By 1962 Carroll Shelby was already stuffing the Ford 260 HiPo V8 in that cute little British AC roadster. In 1964 he showed the Rootes Group who then owned Sunbeam that he could successfully put that same 260 and itd drive train into the Sunbeam Alpine sports car. He was hoping for a contract to build these cars at Shelby America, but Rootes chose to contract with Jensen at West Bromwich, England, and paying Shelby a royalty for each Tiger produced. It was Rootes that named this hybrid "Tiger" after Sunbeam's 1925 LSR and circuit racer. This Exoto model is of an early 260 roadster that was the first win for Cobra at the 1963 SSCA Riverside race.
Great history & stunning pics Rich, very crisp! Not sure if YOU scuffed up those realistic-looking tire treads or if that's all Exoto. A great replica, but it still bugs me that the spare is actually downsized to fit that trunk-well. Why Exoto didn't just expand that "well" size a hair or two (to accommodate the correct size wheel ) is beyond me. Even Carroll wasn't too happy! LoL
@chrisCould the spare actually be correct? Considering no driver in his right mind would change his own tire during a race and you never see a jack and tire iron included, perhaps they just put an undersized wheel to fit the tub. BTW: the tires came pre-scuffed.
@rich-sufficool Interesting possibility but my black "slab-side" Cobra is a street-legal car that "anyone" could've purchased, and you can see that my spare is smaller.
By 1962 Carroll Shelby was already stuffing the Ford 260 HiPo V8 in that cute little British AC roadster. In 1964 he showed the Rootes Group who then owned Sunbeam that he could successfully put that same 260 and itd drive train into the Sunbeam Alpine sports car. He was hoping for a contract to build these cars at Shelby America, but Rootes chose to contract with Jensen at West Bromwich, England, and paying Shelby a royalty for each Tiger produced. It was Rootes that named this hybrid "Tiger" after Sunbeam's 1925 LSR and circuit racer. This Exoto model is of an early 260 roadster that was the first win for Cobra at the 1963 SSCA Riverside race.
