1954 Sunbeam Alpine MkI Roadster
Hand-built by the prestigious coachbuilders Thrupp & Maberly, this elegant roadster gained international fame starring alongside Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 thriller To Catch a Thief.
The sleek two-seater design was influenced by styling input from Raymond Loewy’s design team, resulting in flowing lines that appealed to wealthy American buyers seeking European sophistication.
Based on the Sunbeam-Talbot 90 saloon platform, the Alpine featured no external door handles or wind-up windows, instead using detachable side screens and a folding soft top that stowed behind the seats under a metal cover. The distinctive Art Deco-style dashboard housed painted metal instrumentation rather than traditional wood veneer.
Power came from a 2,267 cc (138 cubic inch) inline-four producing 77 horsepower, delivering a top speed of about 95 mph through a column-shifted four-speed manual transmission.
Production was extremely limited, with only 1,582 examples built from 1953 to 1954, of which approximately 961 were exported to North America. Today, fewer than 200 examples are believed to survive, making authentic Alpines highly sought after by collectors.
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