‘The Tiger introduced me to friends and heroes, including rally ace Peter Riley and racer David Barraclough’
Few classics have provided me with as much fun as Sunbeam Tigers. From launch the Rootes rocket proved to be a great all-rounder – which my first, HAH 272D, reinforced to me. As well as being a riotous road car – I never tired of smoking the tyres to that V8 roar through the cherry-bomb exhausts – ʻHAHʼ was raced and rallied.
Few of my classics hold such vivid memories, starting with the Vintage Sports-Car Clubʼs Pom Trophy. One car snob dismissed the Tiger as rubbish, which drove me to chase him down in the speed trial. Another unforgettable outing was at Cadwell Park for the season-opener of the much-missed Historic Sports Car Club Novice Championship. The adventure started at dawn, convoying across London and up the A1 with mate Julian Balmeʼs Ford Galaxie. Regulations demanded we compete on the original-spec steels; with my over-eager right foot that resulted in several hilarious, harmless spins. Never before or since have I crossed the finish line in such an exhilarated state.
Then in 1990, Jules and I teamed up for Philip Youngʼs Pirelli Classic Marathon, an epic trans-European run from Tower Bridge to Cortina dʼAmpezzo and back. Storming the Stelvio Pass in HAH as the sun rose to miss the tourist coaches for a clear climb up the 48 hairpins was driving nirvana. By 9000ft, I didnʼt care that the Tigerʼs tail was now pink from dyed Italian petrol, which no amount of T-Cut and hard graft would remove. Other than fuel-pump issues and a crushed exhaust, HAH completed the 1500 miles with no problems, including the trip back via the Schlumpf collection. Tigers are tough, as they showed in their heyday.
They also make great touring cars, as I proved with my second Tiger, ʻEFWʼ, which one hot August joined a V8 trio of two Tigers and an AC Cobra for a long weekend to the Nürburgring via Spa. We chased around both legendary tracks and were still laughing when I had to push my Tiger through customs at Calais due to fuel vaporisation in the hot sun.
The Tiger also introduced me to friends and heroes, including the works Tiger rally ace Peter Riley, racer David Barraclough and many generous Sunbeam Tiger Ownersʼ Club members. My first meeting with buddy Jules was also thanks to the Tiger, an introduction that began
