The Third Annual Car and Driver Reader’s Choice Awards continued to grow in participation and respect by the time their May 1966 issue came out and featured the results of the polling. Split into 15 various classifications, the 1966 Sunbeam Tiger was victorious in the “Best Grand Touring Sports Car” ($2,500 to $3,500) with 31-percent of the vote. Fourteen percentage points behind in second place was the Triumph TR4A; Alfa Romeo Guilia Spider, Austin-Healey 3000 and MG MGB were the other contenders.

Sharing page 47 of the commentary with the Cobra 427 (winner of the “Best Grand Touring Sports Car” ($3,500 to $7,000), the obvious platform similarities was not lost on the Car and Driver staff. They wrote of the Tiger: “Installing American V-8 engines of various sizes in English roadster chassis has been extremely popular for some time now, but only two models, the Cobra and the Sunbeam Tiger have ever made it big on the American automotive scene. Uniquely, both of them are winners in the Reader’s Choice. With the Tiger, a 260-cid Ford V-8 turns an otherwise average English sports car into a genuinely exciting vehicle. The conversion to American power is an especially successful one, and the Tiger has a feeling of tautness that is missing in many sports cars of its size. The price is right, power and performance are fine – the Tiger’s here to stay.”

The platform had the standard features of rear drums with front disc brakes, a four-speed manual transmission, and the aforementioned 260-cid unit was spec’d as having 164-hp and dual exhaust. This example is finished in black with black interior and black convertible top. Roll-up windows, a woodgrain dash fascia, center-placed armrest and ashtray and power brakes are also onboard.

Offered by the Rootes Group when new, this beauty has received a full rotisserie restoration by DALE Restoration in San Bernardino, California and is a left-hand drive, rust-free California “black plate” car. Along with the sporty polished alloy bolt-on wheels (with Sunbeam Tiger spinners), the Sunbeam is accompanied by its original bill of sale. The comparisons to the Cobra continue on for the Sunbeam Tiger – lightweight, American V-8 engine and chassis dynamics that allow driving fun are always in style.