alpine IV A

[Famous Grouse]

Hello,
i´m posting this Thread because i´m about to buy an Alpine IV A, and although it seems in good shape i cant find many detailed pictures on the internet so i can compare and check whats missing or whats "invented".
WHat i need are comments and advise on the pictures i´m posting about this car, so i can be more aware when i get near the car one last time before i buy it.
Detailed pictures are welcome.

thanks in advance for any help.

regards

FG

 

[Andrew]

Good to see you on the site!

SIV with some changes:
- SI/SII Rad Tank on top of the motor ? if this is SIV
- SV oil filter base / spin on filter ? if this is SIV
- Shifter and assembly is all custom
- ? Tranny, is R to the left or to the right
- Tranny shifter looks high on off of the tunnel, is it a Sunbeam Tranny?
- Dash clock and extra goodies are add on + radio
- Sun shades are not stock

She looks like a nice little car, when do you pick her up?

Andrew

 

[alpine_64]

SIV with some changes:
- SI/SII Rad Tank on top of the motor ? if this is SIV
- SV oil filter base / spin on filter ? if this is SIV
- Shifter and assembly is all custom
- ? Tranny, is R to the left or to the right
- Tranny shifter looks high on off of the tunnel, is it a Sunbeam Tranny?
- Dash clock and extra goodies are add on + radio
- Sun shades are not stock

She looks like a nice little car, when do you pick her up?

Andrew

car also is missing sunbeam letters on the front has chrome headlight rims few other odds and ends.. the header tank would also mean erly style radiator.. if its a solid car body wise.. i wouldnt be put off by detais.

 

[RootesRooter]

...and PL headlights

 

[Alpine 1789]

The car looks very nice, but it has clearly had a lot of work done on it, much of it non-standard. There is nothing wrong with that to many of us (which is why there are multiple sections of this forum), but to me, the big question is how well was that work done? I would think the transmission tunnel modification (and thus the non-Sunbeam transmission) would be a big concern. It could be an improvement, but I'd want to know that for sure. In addition to the things others have pointed out, does the passenger floor look too flat? It may just mean that the foot panel is missing, but the edge looks awfully sharp to me. I wonder if the floors were also replaced. If so, since the floors are part of the car's structure, it would be important to be sure that was done well too.

It definitely looks nice and could be a great buy. If the work was done well.

 

[Andrew]

...and PL headlights

I think some of the older cars may have come with Lucas PL7 head lamps. I think we had a note about this at one time on our old web site.
My S3 had original PL-7 lamps when I first found it in the barn.

Regards,
Andrew

 

[65beam]

alpine 4

the spin on oil filter is right for the series 4

 

[sunbeamowner]

I would say that this car is a 1V not a 1VA. You can tell by the bonnet, door and trunk edges. On a Series 1V they are all rounded (hard to see in all of the photos). On a Series 1V A the bonnet and door edges are square and the trunk is rounded. On a Series V they are all square (and a Series V doesn't have a soft top box and they also have 'fresh' air vents in the top of the vent box). Nice looking car though.

 

[alpine_64]

I would say that this car is a 1V not a 1VA. You can tell by the bonnet, door and trunk edges. On a Series 1V they are all rounded (hard to see in all of the photos). On a Series 1V A the bonnet and door edges are square and the trunk is rounded. On a Series V they are all square (and a Series V doesn't have a soft top box and they also have 'fresh' air vents in the top of the vent box). Nice looking car though.

pete i thought that too.. but am told we are wrong.. i thought the point where 4A became used was the cross over body and full sync gearbox.. but turns out quite a few of the round corner cars had the full sync box apparently.. i was corrected on this a while back.

 

[Famous Grouse]

Hello again,

the thing that i saw that is invented, is the tunnel of the gearbox and the glove box door (at least never saw any car with it). I think that the tunnel might not be hiding anything wrong but can be an "esthetic" adaptation to put the radio, vacuum gauge and so on....

regarding the advises i read here, i´ll see the bottom for any job done, attention to the doors and i heard that rust can be a problem.

here are some more pictures so you can see it better.

thanks

FG

 

[Famous Grouse]

alpine IVA

3 more photos so you can see it all!!
regards

FG

 

[Chuck Ingram]

The car looks pretty nice.somebody has spent some time on it.If it drives nice and everything works well I would enjoy the car.
I really do like your garage what with ceramic tile and so clean and bright

 

[John W]

Nice auto. I think the gearshift/console mods look great. I'd be surprised if the bottom is rusted or jury rigged being parked on tile seems a bit particular.

