1922 Sunbeam Grand Prix

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | September 17, 2022

Something I did not know: according to Bonhams, Sunbeam was Britain’s most successful Grand Prix entrant during the period in which this car was built. I don’t know what the means in terms of wins, but it sounds nice. The first Sunbeam cars were built in 1901, and they got pretty heavily into racing after WWI.

Four Grand Prix racers like this were built in 1922. It was designed to compete under the 2.0-liter rule with it’s inline-four displacing just that and making 88 horsepower. Two-seater body work was required, as was a tail that could extend beyond the rear axle by no more than 1.5 meters.

This is the prototype of the four 1922 Sunbeam GP cars and was initially road registered by driver Jean Chassagne before being put to use on track. It was raced as late as 1938 and was re-bodied by John Wyer in 1942. In 1973, it was restored. It now has an estimate of $805,000-$920,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $686,929.