Sunbeam 3-Litre Super Sports History

Introduced at the London Motor Show in October 1925 and offered from 1926, the Sunbeam 3-Litre Super Sports was chief engineer Louis Coatalen's deliberate answer to the Bentley 3 Litre. Its 2,920 cc straight-six used two overhead camshafts and inclined valves — a technically advanced specification — producing around 90 bhp in naturally aspirated form; a supercharger option appeared in 1929, lifting output to 135 bhp.

The 3-Litre was built during the height of Sunbeam's Grand Prix dominance: the factory team won the French Grand Prix in 1923 (Henry Segrave) and the Spanish Grand Prix in 1924, and in 1927 Segrave drove the Sunbeam Mystery 1000 HP to a land-speed record of 203.792 mph at Daytona Beach. Two Sunbeams also finished second at the 1925 Le Mans 24 Hours. The road-going 3-Litre shared the racing programme's engineering ambition, placing Sunbeam alongside Bentley and Alfa Romeo at the top of the sporting-car world. Production ended in 1930 as STD Motors descended into the financial difficulties that led to receivership in 1934.