1956 Sunbeam Alpine
Yesterday was another rainy day in England.
My 13-year old niece was competing in some kind of horse competition, which required that we all stand outside in the pouring rain and watch all day long.
The kid came in 5th for the whole of the UK, which was something of an achievement, but the horse people don’t let you use umbrellas, as it scares the horses, so about a hundred English people stood in the pouring rain watching horses.
Very English.
On the way back from the horse show grounds (or whatever you call them) we passed a large open field with a few odd buildings, all long-since abandoned. This is what the English refer to as a brownfield  – a place that used to be an industrial site but is no more. There are lots of them in England.
“This” my 83-year old father-in-law announced, “was where they used to make Sunbeams”.
Ah, Sunbeam.
A very sporty and zippy English sportscar.Â
The kind of car I dreamed of when I was a kid.
The British used to make lots of great cars. Â Sunbeam, MG, Triumph, Jaguar, Morgan.
Most of them long gone, like the Sunbeam, or owned by Tata Motors, like the Jaguar.
I am sure that in the 1950s it was unthinkable that one day British motors would end up like this former Sunbeam plant – an overgrown wasteland. But it did.
I, myself, once owned a british racing green Triumph TR6. Beautiful on the outside. Very sick on the inside – all the time.
British motors disappeared because they did not pay attention. They did not keep up with technology. Â (ever hear of Lucas?)
Now, as we watch GM and Chrysler slip beneath the waves, we know that nothing is guaranteed. No matter how big and powerful you once were, past success is no guarantor of future survival.
Driving past what was once the Sunbeam plant, I cannot help but wonder if one day, in the not too distant future, we’ll drive down 8th Avenue in NY and gaze over at an overgrown lot on the corner of 41st Street and say, ‘and this is where The New York Times  used to be”.
2 Comments
DH July 30, 2009
I’m sure you’re aware that nearly every make you named was fitted with a American engine or in some instances german engines etc. “Hybrids” and I don’t mean the economical type and are whole lot more fun! It has alway’s been going on, but got big in the 60’s and came out with fantastic classics. The Sunbeam was called the Tiger with a small V8 from Ford, though small displacement it was twice the size of the English agricultural tractor engine it replaced. And twice as fast and reliable. I believe they also replaced the lucas generator with a american altenator.
Jaguars with GM engines & transmissions. Morgans with BMW engines. Rolls Royce and Bently, believe it or not before being bought by the Germans was using a GM engine from the 50’s and a GM sourced automatic transmission normally used in a RV! It’s still going today. Sometimes in reverse, My 2004 BMW has a GM transmission. And I sure Tata will be sourcing Ford engines and transmissions for awhile.
From what I learned at your class it and what is now happening with your insight, the Car industry and the Newspaper business are always going to be Hybrids, and always changing with what technology is sourced. But most importantly how it is used.
Chris Kohatsu July 30, 2009
Hi Michael – Brownfields is a planning term used in the United States as well. There’s a fascinating project sponsored by the EPA called the Route 66 Initiative which converts abandoned gas stations into wonderful, sustainable public spaces. Seizing on what you wrote, I can’t help but wonder what life would be like if a deserted newspaper plant was someday be on par with an abandoned gas station. . .