5 minute read
Historian
SUNBEAM
AND OTHER MOTORING RECOLLECTIONS
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CLUB MEMBER ROBIN FRAZER has more recently owned SGF 995V, which he sold to new club member Peter Christie last year. More on that car later, but the reason for Robin buying it in the first place was to relive his earlier experience of owning a similar example, TEV 695W, which he bought in September 1982 from dealer G.S. Last in Brentwood, Essex. (They had been the original selling agent for the vehicle when it was registered at their Chelmsford dealership in November 1980 – some nine months after they had taken delivery of it!) It was Robin’s first pay packet from a racing deal with Renault UK and he paid the princely sum of £5500 in cash for this two-year-old Sunbeam Lotus, replacing an Opel Manta SR Berlinetta. TEV 695W was a 1980 model Sunbeam Lotus (built at the back end of 1979) and had not been modified in any way. Robin reckons that it was far better than SGF, although the comparison of a nearly-new car to one that
was over forty years old might not be entirely fair, and might also be influenced by years of driving modern cars, but that’s the memory! “Lovely and quiet, just the roar of the engine, and without rattles! Unbelievably powerful, showstopping, head-turning. Like a Merc AMG today.” Robin also recalls that it took a while to get used to the gearbox, after eight months in the automatic Manta (reg XMD 236T), which was a beautiful, executive car. The Sunbeam was “a hell of a lot quicker, though, with more raw power”. So much so, that his then-wife – learning to drive at the time – drove it into a garage door, denting the door. Thankfully the insurance paid out. Although Robin only owned the car for a short period (not even long enough to warrant a service!) he ran it everywhere, turning up to races across Europe in it.
The brief love affair ended one night in March 1983 when the car was stolen from outside Seymour Street Police Station, London W1, never to be seen again. Robin was dining out at an Italian restaurant at the time, thinking the car was as safe as houses in that location. The police later told him that indications were that the car was taken to Italy for stripping. HPI data does not show the car being subject to an insurance write-off, even though it was paid out. That is not entirely unheard of, though, since records from that far back are not all captured in the computer system that was still fairly new at the time. Looking at the online DVLA car check might lead one to assume that the car might still exist; tax ran out in September 1983, so was not cashed in when the car disappeared, and
the last V5 change is recorded as being in March ’83, which is perhaps due to it being recorded as stolen then, or taken into the insurers’ name as a trader; a change in V5 does not mean a change in ownership, by the way, as this could simply be the result of an address change for example. The last recorded change of ownership was when Robin bought the car. So it really did just disappear! What could possibly replace such a car? Well, in this case it was an MGB GT (reg VOB 229H) that he kept for two years, spending loads of money on it and touring Europe in it.
And it was during this time - a rainy day in mid-June 1981 – that Robin ended up in a ditch with Ayrton Senna driving his Mercedes CLK, just coming off a roundabout onto a country lane in Oxfordshire on the way to a party hosted by the late Colin Chapman: “We both got out of the Mercedes and after a few words (‘Are you OK’ ‘Yes, are you OK’ ‘Yes, that’s good, we are both OK. What are we going to do now?’ ‘Leave the bloody thing, let’s walk…’, so we both walked a couple of miles in the pouring rain to the party! He never went back to get the Mercedes, as far as I know!” Fast forward to 2019 and Robin joined the club looking to buy a car similar to his first. Not long after this, SGF 995V came up for sale and, having known the car for many years when it was owned by former committee member Stuart Warsop, I suggested he had a look at it. This proved successful and so the car became Robin’s at what was a very good price. Of course, it still wasn’t perfect enough for him and so it went to Rees Brothers of Surrey for some fettling and a bit of paintwork. Which turned into the engine coming out and going to Phil Davison for a quick check-over! These things do tend to creep. All the while, I was batting back questions from Robin, helping him find parts and offering advice to both him and the chap at Rees Bros. A nice new set of Marchal 819 lamps and covers was sourced and I even made a decal for the rear screen to mimic the dealer decal from
Robin’s original Sunbeam.
I drove the car around Castle Combe in Spring ‘21 and it went rather well, with the usual mix of creaks and squeaks, albeit different noises to my own car and different again to Ian’s (your editor) that I drove the same day. A further spot of carb tuning and rebuild was undertaken before Millbrook last year, and once again I had the pleasure of driving SGF around all three courses. It did feel different again from earlier that year, and I did really enjoy the drive. What was interesting was comparing it to my blue car; the reason being that we had helped Robin have some original front springs made, in all their 73lb glory, and I was able to see how they compared to the stiffer springs (and Bilsteins) of my own set-up. Well, the difference was indeed noticeable. Particularly on the handling course, where the feeling upon a change of direction, through the corners and the accompanying speeds achievable were markedly different. The perfect opportunity after thirty-odd years of ownership of these cars to compare as directly as could be possible.
Of course, knowing Robin as I now do, it came as no surprise when he said he would be selling the car. Between us, we came to an idea of what the car might fetch and then managed to put him in touch with another new member who was looking. And so the cycle begins again! Hopefully we will hear more about this car from its current owner, and his own ideas about how it should drive, look and feel – we have already seen him at this year’s National Day enjoying his Sunbeam.
