`67 Sunbeam Tiger Mark IA: Get Smart!

Earlier this year, I was hired by my client to appraise her 1967 Sunbeam Tiger Mark IA convertible. Based on the British Rootes Group’s Alpine model, which was equipped with a four-cylinder engine, the Tiger instead used Ford’s 260 cubic inch V8 along with a more robust Ford four-speed manual transmission and a Dana 44 rear axle and differential. The conversion was designed in part by the famed Carroll Shelby who had similarly taken the British AC Ace two-door roadster and fitted it with the same Ford V8 to create the AC Cobra. A total of 7,085 Tiger Mark I, Mark IA, and Mark II models were produced from 1964 into 1967 with the Mark II (534 made) using Ford’s larger and more powerful 289 cubic inch V8. Fans of the 1960s television comedy series Get Smart will remember that Agent 86, Maxwell Smart, drove a Tiger during the first two seasons of the show. My client’s vehicle, which had been cosmetically restored at some point in the past, was in “driver quality” condition.