1976 Sunbeam Rapier Fastback review from UK and Ireland

Petrol tank interior coated with some sort of paint that flaked off and blocked carb repeatedly. Had to remove the tank and steam spray the inside (very awkward job) which helped, but still had some problems later, I finally cured this by adding a large in-line fuel filter!

Engine earth came loose causing weird problems (read below)

Engine seized up for no apparent reason.

I bought this car for very little whilst in Germany, it was RHD and I exported it back to the UK when I came back to the UK, that's how much I liked it.

This was a great looking car, with swooping fastback rear and lots of room inside, also very comfortable. It was yellow a with a tan interior, lots of dials and made by Chrysler.

The 1725 CC OHV Routes engine had a high compression alloy head, Twin SU Carbs and plently of torque. The 4 speed plus overdrive transmission effectively gave the car 6 speeds. The cornering wasn't the best, as it understeered badly, but it wasn't made for cornering so it loved the Autobahns and later motorways.

The car was very reliable (apart from a couple of awkward issues) I spent little on it during ownership.

Having to unblock the fuel system every so often due to paint flakes, was about the worst thing I had to deal with, I'd have to blow down the fuel hose or go to a filling station and blow compressed air into the fuel system until I had the time to remove the tank.

I then had this odd problem of the car losing electrics, such as random cut-ots with no starter, I would poke about under the bonnet and it started again! I got other mechanics to look it over, but they couldn't figure. I was cleaning the carpet one day and noticed there was sparking under the accelerator pedal, this was rather alarming especially as there was no wiring anywhere near, I disconnected the battery and phoned a mechanic friend of mine, he said "Ohh! now I know why you've been having the problem with the starter, your engine earth must be bad, take the engine earth off and give the connectors a good clean." Sure enough this stopped the random cut-outs and stopped the sparks, which were due to the engine trying to earth down the accelator cable.

I was shocked when the engine seized up without any warning, it was not overheated or lacking oil or showing any sign of stress, it just came to a clattering halt one day. I sold it to an enthusiast who fixed it and loved the car.

I enjoyed this car until the engine seized, I suspected the head gasket had failed and blown water into the block, causing the sudden death! These Routes engines had a habit of blowing gaskets, just my luck it did it in this way, I would have kept this car longer otherwise!