The Alpine was introduced into production in 1959. Featuring a 1492cc three main-bearing engine with twin down draft Zeniths for carburation the engine's output was 78bhp. In the US, the Sports Car Club of America, categorized the Alpine as a "G-Production" car. There are numerous factors that determine where a car will be classified, however, in the SCCA the focus is on competitive ability. Cars that the Sunbeam faced in the 1960 season were the Austin-Healey Sprite, Porsche 1300, Fiat-Abarth 850S, and similarly competitive cars.

Vince Tamburo, from Maryland, began competing in a Series I with the 1492cc motor and won the 1960 G-Production National Championship. Vince, always racing under the number #44, gave the Rootes factory its first major sports car success with the Alpine. Vince would go on to be asked to drive one of the factory cars at Sebring.

1961 would be a different year for the Alpine. It would be reclassified by the sanctioning body, the SCCA, and move up to F-Production. Cars within this class included Alfa Romeo Giulietta, MGA (1500, 1600, 1600 II) as well as many other very competitive cars.

In 1960, Don Sesslar was chosen to "test" drive the Series I in a few races for Sports Car Forum. Don had taken up sports car racing in 1957. Driving Porsches he won a F-Modified National Championship in 1959. In 1959 Don also competed at Sebring in a Porsche and placed 4th with of Bob Holbert as his co-driver. Don had a short but very successful career in sports car racing and would prove to be an excellent pilot for the new Sunbeam Alpine that Sports Car Forum would prepare. The test drives would prove the Alpine very capable.

Shorty Bickel was chosen as the chief mechanic. Shorty was meticulous with the preparation of the car according to Don. It was a policy of the team that the car had to be ready to race as it was loaded onto the trailer or they simply did not go. This may have been the case at Virginia International Raceway in 1964. Both Don and Dan were on the entrants list but neither raced. It must have given Don immense confidence to know the car was in perfect form upon arriving at a track and allow him to take his practice and qualifying laps without the typical mayhem.

An article by Don Sesslar in "Today's Motorsport", 1962, on the Alpine as a race car confirms the first Alpine Sports Car Forum raced was a Series I. We can only speculate that for the 1961 season a 1592cc motor was substituted for the 1492cc motor of the Series I. This would have been acceptable since the car competed in F-Production and would have complied with Series II specifications.

The Series I car running Series II specifications was not ready in the beginning of 1961 due to a late start on the preparation. So the team did not actually start accumulating points until mid-year. Even so, they still finished in the top three for National Points.

1962

Don won at both VIR and Bridgehampton during the 1962 season. There were many 2nd place finishes which assisted Don's high placing in the points race. The SCCA's point system applied the top five National finishes to the end of the season results to determine the champion.

During the Bridgehampton race Don edged out Skip Barber in a Turner for the victory according to a race report in Sports Car Graphic (September 1962, p. 68). Don spoke of Skip as being one of his primary competitors.

 

Bridgehampton Race summery from Sports Car Graphic:

"Race two was for real and some thirty-eight F, G, and H production machines attested to this fact as the lot took off in one big hairy bunch. Races within races within races. For FP, it was Don Sesslar's Sunbeam Alpine, vs Skip Barber's Turner Alexander. These two having been racing each other all season long and here they really fought things out. Sesslar took the Class and Overall win - but just, after a beautiful race that saw Barber come so very close- right down to a fender to fender drag towards the checker after 12 laps of exciting competition driving. Howard Hanna's DB beat out Dieter Steinman's Porsche for third in F."

1963

In 1963, the Sunbeam Alpine was reclassified as an E-Production car. This placed the Alpine in the same category as the AC Ace, Austin Healeys, Porsche 356 and the Elva Couriers. It was a very competitive class. Don went on to tied National Points race only to loose the title based on first place finishes.

 

Thompson Raceway featured the last National race of the year and many titles were decided at this event.

