Date of Liability 01 05 2005
Date of First Registration 10 12 1974
Year of Manufacture 1974
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1725CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Export
Vehicle Status Unlicensed
Vehicle Colour YELLOW
Vehicle Type Approval


Hillman Avenger MK1 GT,
Commer PB Pick-Up x2,
Commer PB Panel Van,
Dodge spaceavn Auto sleeper,
Triumph Stag MK1,
Chevette HS x2,
Lancia Delta Integrale,
Fiat Mk1 Uno Turbo,

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Sunbeam Rapier Owners Club : http://www.sunbeamrapier.co.uk/forum/