Sunbeam Venezia on FB Marketplace

[puff4]

Saw this rarity on FB tonight... $49,500. Seems a wee bit much for a car with rust holes you can put your fist into, but hey.... if you really want one...

Seller's Description:
"1964 Sunbeam Venezia Superleggera Coupe. Burgundy with a black interior. Extremely rare, one of only 140 built. The aluminum body is good, and the older paint still shows well. There is some rust underneath as you can see in the pictures. The interior is all there and needs to be redone. Mechanically the car runs and drives even though it sat undriven for some years. The car is all complete and comes with many extra used parts. An excellent opportunity to own and collect this unique low production car."

Here's the link to the original FB posting:

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[alpine_64]

The car is also missing the unique bumpers and some other interior bits

It was well known to an ex-saoca president. Iirc The guy who was planning on resurrecting it fell ill and had to move it on and it's since been flipped around the last couple of years

 

[bernd_st]

50k for a complete restauration project ! Nogo for me. There is nothing more costly than restoring a Venezia...

 

[DanR]

Take a good look at a major undercarriage issue.... The Rusty X-frame is a "MAJOR" job for any of the Sunbeams.

It is a shame Rootes did not do a better job providing drainage hole. If that had been done, these cars would be eaisly restored.

 

[bernd_st]

Dan, there is no real X- frame on the Venezia since it was built based on the Humber Sceptre undercarriage. Doesn't make it any better if there is rust on the rails as with this project...

 

[DanR]

Bern, you are correct in the No X-Frame. Even though I was referring to it a as the X-Frame, I mis-spoke. The Rails are terrible under that car.

I believe they would require removal and replacements.

 

[bernd_st]

No problem Dan. The best approach would be to buy a decent Sceptre and swap the undercarriage. That's exactly what we are experiencing on a comparable project over here in Germany. The steelwork however is still nothing compared to the Touring " lightweight" framework and the alu body panels. Lots of skills, time & $$$$ required. On top we are studying a V8 conversion. Will be fun once achieved...

 

[DanR]

Bern, here are a few PIC's on an undercarriage that was "covered" over by a PO (not the one I purchased from) in an attempt to fix or deceive.

1ST PIC Shows where I am prying off the thin pieces of "cover" tact welded to hide the extreme rust of the x-frame.
2ND PIC Shows where I cut away all of the thin pieces of "cover" (See some on the floor). The really bad condition of the frame can be seen very clearly here.
3RD PIC is where I am getting ready to sand blast and apply POR 15.

 

[bernd_st]

Restoring an X-frame is a once only experience. I went through that on my Series 1 , however it was still better than yours. That' s the very reason I bought a rust free california Series 5 later on ;-)