“Win on a Sunday, Sell on a Monday” - The Sunbeam Rapier

There is an art to ending the production of a long-running and highly respected car on a high note; the Ford Capri 280 ‘Brooklands’, the last SEAT 600 and Saab 96, the final ‘Issigonis Mini’ - and the Audax series Sunbeam Rapier. When Bob Marsden’s Series V left the Ryton factory in 1966, the model was little more than a year away from replacement yet was still largely unique in the UK new car market.

The Rootes Group introduced the original Rapier in October 1955 as the first of their ‘Audax’ family of medium-sized cars; it predated the Hillman Minx by several months. In the new decade, they planned to replace it with a 4-door Series IV based on the floor pan of the forthcoming Hillman Super Minx. However, they decided to retain the two-door Sunbeam Rapier in production and sell the ‘Series IV’ as the Humber Sceptre. 

The Series V was the final incarnation of the Audax Rapier, and it debuted in September 1965. The major news was the 1,725cc seven-bearing engine, resulting in a 95-mph top speed, with 0 to 60 mph to 14.1 seconds, while the body sported a modified grille and frameless side windows. 

A Rapier Series V owner could also induce envy among their neighbours thanks to its list of standard fittings: an adjustable steering column, reclining front seats, a cigar lighter, and full instrumentation in a polished wood fascia. There was even an air vent for the driver’s footwell, while the Sunbeam Rapier’s pillarless construction gave it a faintly mid-Atlantic air; Route 66 rather than the A36. 

At £908, the Rapier was quite a bargain for the discerning motorist, and nor did it have any direct rival in the UK. The Triumph Vitesse 6 was cheaper at £758 but was a different type of sports saloon, while there was no MG or Riley-badged coupe from BMC. Ford would not offer a car in this vein until the Capri in 1969, and Vauxhall would not do so until as late as 1971 with the Firenza. 

Plus, as your friendly local Rootes Group dealer would proudly tell you, the Rapier had an enviable competition pedigree, with Peter Harper’s victory in the 1958 RAC Rally just one of its achievements. That year, Sunbeams occupied the first five places in class at the Alpine Rally, as well as First in Class at the 1959 Liege-Rome-Liege and 1960 Monte Carlo and Acropolis Rallies. The dealer might have also mentioned First in Class at the 1961 Monte Carlo and East African Safari Rallies, and victory in the 1961 and 1962 Circuit of Ireland. 

Rootes made comparatively few of the Rapier Series V, with a mere 3,759 departing the works before the end of production in June 1967. When the new generation of ‘Arrow’ series Hilman Hunter and Singer Vogues made their bow in 1966, the end of the tail-finned Rapier seemed imminent. The fastback coupe of the same name succeeded it the following year. 

By then, the name ‘Sunbeam Rapier’ was a byword for affordable sporting motoring; a car for rally drivers, chartered accountants with a sense of dash and police forces such as Southampton Borough in need of an effective traffic patrol car. This 1962 film from the splendid https://rootesarchive.org/ gives an impression of the Sunbeam Rapier’s sheer charisma.

And Bob’s Autumn Gold Metallic and Embassy Black Series V really does belong in a Leslie Phillips comedy. Preferably overtaking James Robertson Justice’s Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith. 

With thanks to Bob Marsden for his time.

With thanks to Bob Marsden for his permission to use the images in this blog.