The one Sunbeam trip you wished never happened.

[mikephillips]

As a variation on a thread on another forum, what would you consider to be your toughest trip in a Sunbeam.

For me, coming home at Christmas break on year from college. It was about a two hour drive, it had been snowing and was around zero out. It might have been above freezing in the car with the uninsulated convertible top and the heat running full blast. This was in 1980 BTW. I stopped about halfway home at a McDonalds to get a cup of hot chocolate. In getting back into the car with said cup I slipped on ice. The cup was dumped down my front, going from hot to cold quickly in the temps. My left elbow went through the driver's window rendering it into 100s of glass chips and making the issue of heating irrelevent. So wet and now cold from the wind coming in the window I drove the final hour home. And was close to frozen, or at least feeling that way, by the time I arrived. Good thing the car was going into winter storage and not back to school so I had time to find another window.

 

[Bill Blue]

Let's see, late fall of 1966.

Stationed in Fort Huachuca, taking a buddy to Phoenix to catch a ride back to Indiana/Ohio area for the Holidays. Saw something laying across the center on my lane, decided to straddle it. Almost made it. It was a wrecking bar and I hit the end of it with the right front tire. It promptly kicked up the other end and rattled down the underside of the Series II, hitting the front of the gas tank about one inch up from the bottom. Looked in the rear view mirror and saw a fog of gasoline. That is truly an "Oh poop!" moment. Especially as the bar was hanging out of the hole, rattling on the pavement as we motored along at 65.

The bar fell out after a few seconds and we continued on our way, the fog gradually disappearing. Stopped at the first gas station and tried to effect a repair using an small piece of sheet metal and epoxy. But it was not to be. Luckily the hole was NOT at the bottom of the tank and we were able to make it to Phoenix, "topping off" at every station we came to. This was back when there gas stations everywhere, even in the Arizona desert.

Made it to our destination (south side of Phoenix) in time to catch our ride. There was a gas station nearby and the owner agreed to drop the tank, have a patch welded and reinstall the tank.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and we returned. The Alpine was setting on the lot. Payed the guy about $25, I think. I know I thought it was the buy of the century. The tank was empty, so we pushed it over to the pump and filled it up. I lifted the hood, primed the carb, reached in the cabin and pulled the choke and turned on the ignition. Manually activated the solenoid and it fired up about the second time over. The pump jockey was flabergasted, seeing a car with an absolutely dry tank start up "first time over" and I had not even gotten into the car!

That part was fun, but not enough to wish the experience had never happened.

Bill

 

[DanR]

A thing comes to mind....

Remember when the lady sued McDonald's for the spilled Hot coffee....You could have been the first

Just kidding of the suing of course.

Freezing weather, busted window, little to no heat to start with, then the hot and cold mix must have been real joy!

Bet you Mom took care of the bad trouble you had right-a-way!

Sure always nice to return home!

DanR

P.S. I think your troubles then have most guys beat!

 

[Hillman]

1968. A friend an I decided to go to Calgary after Xmas during the U break. Dec 26, we hit his dad's (heated) garage. Cover 90% of the rad, every hole we can find and stuff cloth in every other hole.

In the morning we leave. We're wearing ski pants and jackets and it's a balmy -47F. We get 30 miles, turn around and come home. It's just too damn cold for a 7 hour trip.

Edit to add:
It was so cold the defroster kept about 1 inch of windscreen clear. The heater, surely you jest.

 

[Tom H]

In Jan 1968, my wife and I drove my SIV from Cleveland to Vermont for a ski week. I made a rack for our skis by reversing the aftermarket trunk rack and attaching rubber ski clamps to the horizontal bars. Our skis projected over the roof of the car, like rocket launchers. Other than struggling to keep warm and doing a 360 spin out, while never leaving the pavement, on ice on I-90 near Mohawk, NY, it was an uneventful drive to our B&B at Killington. We used the B&B shuttle during the week. But trying to start that Alpine in zero deg weather after sitting a week, was near impossible. Battery jump didn't help. Pulling the plugs and drying them off didn't do it. Finally the B&B owner used his truck to tow me to the top of the longest hill in the area. Coasting down the hill, gaining speed, popping the clutch, stepping again on the clutch, fiddling with the choke and gas pedal, popping the clutch again, FINALLY, as we neared the very bottom of the hill, it started to pop, pop-pop, pop-pop-pop, and started running. Wheeew!

