1969 Sunbeam Rapier

Jet Wash – Fitting the Washer System to the 1969 Sunbeam Rapier

The workshop team at Bridge Classic Cars have finished up the final job on the 1969 Sunbeam Rapier ahead of the journey to its new home.

The washer system for the car has been completely cleaned through and tested before being refitted to the car. With this job finished, the transport team will soon load the classic Sunbeam into our enclosed trailer to head of to its new owner.

As It Should – Repairs on the 1969 Sunbeam Rapier

The 1969 Sunbeam Rapier Fastback has been on the ramp at Bridge Classic Cars to have the last few jobs finished on the car before it heads off to its new owner.

The workshop have been working through the car to rescue one of the seat mounts on the interior which is now fixed down firmly in place before moving on to the handbrake.

The workshop have fitted new handbrake cables to the underside of the classic Sunbeam as well as replacing all the rubber joints in the front suspension of the car.

In Place – New Universal Joint & Gearbox/Crossmember Bushes on the 1969 Sunbeam Rapier

The 1969 Sunbeam Rapier has been up on the ramp at the Bridge Classic Cars for its final inspection and to have the final jobs finished on the car.

On inspection, the team have replaced the universal joint to the front of the driveshaft on the classic Sunbeam Fastback. Jon replaced the joint before refitting it back into the car ready for its new owner.

Whilst the driveshaft was out of the car, the workshop took the opportunity to renew the gearbox and cross-member bushes/mounts with brand new replacements for the car.

With the final bits of work done on the car, it will soon be heading off to its new home.

Behind the Scenes – Live Draw of the 1969 Sunbeam Rapier

Last night, the Bridge Classic Cars team found out who the lucky new owner of our stunning 1969 Sunbeam Rapier was! Let’s take a look behind the scenes with Craig, Freddie and Nick.

The Sunbeam Rapier Fastback is one of the best-kept secrets in the classic car world. Gorgeous styling, good performance paired with sturdy and reliable engineering. Our beautiful vibrant Red Rapier Fastback proved to be hugely popular, by the time the competition ended at 7:10 PM last night, only 900 of the 7750 tickets remained. And, it was our lowest ticket price ever at just £3! But it was a lot of car for a very small outlay.

As the team went live on our Facebook page at 7PM, everyone began to join in with the comments section coming alive with greetings and messages of luck to each other.

After the introduction, Craig handed over to Nick for a quick tour with Freddie around the workshop to take a look at some of the work the Bridge Classic Cars workshop team have been doing over the last week. Then, at 10 past 7, the entries closed.

Whilst the team waited for the final entry list to be posted up online (which is done with all of our competitions) they took along around some of the other cars in the competitions building, some of which you will see more of very soon…

Then, it was time for the live draw. As always, we used a Google Random Number Generator to choose a winner from everyone who entered randomly. After a quick test to make sure the number generator was working correctly and messages of ”all clear” flashed away on the live stream, Craig input the numbers to be chosen between. 1 and 7750.

One final word of good luck from the team, and with a single click the future of the Rapier Fastback was confirmed. It would be heading to its new home with Chris. Who’s winning ticket of 5993 was selected by the random number generator.

As always the team give the winner a call. After a few rings, Chris answered. Although having your dinner interrupted isn’t always ideal, when Craig told him he was now the proud new owner of our 1969 Sunbeam Rapier, you could hear the excitement in his voice.

Behind the Scenes – Shooting the 1969 Sunbeam Rapier

The Bridge Classic Cars Competitions team have just launched this! Our 1969 Sunbeam Rapier.

The team took the fully inspected Rapier fastback to our filming location to begin getting the necessary photos and videos to bring you the latest competition car.

The bright red coupe looked incredible in the summer sun. Its paintwork is only complemented further by the exceptional black interior and black/silver wheels.

The 1.7-litre 4-cylinder engine pulled strong as it made its way across the ex-airfield. The twin Weber carburettors gave their signature snarl with every blip of the throttle much to the delight of the team. It was a perfect machine for the best time of year. A low-slung and sleek fastback. A micro-muscle car with strong, chiselled looks but on a delicate and nimble scale.

And now, all of this could be yours. Bridge Classic Cars Competitions wants you to win this 1969 Sunbeam Rapier! Head over to the website and get your tickets now!

Or, to check out the official gallery and video, see below:

Fit and Finish – Finishing the Interior of the 1969 Sunbeam Rapier

Our in-house trim shop at Bridge Classic Cars has finished the interior overhaul on the 1969 Sunbeam Rapier that arrived from South Africa a couple of months ago.

We believe the interior to have been redone at some point in its life but there were a few details on the car which the team just weren’t happy with so the plan was hatched to redo them. The trim team have been working on both the dash and the centre console to get the perfect fit for the car.

Along with that, Brian has made a new glovebox liner entirely from scratch to fit perfectly into the existing dashboard.

Remove and Repair – Repairing the Dash and Centre Console of the 1969 Sunbeam Rapier

The dashboard and centre console of the 1969 Sunbeam Rapier have been removed from the car and taken up the Bridge Classic Cars trim shop for repairs to begin on the pieces.

Brian carefully dismantled the pieces to perform the repairs needed. A lot of these issues were to do with the fitment and finish of the panels or inserts so mostly small adjustments or retrimming was needed but in other places, entire panels had to be remade and then retrimmed.

He entirely remade the centre console to take into the newly fitted USB socket for the classic Sunbeam. This was retrimmed in matching black vinyl to match the rest of the car.

Up and Running – Getting the 1969 Sunbeam Rapier Started

The restoration team at Bridge Classic Cars have got the engine running on our 1969 Sunbeam Rapier since it arrived in with us from South Africa recently.

With some fresh fuel, top-up of levels, a jump start from our director’s car and a check over the little 4-cylinder sprang into life, happily idling in our storage facility, The Hangar. So, we decided to take it out for a drive up and down the runway to make sure everything worked just as it should.

This Just In – 1969 Sunbeam Rapier

Bridge Classic Cars have acquired one of the most complete, original and low mileage Sunbeam Rapier’s that we have ever seen or known of. This 1969 Sunbeam Rapier is finished in white with a black interior and still holds many of its original trims, panels and parts.

The car was bought new by the previous owner’s aunt for her 80th birthday in 1969 as a gift to herself on such a milestone. She then proceeded to use the car for the next 13 years until it finally went into long term hibernation when the driver turned 93 years old. After the car had been docile for nearly 10 years, the family drug the Rapier out and got it running again in order for it to take it on a rally to France with a reported round trip of around 1200 miles achieved with no problems – An amazing story for such an amazing and rare car to see these days. And when you think the odometer has only just surpassed 27,000 miles in 52 years.

The car, as stated, is in very original condition. Only records and evidenced are small Bodywork repairs possibly done in period and minor mechanical changes either routine or completely necessary throughout the car’s driving life.

The car doesn’t appear to have any form of rust anywhere on the body (and especially the strut towers). The engine, however, is in an unknown condition but we are confident that with a small amount of effort and perhaps parts the glorious 1725cc 4-Cylinder would fire into life once more.

If you would be interested in owning this incredible piece of British sportscar history and a true survivor car. Please get in touch with the Bridge Classic Cars team by either calling us on 01473 742038 or Emailing Us at info@bridgeclassiccars.co.uk