The suspension was independent at the front using coil springs and at the rear had a live axle and semi-elliptic springing. An overdrive unit and wire wheels were optional. The running gear came mainly from the Sunbeam Rapier, but with front disc brakes replacing the saloon car's drums. The Series I was built on a modified floorpan from the Hillman Husky estate car with a 1,494 cc (91.2 cu in) engine and made extensive use of components from other Rootes Group vehicles. The "Series" Alpine started production in 1959. Production stopped shortly after the Chrysler takeover of the Rootes Group. The Alpine was produced in four subsequent revisions until 1968. He had been on the Studebaker team at Loewy Studios and then at Ford in Detroit before joining Rootes. Howes did some 80 per cent of the overall design. Kenneth Howes and Jeff Crompton were tasked with doing a complete redesign in 1956, with the goal of producing a dedicated sports car aimed principally at the US market. Rootes replaced them with a softer new smaller 2-seater sports convertible coupé based on the current Hillman Minx and its variants. The first open 2-seater Alpines were based on the Hillman 14 and its successor the Humber Hawk. A reference to the Mark I is also made in Muriel Spark's 1957 debut novel, The Comforters, where the supercharged Sunbeam Alpine prompts a race with the protagonists' MG. A Mk I model also appears in the 1957 British horror film Night of the Demon. Although the Technicolor process could "hide" the car's true colour, and knowing that the car was shipped back from Monaco to the US for use in front of a rear projection effect, the car shown on the programme was ultimately proven not to be the film car upon comparison of the vehicle identification numbers. More recently, the American PBS show History Detectives tried to verify that an Alpine roadster owned by a private individual was the actual car used in that movie. However, a sapphire blue Alpine featured prominently in the 1955 Alfred Hitchcock film To Catch a Thief starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. Very few of these cars are ever seen on the big screen. The motors of the Sunbeam Alpine Team Cars (MKV 21–26) were configured the same as the Sunbeam Alpine Mk I Special, with further tuning by ERA to raise power to 106 bhp. These motors developed a reputed 97.5 bhp at 4,500 rpm, mainly by raising the compression ratio to 8.0:1 and incorporating a special induction manifold with a twin choke Solex 40 P.I.I carburettor. The Sunbeam Alpine Mk 1 Special was based on the 2267 cc Mk 1 Sunbeam Talbot motor, with alloy rocker cover and Siamese exhaust ports (cylinders 2 and 3). In 2000 it was estimated that perhaps as few as 200 had survived. Of the 1582 automobiles produced, 961 were exported to the US and Canada, 445 stayed in the UK, and 175 went to other world markets. The Alpine Mark I and Mark III (no Mark II was made) were hand-built at Mulliners of Birmingham coachbuilders, from 1953 to 1955, and remained in production for only two years. A true open 2-seater, there were no external door handles or wind-up windows. The gear-change lever was column-mounted. The gearbox ratios were changed, and from 1954 an overdrive unit became standard. However, since it was developed from the saloon platform, it suffered from rigidity compromises despite extra side members in the chassis. The car has a four-cylinder 2,267 cc (138.3 cu in) engine from the saloon, but with a raised compression ratio. On its first competitive outing, the July 1953 Coupe des Alpes, the new car won the Coupe des Dames ( Sheila van Damm) and, without loss of any marks, four Coupes des Alpes driven by Stirling Moss, John Fitch, G Murray-Frame and Sheila van Damm. Announced in March 1953 it received its name following Sunbeam-Talbot saloons successes in the Alpine Rally during the early 1950s. It had its beginnings as a 1952 Sunbeam-Talbot drophead coupé. It was a two-seater sports roadster initially developed for a one-off rally car by Bournemouth Sunbeam-Talbot dealer George Hartnell. The Alpine was derived from the Sunbeam-Talbot 90 Saloon, and has become colloquially known as the "Talbot" Alpine.
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