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A Brief History of Sunbeam

By Levi Quinn

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 11Mar2010
Word count: 488
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Sunbeam was registered in 1888 by John Marston Co. Ltd, based in Wolverhampton, England, as a marque. John Marston Co. Ltd was originally involved in the manufacture of bicycles and motorcycles and ventured into cars later on. The marque was used for the bicycles, the motorcycles and the cars. The founder of the brand, John Marston, had been trained in the Jeddo Works in Wolverhampton where he was a metal lacquerer. Aged only 23 in 1859, Marston bought 2 tinplate manufacturing plants and formed John Marston Co. Ltd. He was an enthusiastic cyclist and used the two plants to produce bikes called Sunbeams in the Cycle Factory that went by the same name.

The first Sunbeam car was launched in 1901. However, the company had been involved in the production of some experimental cars between 1899 and 1901, but the cars were never actually sold. The company's first prototype had been manufactured in 1899. The manufacture of the car in 1901 was only possible when John Marston Co. Ltd came together with Maberly-Smith. This car was called Sunbeam-Mabley and it had an odd design and it operated on a one-cylinder engine that produced only 3 hp. The car had a water cooled engine running at 700 RPM, tiller steering, solid rubber tires, and separate handbrake and pedal brake. Only 420 of Sunbeam-Mabley were sold at a price of £130 and the last one was sold in 1904. After the Sunbeam-Mabley, Marston Co. Ltd started manufacturing the car that was designed by Thomas Pullinger, who inspiration was from Peugeot. This was in the year 1906 and the model was successful, with about 10 sales each week.

In 1905, Sunbeam Company separated from John Marston Co. Ltd. The John Marston Co. Ltd concentrated on Sunbeam bikes and bicycles. Louis Coatalen, a Breton car designer, joined Sunbeam Motorcar Company Ltd as the chief designer. Coatalen reorganized production so that most of the parts were produced by Sunbeam Motorcar Company Ltd. In those pre-war times, Sunbeams were director competitors to Rolls Royce and they were bought by those who though a Rolls Royce was ostentatious. The company made racing cars in these early years and they were successful.

With the onset of the First World War, the company made ambulances, trucks and motorcycles for the allied forces. The company contributed by making aircraft parts as part of the Society of British Aircraft Constructors contribution. When the war was over, the company had produced 647 aircrafts. After the war, Sunbeam Motorcar Company Ltd merged with Automobiles Darracq S.A., a French automaker.

In 1935, Sunbeam went into receivership and the only successful portion of the company, Talbots, was bought by Rootes Group. In the 60s, Rootes was in financial trouble and 30% of the company was bought by Chrysler. The final Sunbeam was Rootes Arrow, chain Alpine/Rapier fastback, which was manufactured between 1967 and 1976. After this, Chrysler disbanded the marque and only used the name as a model in Chrysler Sunbeam and Talbot Sunbeams. Today, vintage Sunbeam cars are in great demand.

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