09/14/2026
Years before Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles conquered Le Mans in the Ford GT40, the duo teamed up in Southern California on a clever skunkworks project. Britain's Rootes Group realized their stylish 4 cylinder convertible was simply too slow to survive against rival roadsters.
To test the concept, Miles cobbled together a running prototype for just 800 dollars, while Shelby engineered the production model. That effort birthed the 1966 Sunbeam Tiger Mk1.
Squeezing an American 260 cubic inch Ford V8 into the engine bay required redesigning the front steering assembly with a compact rack and pinion setup to clear the oil pan. Pushing 164 horsepower through a chassis weighing roughly 2,500 pounds, it pulled from 0 to 60 in under 8 seconds on its way to 120 miles per hour.
Assembled by Jensen Motors in England, this Anglo American creation captured genuine Shelby magic well before international endurance glory arrived.
