Grand Prix Sunbeams 1922

rdf:langString Grand Prix Sunbeams 1922

rdf:langString Sunbeam Works Racing cars participated in the 1922 XVI Grand Prix de l'A.C.F. in Strasbourg. The race took place on 15 July 1922 and was run to a formula stipulating that maximum engine capacity should not exceed 2 litres and that the cars should be two-seaters weighing not less than 650 kg. The formula was to remain in force for four years producing "fields of brilliance to be unequalled for many years" it was the first rolling massed start in the history of Grand Prix motor-racing. Three Ernest Henry-designed team cars were constructed for the event preceded by a similar prototype which served as a test, practice and spare car. When H.O.D. Segrave's assigned team car's engine was ruined by fire during practice he adopted the prototype instead as his race car. During the race the engines in all three Sunbeam cars failed and none finished. After the Grand Prix one of the Sunbeam cars was entered in a Brooklands race, which it won. All four cars were subsequently sold to privateers and entered in various events with varied levels of success. Rarely for a complete British Works team of the Vintage era, all four cars survive. However, only one - chassis No 2 - can be considered original, while the other three embody genuine and original components and possess continuous histories