 

[tony perrett]

Was there an Alpine officially designated as a IVA for the US market?

 

[John Boggis]

Was there an Alpine officially designated as a IVA for the US market?

Tony... this guy is in Portugal.

 

[John Boggis]

Hello,
i´m posting this Thread because i´m about to buy an Alpine IV A, and although it seems in good shape i cant find many detailed pictures on the internet so i can compare and check whats missing or whats "invented".
WHat i need are comments and advise on the pictures i´m posting about this car, so i can be more aware when i get near the car one last time before i buy it.
Detailed pictures are welcome.

thanks in advance for any help.

regards

FG

This car looks like a Series 1V and even though a lot of mods have been done, it still looks a nice car in a great colour.

Have you got the chassis number ?? If so this Alpine can be checked for its build date which will tell you it's series.

If the money is right it looks a great car to drive in sunny Portugal.

 

[Famous Grouse]

alpine

Hi.
i´d like to hve some hints regarding what to inspect better the next time i go see the car and make the deal!
the dashboard has somethings diffrente and what makes me think twice is the tunnel cover of the ger box and the 2nd radiator (i gess it is something like that).
sen d opinions!!! they are welcome!!!!
Can anyone send me some photos of the car ? i can´t find any with details on the internet!!
regards
FG

 

[64beam]

pete i thought that too.. but am told we are wrong.. i thought the point where 4A became used was the cross over body and full sync gearbox.. but turns out quite a few of the round corner cars had the full sync box apparently.. i was corrected on this a while back.

I would say that this car is a 1V not a 1VA. You can tell by the bonnet, door and trunk edges. On a Series 1V they are all rounded (hard to see in all of the photos). On a Series 1V A the bonnet and door edges are square and the trunk is rounded. On a Series V they are all square (and a Series V doesn't have a soft top box and they also have 'fresh' air vents in the top of the vent box). Nice looking car though.

Hi Pete & Michael,

My Alpine is a series IVa (going by the build date) and it has the round corners and the full synchro gearbox and also retains the earlier soft top stowage.

Regards, Robin.

 

[sunbby]

Hi.
i´d like to hve some hints regarding what to inspect better the next time i go see the car and make the deal!
the dashboard has somethings diffrente and what makes me think twice is the tunnel cover of the ger box and the 2nd radiator (i gess it is something like that).
sen d opinions!!! they are welcome!!!!
Can anyone send me some photos of the car ? i can´t find any with details on the internet!!
regards
FG

The header tank (what you called a "2nd radiator") was used on earlier cars and is not original to the Series IV. The engine should have a serial # on the block above the fuel pump (next to the oil filter). An original engine would match the serial number of the car, which should start B94xxxx. If the entire engine is from an earlier car (like a Series II) it would be something else like B91xxxx. As John said earlier, if you post the chassis and engine numbers people can give you more information.

You can look at the TECHNICAL DATA sections above the forum for tips on identifying an Alpine. Here are the direct links:
http://www.sunbeamalpine.org/index.php?categoryid=83
http://www.sunbeamalpine.org/index.php?categoryid=16

 

[65beam]

series 4 alpine

my series 4 has a build date of christmas week of 1964. it has all round corners, full syncro trans behind a 1592 motor. all series 4 cars that i have encountered had 1592 motors and the metal top boot doors. i have never seen a series 4 without the metal top doors. there were series 4's with square corner bonnet and doors and round corner trunks. they still had the 1592 motors. doug at tiger auto had a series 4 that was originally black with tan interior,1592 ,metal top doors but had square cornered bonnet and doors and round corner trunk. i had a series 5 that was an early car with self adjusting brakes, square hood and doors, round trunk. it had the series 5 soft top boot. it was somewhere in the first hundred series 5's built. all the sales literature for here in the states never said anything about the later series 4 cars being called 1VA's, they just changed the listed specs to reflect the changes. i never heard anybody call them that until some of you here on this forum started calling them that. they were just series 4's. this car that everyone is talking about looks to be a nice car with changes having been made over the years. is it a factory correct car? no! does that make it a bad car? no! check the motor number to verify what size it is ,see if it's a syncro trans or not by verification of where the shift lever has to be for reverse and then if you need to make repairs down the road you know what to buy parts for. it's that simple. if you expect a factory original car this isn't it. if it runs good with decent oil pressure, no odd sounds from the drive line and stops, and is a solid body, ignore what is being said about the changes. if it meets these standards and the price is right, and you want a driver, BUY IT !