 

An excerpt from Road Racing U.S.A. by Robert Jackson:

"The E-Production race decides the championship for that class also. Lake Underwood, a former champion, wins both the race and the title in his blue Porsche. Don Sesslar, the E-class points leader until today, can do no better than fifth in his white Sunbeam Alpine."

 

During the season there was significant factory support coming from Rootes according to Don Sesslar. I believe this is very unusual since the only other Sunbeam team that had support was Hollywood Sports Car, a dealer located on the west coast. Another unusual aspect of the team was that both Don Sesslar and Dan Carmichael were competing in the National and Divisional races in the same car. National race schedules must have allowed off weekend to participate in the Division races. Imagine the effort it must have taken to keep a car maintained and reliable.

Don Sesslar
July 7, 1963	Lake Garnett	1st
April 28, 1963	Virginia Int. Raceway	2nd
June 1, 1963	Bridgehampton	14th
June 23, 1963	Road America	1st
July 7, 1963	Lake Garnett	1st
August 4, 1963	Meadowdale	2nd
August 24, 1963	Watkins Glenn	7th
Sept 2, 1963	Thompson	5th
Divisional Points 3rd	E-Production	14 points
Tied National Championship	E-Production	38 points

Dan Carmichael*
June, 1963	Mid-Ohio	6th
August 3, 1963	Limerock	14th
August 10, 1963	Connellville	DNF - gearbox
August, 17, 1963	Mid-Ohio	1st
Sept 1, 1963	Waterford	7th
Sept 15, 1963	Grayling	3rd
Sept 30, 1963	Nelson Ledges	2nd
Oct 13, 1963	IRP	5th
1963 Division Points 10th	E-Production	7 Points

*Dan's records are only partially available

 

Images from the 1961-1963 seasons - please click for enlargements
	In the book, A Guide to American Sports Car Racing, pub.1962, this photo is presented. This may be Don (#17) in one of the first races in a Alpine, Though the photo is unidentified, #17 was typically used by Don before he started to use #74 regularly. A lot of guessing but hopefully there will be more details in the future. Could this be the Series I in 1961 but before being up graded to Series II specifications? The rollbar is distinctly different than what would be used in the future.
	Road America, 1961 June Sprints. The Series I, now owned by Lou Meyers, even today you can still see the remains of the numbers 1 7 4 on the door. This is a very early shot of Don (#17) in his third race in the Alpine. This image is from Road America's 1962 June Sprints program. The photo is clearly marked "Don Sesslar".
	Don Sesslar - 1962 Virginia International Raceway. Don took second at this race. Don typically raced under the number 74. He would use #74 even on the tigers. Photo credit Roger Blanchard.
	Don Sesslar - 1962 Virginia International Raceway.  Photo credit Roger Blanchard.
	Don Sesslar - 1962 Virginia International Raceway. Photo credit Roger Blanchard.
	Don Sesslar - 1962 Virginia International Raceway. Photo credit Roger Blanchard.
	Don Sesslar - 1962 Virginia International Raceway. Skip Barber's Turner is right behind him and that's Howard Hanna's DB to the right. Photo credit Roger Blanchard.
	Don Sesslar and Shorty Bickel - 1962 Mid-Ohio
	Don Sesslar - 1962 Location Unknown
	Don Sesslar - 1962, Mid-Ohio. H.J. Meyer is riding in the back. Look at the unique badge on the front fender of the car. This badge would be used on the Series IV hood (see 1964). This may have been off of a Pre-WW I Talbot. It does resemble an image of a badge on a Talbot that was mailed to me. Any other thoughts?
	Don Sesslar - 1963 Location Unknown
	Don Sesslar - 1963 Mid-Ohio. Note the "EP" identification on the side of the car.
	Don Sesslar - 1963 Mid-Ohio
	Don at Marlboro, MD, Don came in 5th after an incident with another car.

1961-63	1964	1965-67	2000	2001
History of Sports Car Forum page