Sunbeam Reviews

I haven't read it but am replacing my brother's copy which is literally falling apart from use. Since he is an aficionado of quote books, and this is his favorite of 30 years, that should be some kind of recommendation.

I LOVE this book. It is not compiled by subject so I can read right through it and not only hear about subjects beginning with 3 lettters of the alphabet. The quotes are widely varied and come from fantastic, well known books as well as books I have later been prompted to read. I can not recommend this book enough. The quotes are thoughtful and intriguing. If you enjoy quote books, I can not imagine a better choice.

NEED MORE

I have read the first three in this series. They're GREAT! What's even better is that this is a true Amish woman's journal. It has helped me to better understand their way of living and their faith. We have an Amish community near here and I appreciate it even more now.

As a grown up reader, I must say that this book is truly enchanting. I enjoyed the reading, and the artwork was fantastic. Children of all ages will enjoy this work. The lessons on friendship taught by the author are exactly what children today need, and adults would not be hurt by the refresher course. Yes, it is a children's story, but aren't we all children at heart anyway?

Chris McGovern was the founder member of the U.K. Sunbeam Alpine Owners Club in the mid seventies. In 1974 I had purchased a series V and had seen Chris's advertisement in a motoring magazine to set up the Owner's Club. His knowledge of the marque is vast, as is shown in his book. It covers all the models from Series I through to V, including the Harrington Le Mans. His extensive research covers the manufacture, advertising, racing and even films in which the Alpine has featured. You will certainly find out something you didn't know about this model; for example, did you know that a removable roof panel was part of a prototype version (never put into production), but copied by other manufacturers; interesting for me personally was my discovery that my own Alpine was one of the last 100 made (using the list of serial numbers detailed in the Specifications Section). The book is fully illustrated with photographs of all of the Series models, including race coverage, glossy promo ads and various design stages that evolved into the production models. If you are intereseted in the Alpine, you will have to have this excellent publication written by an owner obviously passionate about these cars.

The following book review written by Editor In Chief, Mick Walsh, comes from the October, 1996, issue of Classic And Sportscar.

"Graham Robson's time at Rootes during the 1960's makes him highly qualified to write this book. But both models have been excellently covered by McGovern and Taylor in the past and this new title, combining both cars, offers little new. The history is thoroughly told but the buying/ownership tips are hopelessly inadequate and rife with clichés. The layout is lifeless, the pictures are tediously familiar, the captions often inane. The asking price would be better spent joining one of the excellent clubs for these stylish cars."

To say that Mr. Walsh doesn't seem to care for the Robson offering is obvious understatement. The fact that this book continues the pattern of regurgitating outdated rumor and misinformation, is very disheartening. Revisiting (nearly word for word) the sledge hammer narrative from Bill Carroll's book, smacks of simple laziness and an apparent lack of concern for accuracy. To claim that no Harrington Tiger was ever produced, flies in the face of "factory" records. Records, incidentally, that were within a stones throw of the authors elbow while he accessed other materials from The Museum Of British Road Transport and you would think, documents that should have been reviewed before publishing incorrect final production figures for yet another time.

Not at all worth the price, this huge disappointment has amateur effort written all over it. From its dark, grainy photos, to its total lack of substantial information, this book was a real let-down for me. Unfortunately this is the only book on Rootes Commercial Vehicles. Riddled with typos and grammatical errors, the bulk of the book is wasted on useless charts. Need I say more?