The 1960s was a golden era for British sports cars, with everyone from Jaguar to MG putting out excellent front engined, rear-wheel drive two-seaters ideally suited to a blast along your local back roads or even a spot of racing. This glorious 1964 Sunbeam Tiger is one such car, but it’s far from your typical example of the breed. Built by Rootes’ competition Department, this red pocket rocket is one of only five surviving works rally cars and better yet, ‘AHP 294B’ boasts an extensive and successful motorsport history spanning the entirety of its life.
‘AHP 294B’ made its competition debut at the 1964 Geneva Rally with ‘Tiny’ Lewis and Barry Hughes in the cockpit. It was an excellent first bout for the Tiger, winning the GT Class, but its work was far from over. This ferocious little Tiger continued to do battle at the 1965 Tulip Rally, and later the Alpine Rally, before undergoing a factory re-build to meet the latest international rallying regulations.
Also in 1965, it was used by Andrew Cowan and Colin Turvey as a reconnaissance vehicle for the Monte Carlo Rally before competing in that year's event with pilots Maurice Gastonides and Albert Ilken. Unfortunately, the Paris starters were forced to retire after encountering terrible weather conditions. Nevertheless, Gastonides continued his partnership with ‘AHP 294B’, setting Dutch National Endurance records in 1966 at Zandvoort for three, six, 12, and 24 hours—the latter at an average speed of 75.47 mph.
In fact, 1966 was a very busy year for ‘AHP 294B’, because after being acquired by Belgian racing driver Chris Tuerlinckx, who founded Sunbeam Tiger Racing with ex-Rootes engineer Vic Heylen, it claimed outright victory at the 1966 Tour de Belgique, only the second time ever that a Tiger had won an international rally event. Swapping rally stages for endless circuit laps, ‘AHP 294B’ then transitioned to a successful endurance racing career with a GT Class win in the 1967 Spa 1,000 km, holding its own against machinery from Ferrari, Lola, and Porsche.
Fast forward to May 2014, and ‘AHP 294B’ was bought by a new owner, who entrusted it to Hardy Hall Restorations of Thornbury, Herefordshire, who performed a no-expense spared restoration that totalled over 100,000 pounds. Now as fit as the day it left Rootes’ Competition Department, this Tiger recently came second in the Modena Cento Ore 2023 Regularity and has competed in the Monte Carlo Historique rally for three consecutive years up to and including 2025’s edition. Should you be on the lookout for an agile and rapid historic racing car, you could hardly do better than this stunning racing veteran available with Castel Classics!
