I agree with Tony's comments earlier in the thread. Perception is a very powerful obstacle to overcome. The Alpine has always been perceived as too comfortable to be a real sports car "the British Thunderbird" as Bob Hagin noted in his Article he wrote for the San Francisco region SCCA.
Most automotive writers, britcar enthusiast, and even Sunbeam club members (be it TEAE, SAOC, CAT etc.) know little or anything regarding the Sunbeam Alpine's history on the track in the U.S.. For example check out towards the end of the Bring a Trailer comment section on this Alpine:
http://bringatrailer.com/2013/09/06/bat-exclusive-wedgewood-blue-1962-sunbeam-alpine-woverdrive/
Concorde writes, "Series II’s were barely competitive on the track in their day, being slightly overweight and underpowered like most Rootes cars, but they did well when their engines were set up by Doane Spencer and were driven by Jerry Titus and Stirling Moss."
An average "Joe" type, Concorde knows a little about Alpines and possibly more than most, but doesn't realize the Alpine was always in the running for SCCA National championships during the early-mid 60's. The Alpine even won a number of championships.
Even Art Evans, the automotive writer, hammers on the poor performance of the Alpine in many recent articles. As good a writer as Art Evans is apparently the man can't read because he continues to write the about his perception of the Alpine though I have written him a number of times to point out that the Alpine was more competitive than he thinks listing the successes.
The Alpine will appreciate in value like every other car but I don't think it will be valued as high as the MGA or TRs due to the "sporting" image. On the other hand it isn't a bad thing. You get to appreciate a really nice car for a real value.
Steve