This began many years ago with me and my father getting it running, but then it developed serious engine issues. He did not have the resources to tackle a restoration, so he signed the Michigan title over to me. Then my 27-year Air Force career took me all over the world and I could never find the time, resources, and circumstances to take up the project. It's in a barn near Delaware, Ohio, and in sorry condition due to many years of storage in some less-than-ideal circumstances. I've reached the point in my life where my time and money are limited, but I don't have the heart to tow it to a salvage yard. It's yours if you're willing to come and get it. I would meet you at the barn and assist with loading it onto a trailer or dolly. I'm inquiring into the process necessary to convert my Michigan title to an Ohio title so I would be able to sign it over to you. If interested, I'll provide photos and details.
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1964 Sunbeam Alpine in Need of TLC
- Thread starter russcars
- Start date
That's an excellent suggestion, Jan! Please assist with connecting me with them. My email is fanible@live.com and my phone is 937-974-7427. I don't have any photos at the moment, so I will need to make a trip from Fairborn, Ohio, my current residence, to Delaware, Ohio, to take the photos as well as verify the VIN on my Michigan title. Thanks very much!!! My "birth certificate" name is Floyd Anible, but everyone has called me my middle name, Russ, for the past 45 years.
alpine_64
Donation Time
There are even some series II that were titled in '64.. always best to start with a VIN and photos.. in always surprised how few people stateside realise the cars are titled at sale rather than year of manufacture...
More so as the states they seemed to make a big deal about new model year updates ...
Back in the 1970s when my father and I were fixing and driving it, I thought it was a 63. He signed the Michigan title over to me in 1977, and when I dug it out of my safe deposit box recently I was surprised to find it listed as a 64 with a VIN of B9204378LRX. This leads me to believe it might be a Series 3 (it has the tall tails) manufactured in 1963. My email is fanible@live.com and my phone is 937-974-7427. I don't have any photos at the moment, so I will need to make a trip from Fairborn, Ohio, my current residence, to Delaware, Ohio, where it is stored, to take the photos as well as verify the VIN on my title. I'll send you photos. One suggestion I have received is to donate it to the British Car Museum in Dayton, Ohio, and I am inquiring into that alternative.
Barry
Diamond Level Sponsor
According to the information at https://sunbeamalpine.org/production-build-dates/, that serial number is a Series 3 Alpine built during the week ending 9 AUG 1963.
Thanks for your service in the Air Force.
Barry, thanks very much for confirming my theory that it's a Series 3 built in 1963. And Mike, thanks also for your interest.
Barry, Judging by your Agent Orange logo, you served as well in Southeast Asia, on the ground, for which I thank you and salute you. Several of my good friends served in Vietnam and some were deeply scarred by it. I hope you got all the medical assistance you needed and deserved from the DVA. In '72 I was a B-52 jet engine mechanic at K.I. Sawyer AFB Michigan and SAC was gearing up for another big bombing of Hanoi/Haiphong. I was so sure I was headed to Vietnam or Guam that I was making storage arrangements for my '72 Vega Panel Express and my personal gear. Instead, I did a year at U-Tapao Royal Thai Naval Air Station in '73-'74. I got off too easy -- Thailand was an easy and fun tour of duty. In '91 I was teaching in AFROTC at the University of Wisconsin and phoned the nearby Wisconsin Air National Guard to see if they needed any help gearing up to go to the Persian Gulf. Thanks but no thanks. I retired from active duty in 1999 after 25 years active/2 years reserve. In the wake of 9/11, I went online to see if my AFSCs were being accepted for reentry, but no luck. If I ever publish my memoirs, it will be titled Late for the War Again. My spouse of 50 years (a former Air Force Nurse) says she's grateful. Part of me is still bitter about the fate of the Republic of Vietnam. Some years back, the local Chapter of the VVA asked me to say a few remarks at an observance of an anniversary of the 1973 withdrawal of American forces. I included that although I am a person of spiritual faith, and that we are admonished to be forgiving, I am still having difficulty forgiving Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Robert McNamera, and Henry Kissinger. I told the vets they had won, but that their win had been traded away by politicians. I hope and pray we do not abandon Taiwan.
Thanks again for your interest, Barry and Mike. I'll send you photos and keep you informed of my progress finding this poor orphan Alpine a home.
