out what this 'tres chic' automobile was. All I knew was that I wanted one.
"It took me a long time in those pre-Internet days to find out that Grace Kelly's car was a first-generation Sunbeam Alpine roadster, made by England's Sunbeam-Talbot Company between 1953 and 1955. As the story goes, Hitchcock and his production team had yet to choose a car for Grace's character to drive in the pivotal chase scenes. Some had suggested a Jaguar, but a powerful car like that just didn't seem right for a delicate millionairess. Others mentioned popular sports cars of the day like the bulky Mercedes 190 SL. Too German, they decided; and besides, the Nazis had occupied France just 10 years earlier. Ford's popular two-seat Thunderbird was ruled out as too American.
"Grace needed a cool-as-ice roadster, but the right choice couldn't be found. Then, shortly before production began, Hitch's wife Alma saw a magazine ad for a brand-new car called the Alpine. It simply breathed sex appeal, and it was perfect. Alma told her husband about the car, and the decision was made.
"The Rootes Group, which owned the Sunbeam marque, was eager to get some publicity for their new convertible--partially contrived by the great industrial designer Raymond Lowey. So they immediately dispatched a Sapphire Blue Alpine to Cannes. Once the French location filming was done, the car was shipped to Paramount Studios in Hollywood for all its blue-screen shots. From there, that original Sunbeam simply disappeared. Its serial number is known but, to date, it has not been located and probably never will be. You see, of 1,582 Sunbeam Alpine Mark I's made, fewer than 200 exist today.
"When I mention the Sunbeam Alpine to most people, they wrongly think of the little finned roadster of the same name that began production in 1959. Close to 70,000 of those were manufactured through 1968, so they are fairly common. But it was the rare first series of Alpine I lusted after. For years, I watched the ads and scanned the web for one to buy, but those I saw were rusted hulks, unrestored cars in odd color combinations, or simply not for sale.
"Finally, I heard about an Alpine that had just completed a two-year, body-off restoration by a marque expert. Every nut and bolt had been cleaned and replaced. All the chrome was brand new. It had all it parts and a full engine restoration. Best of all, it had been restored to duplicate Grace Kelly's ride in To Catch a Thief. It was painted the most beautiful shade of blue I'd ever seen, and the leather interior was even the movie car's original 'fawn' color. Its
Previous Page | Next Page |