Not as harrowing a story as some of the others, but it really shows how young we were then. Driving an Alpine from Cleveland to VERMONT, In JANUARY, for a SKI trip, with my wife. Of course by that time I had already driven it to the west coast and back, and on our honeymoon to Cape Hatteras, and on camping trips to New England, and Eastern Canada, and to work and back every day. So who knew this was crazy!

Tom

 

[Paul A]

Great story and great memories, eh Tom!

In 1970 I accepted a teaching position in Wisconsin. The '66 Alpine was the only car I had and it had to work, cold or not, to get me to school. It was very reliable and was the only good, cold starting Alpine I ever owned.. I had no garage and it was always outside but it always started. Several other Alpines I have owned since have been very reluctant to start if temps fell below 20F. Pete

In Jan 1968, my wife and I drove my SIV from Cleveland to Vermont for a ski week. I made a rack for our skis by reversing the aftermarket trunk rack and attaching rubber ski clamps to the horizontal bars. Our skis projected over the roof of the car, like rocket launchers. Other than struggling to keep warm and doing a 360 spin out, while never leaving the pavement, on ice on I-90 near Mohawk, NY, it was an uneventful drive to our B&B at Killington. We used the B&B shuttle during the week. But trying to start that Alpine in zero deg weather after sitting a week, was near impossible. Battery jump didn't help. Pulling the plugs and drying them off didn't do it. Finally the B&B owner used his truck to tow me to the top of the longest hill in the area. Coasting down the hill, gaining speed, popping the clutch, stepping again on the clutch, fiddling with the choke and gas pedal, popping the clutch again, FINALLY, as we neared the very bottom of the hill, it started to pop, pop-pop, pop-pop-pop, and started running. Wheeew!

Not as harrowing a story as some of the others, but it really shows how young we were then. Driving an Alpine from Cleveland to VERMONT, In JANUARY, for a SKI trip, with my wife. Of course by that time I had already driven it to the west coast and back, and on our honeymoon to Cape Hatteras, and on camping trips to New England, and Eastern Canada, and to work and back every day. So who knew this was crazy!

Tom

 

[Chazbeam]

Arizona desert heat.....

All you guys talk about the harsh cold weather well i have the opposite story

On one of my many trips out to Arizona to see my son it was one of the hottest days of the year. Matter of fact the only hottest place on earth that day was Kuwait city at 125.6 degrees...The desert was around 120

I decided i would run with the top down..(natural air conditioning and all) and wear a hat. I planed to go early in the morning and miss the full afternoon heat... All fine and well most of the way till i get a blow out on my wire wheels in the middle of Nowhere and the devils freekin punch-bowl (almost literally)
I had a spare so all good..back on the road in about a halve hour ... Then no more then 20 miles another blow out..BAM ..this time i thought i was going in a ditch but kept it under control....
It seems when i left i put 32 pounds pressure in them being a good little boy scout and preparing for the trip but then i was thinking HAY if it says on tires MAX pressure 32 and the heat would expand this maybe not such a good idea..It never occurred to me before NOT to do the MAX....DUH!
SO also being a good little boy scout i packed a tire patch kit and a few extra tubes. But this event shredded the tire too..SO i dragged back out the other tire that was now in the spare compartment that was still OK and just went flat but then i could not brake the bead on the tire and rim....
So i had a bottle jack and a scissor jack... I used the scissor jack like a bead breaker by sticking it under the wire wheel hub and the tire laying flat (put the emergency brake on so the wheel could not turn and insulated the splines with some rages..

