1933 Sunbeam 346cc Model 8 Combination

• Present family ownership for many years
• Kept on static display
• Requires sympathetic recommissioning/restoration

Sunbeam introduced overhead-valve engines in the mid-1920s having established its not inconsiderable sporting credentials with sidevalve machines. The Wolverhampton concern missed the virtually wholesale switchover from flat-tank to saddle-tank frames for the 1928 season, and its saddle-tank models did not appear until September of that year. Changes to the OHV engine were confined mainly to its top-end: early flat-tankers featured a straight-ahead exhaust port, a peculiarity which necessitated the adoption of a bifurcated down-tube, then later in the 1920s the fashionable twin-port cylinder head became an option before Sunbeam standardised a single-port design in 1934. Pushrod enclosure had arrived by 1930 to be followed a couple of years later by partial enclosure of the rocker gear. Dropped in 1930 when a new overhead-valve 350 took its place in the range, the Model 8 was reintroduced for 1933. Effectively a junior version of the 500cc Model 9, the Model 8 was capable of a top speed of around 80mph in solo trim.

In 1935 this Sunbeam Model 8 belonged to a Mr John W Waplington, a railway clerk of Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire. In May 1935 he acquired a sidecar for the machine, a move which may have been occasioned by his marriage in late 1934 and the prospect of a forthcoming family. The sidecar he bought (still fitted to the motorcycle today) was a 'Luxury Launch Saloon' purchased from Pride & Clarke; unfortunately, the manufacturer is not identified. On file is a diary of use for the period 1933 to 1936 recording expenses incurred and journeys undertaken.

The Sunbeam outfit was purchased many years ago from a Robert Shiel of Melrose (who had acquired the machine in 1987), since when it has been kept on display in an important private museum. In seemingly highly original condition, the machine will require recommissioning and/or sympathetic restoration to a greater or lesser extent before returning to the road.