1925 Sunbeam Tiger

Built for Major Henry Segrave to attempt the World Land Speed Record. V12 4 Litre, twin OHC, twin superchargers, 4-speed gearbox.

Segrave took the record at 152mph, on March 16th 1926.
It was subsequently fitted with superchargers and became a Grand Prix racing car.

Parked in a corner, I was only able to inspect the front of the car. The first things I noticed were the hydraulic brake lines to the front drums, and the machined front axle. Of course the hydraulics are a more modern addition, but Malcolm (not Campbell!) told me the front beam axle is not original either. The front axle is located by semi elliptic springs that 'float' at the front, and two friction shocks on each side. The forward shocks are hidden by a cowling. I did not see a sway-bar.

A quick look inside the cockpit showed 4-speed 'pre-selector' gears and an exposed torque-tube. Nothing to be afraid of.

My photo above is not very good, so I searched the web for better pictures and found some that show the car in Grand Prix trim with exposed radiator. My photo shows the car in LSR trim with aerodynamic front (and is that a rear-view mirror!?). Clicking the pictures links to the images owner.



(At this time, the engine is toast. In its last outing it ended up in the gravel and sucked stones through the engine. Malcolm said that there were pebbles coming out the exhaust pipe. Perhaps he was pulling my leg, but anyway, the engine is being rebuilt. It's great that the cars in this collection are still raced.)

Categories:Cars