Building a single Series I Rapier took three cities: Pressed Steel built the shell, Thrupp & Maberly in London painted and trimmed it, then it shipped again to Coventry just to get its engine.
Median 95 hp across 36 similar cars
Lead trim: 1,390 cc OHV (62.5 bhp) · up to 67.5 hp
Sunbeam Rapier Series I1955–1958
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Sunbeam Rapier Series I yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactBuilding a single Series I Rapier took three cities: Pressed Steel built the shell, Thrupp & Maberly in London painted and trimmed it, then it shipped again to Coventry just to get its engine.
The styling of the Series I Rapier was undertaken by Raymond Loewy Associates and showed a great deal of influence of Loewy's 1953 Studebaker Starliner and subsequent Hawk. Announced in October 1955 for the Motor Show, it was available in a range of two-tone colour schemes typical of the period, with a steering-column gear change, Kangaroo leather trim and a Laycock de Normanville overdrive as standard fittings. Rapier bodies were built by Pressed Steel, shipped to Thrupp & Maberly in north London for painting and trimming, then shipped again to the Rootes plant at Ryton-on-Dunsmore, a complex arrangement that persisted until late 1963. The 1,390 cc engine was essentially the Hillman Minx unit with a raised compression ratio (8:1 instead of 7:1) and a Zenith DIF 36 carburettor, developing 62.5 bhp at 5000 rpm; from October 1956, as a result of rallying experience, the R67 engine with twin Zenith carburettors produced 67.5 bhp at 5000 rpm. 7,477 were produced.
Collectors Spotted in the Sunbeam Rapier Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Sunbeam Rapier yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
2 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,390 cc OHV (62.5 bhp) | 1955–1958 | 1.4 L Inline-4 | 62.5 hp | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1,390 cc OHV R67 twin-carb (67.5 bhp) | 1956–1958 | 1.4 L Inline-4 | 67.5 hp | — | 20.9 s | — | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
Rootes tilted the Fastback Rapier's engine to the right — purely so the bonnet line could sit lower, a styling trick shared across the whole Arrow range.
The most improved Rapier was also the one nobody bought — just 3,759 Series Vs were built before it was dropped in 1967, making it the rarest of the whole Series run.
The real new 'Series IV' Rapier never came out as a Rapier at all — Rootes redirected that design into the Humber Sceptre, and reworked the old car to wear the Series IV badge instead.
The Series IIIA looked and felt identical to the Rapier it replaced — every change under the skin was aimed purely at durability, not difference.
Rootes slimmed the windscreen pillars and dropped the scuttle line on the Series III Rapier for a 20% bigger windscreen — the subtlest change nobody noticed.
Rootes launched the Rapier Series II by flying nine cars out to Monte Carlo so the press could try them right as the 1958 rally wrapped up.
Building a single Series I Rapier took three cities: Pressed Steel built the shell, Thrupp & Maberly in London painted and trimmed it, then it shipped again to Coventry just to get its engine.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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