Barry, Judging by your Agent Orange logo, you served as well in Southeast Asia, on the ground, for which I thank you and salute you. Several of my good friends served in Vietnam and some were deeply scarred by it. I hope you got all the medical assistance you needed and deserved from the DVA. In '72 I was a B-52 jet engine mechanic at K.I. Sawyer AFB Michigan and SAC was gearing up for another big bombing of Hanoi/Haiphong. I was so sure I was headed to Vietnam or Guam that I was making storage arrangements for my '72 Vega Panel Express and my personal gear. Instead, I did a year at U-Tapao Royal Thai Naval Air Station in '73-'74. I got off too easy -- Thailand was an easy and fun tour of duty. In '91 I was teaching in AFROTC at the University of Wisconsin and phoned the nearby Wisconsin Air National Guard to see if they needed any help gearing up to go to the Persian Gulf. Thanks but no thanks. I retired from active duty in 1999 after 25 years active/2 years reserve. In the wake of 9/11, I went online to see if my AFSCs were being accepted for reentry, but no luck. If I ever publish my memoirs, it will be titled Late for the War Again. My spouse of 50 years (a former Air Force Nurse) says she's grateful. Part of me is still bitter about the fate of the Republic of Vietnam. Some years back, the local Chapter of the VVA asked me to say a few remarks at an observance of an anniversary of the 1973 withdrawal of American forces. I included that although I am a person of spiritual faith, and that we are admonished to be forgiving, I am still having difficulty forgiving Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Robert McNamera, and Henry Kissinger. I told the vets they had won, but that their win had been traded away by politicians. I hope and pray we do not abandon Taiwan.
Thanks again for your interest, Barry and Mike. I'll send you photos and keep you informed of my progress finding this poor orphan Alpine a home.
Barry
Diamond Level Sponsor
My Vietnam experience (1969 & 1970, mostly with the 101st Airborne in I-Corp) was and still is a good news / bad news deal. It was a lousy war in a lousy place for lousy reasons and that is the good news. The bad news is that the politicians would not allow us to either win or to leave with the result that 58K+ names are on a memorial wall. Fast forward to 2023 and the good news is that a VA pathologist saw something strange in my blood work and did some extra testing that detected an ultra rare form of leukemia which is almost certainly the result of exposure to Agent Orange. The bad news is that the VA waited until early this year before informing me. The good news is that they then promptly referred me to a very good cancer center for treatment. The bad news is that none of the doctors there had ever seen or treated a case of leukemia like mine. The good news is that chemo and immune system therapy seems to be working. The bad news is that treatment will probably last at least another two years and remission is unlikely. The good news from my hematologist / oncologist is that "it can be controlled" and that "it will probably not be what kills you." It's a matter of perspective and I am much more fortunate than a lot of Vietnam vets.
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Sorry the VA was so slow in coming to your aid, but it sounds as though there is some hope now. Hope the good news continues to outweigh the bad news for you -- I wish you the best. My brother-in-law was a Screamin' Eagle and was deployed to Little Rock in 1957 to enforce the Supreme Court ruling against segregation and protect the students who were trying to enroll in school there. He'd been drafted, fulfilled his obligation, got a college degree on a football scholarship and had a long successful career in business, great marriage and two great kids. ALS took him from us two years ago at the age of 85. Thanks again for the info on the Alpine, I've got some good nibbles on it; looks like I'll be able to find a good home for it. I've been very fortunate with my VA experiences. They helped me earn two degrees, and when I retired from active duty they assigned me a 30% disability so I've been getting nearly all my medical care from them -- they've been very good to me. Hope they continue to do well by you.
It turns out that this is actually a 1963 Alpine II, based on the VIN I was able to find. The title says 1964 because back in those days, Michigan titles were issued not based on the manufacture year of the car, but when it was sold to the first owner. Here are some photos
Attachments
The VIN is B9204378LRX, which I believe means it is actually a Series II manufactured in 1963. As you noted, it's titled a 1964 because that was the year of its sale. Photos attached. Most of the brown surface areas are not rust, but dust. It was in a three-sided agricultural equipment shed for years and gathered lots of windblown dust.
Russ
Attachments
I think I may have already posted six photos of the Series III on this thread. I apologize, everyone! I'm still getting used to using this forum, so I'm sorry if I posted a bunch of redundant photos!
It turns out that this is actually a 1963 Alpine II, based on the VIN I was able to find. The title says 1964 because back in those days, Michigan titles were issued not based on the manufacture year of the car, but when it was sold to the first owner. I think I may have already posted six photos of the Series III on this thread. I apologize, everyone! I'm still getting used to using this forum, so I'm sorry if I posted a bunch of redundant photos!
It turns out that this is actually a 1963 Alpine II, based on the VIN I was able to find. The title says 1964 because back in those days, Michigan titles were issued not based on the manufacture year of the car, but when it was sold to the first owner. I think I may have already posted six photos of the Series III on this thread. I apologize, everyone! I'm still getting used to using this forum, so I'm sorry if I posted a bunch of redundant photos!
It turns out that this is actually a 1963 Alpine II, based on the VIN I was able to find. The title says 1964 because back in those days, Michigan titles were issued not based on the manufacture year of the car, but when it was sold to the first owner. I think I may have already posted six photos of the Series III on this thread. I apologize, everyone! I'm still getting used to using this forum, so I'm sorry if I posted a bunch of redundant photos!