All the wile i am doing this I actually saw what i thought was buzzards flying around. I kept imagining them saying to themselves "HA we got this sucker now! Thinks he's all cool in that classic car" Give it time boys hes a sweating pretty good..." CRAW CRAW"

The heat was harsh and i had to keep stopping and taking a drink of water.... After pumping up the tire with a bicycle pump i bought with me at least enough to keep it looking full (or i was going to faint) I got back on the road and by now it was full Heat....
Luckily i had dialed the cooling system in so well the car never overheated BUT i did...

I was getting ditsy and light headed and i know if i didn't stop soon things could get ugly..I put the top up to help shield from the sun but what i learned is UV goes right through that... I had stuck a wet cloth behind my neck to help...and tried to make it to Quart-site Arizona...

I swear i just barely made it and sat in air conditioned Starbucks for a good hour recovering..then went to a restaurant for some food and wait out some of the afternoon....

I still had a fun trip despite it all but it was one of the harshest trips i have ever had except that time i lost my phone and wallet at a truck stop in the middle of know-place USA again....

I have to go lay down after reliving that one...
Chaz

 

[Gitnrusty]

Back in 1964 the papers were full of excitement about the new mustang introduction so my wife and I went down to the local Ford dealer to take a look. I wasn't really impressed so we wandered across the street to a British car dealer.
Got button -holed by a very enthusiastic young salesman who insisted we must go with him for a test drive in a new British Racing Green Tiger! My wife in the passenger seat and me wedged across the back "seat". No seat belts of course, and top down.
That salesman must have been a frustrated race driver and did his best to throw me out of the car as I spent 10 minutes hanging on for dear life.
I've had lots of Mustangs since then but only one Sunbeam !

 

[V6 JOSE]

Hi Chuck,

I had a similar experience with Tigers. A friend of mine bought a new Tiger when they first came out. I had never heard of the Tiger, or even Sunbeams, but was intrigued by the fact that it had a Ford engine in it. I am a die hard Ford fan, so wanted to know more. He took another friend of mine and me for a ride. I was the one wedged in the small back shelf, as my other friend sat in the passenger´s seat. My friend gave us the fastest ride I´d ever had in my life. He went on the curviest road we could find and proceded to scare the (bleep) out of me. That was my first and only ride in a Tiger. I swear that I learned how to pray deeply on that ride.

I didn´t encounter a Sunbeam again until 11 years later, as I was looking for a small British sports car in whitch to install the little Ford 2.8 V6. My brother was the one who found it and was impressed that the Alpine looked like a mini T-Bird. The rest is history.

Jose

 

[mikephillips]

My mother's response was "why didn't you wait until morning to come home"...

It wasn't a trip, but I also recall trying to get the car running after the blizzards of 78. Poor thing had to sit outside during all that and when I opened the hood found only the air filter poking out. Seemed the wind had blown the snow under the car and packed it up agains the hood so that other than the air filter I had a perfect print of the inside of the hood in the packed snow. Took me all weekend to knock all the snow loose and then use heat to thaw it out enough to start. And while waiting for the heat lamps to work I had to clean out the drift across the rear shelf where it had blown in around the top to door windows gaps we all seem to have seen.

 

[Alpine 1789]

This isn't quite a "trip I wished never happened", but since we're trading severe weather driving stories...

Back in the early 80's when my SV was my daily driver, I was driving one winter day on the back roads near our apartment outside of Princeton NJ. There was snow on the ground but the roads were dry and I am sure I was going too fast for the conditions. (Something about winding country roads always does that to me.) I approached a stop sign at a "T" junction and discovered that I was on black ice, with no stopping power and a car coming from my right on the other road. A little quick mental calculation told me it wasn't going to end well, so I gambled, downshifted to second and accelerated through the intersection, fishtailing all the way. The other driver slammed on his horn and brakes and matched my fishtailing, and no doubt called me a few choice words. But, I was able to slide in right in front of him and he had slowed down just enough to miss me. I very much doubt I would still be driving the car had I not taken that gamble.