History
Our 12/16 has a wonderful history from new, with extensive documentation including its original sales order. The car had one fastidious owner between 1912 and 1942, an engineer who ran the Smith & Coventry Engineering Works in Manchester. It was sold to Brooklands race driver Guy Warburton, then John Hampton who was one of the first members of the UK Sunbeam Register in 1950, and who used it extensively for forty years. Just two other owners have been custodians prior to us, and the car arrived in Australia in 2021. It’s considered to be one of the most original 12/16s to survive. The model was highly successful for Sunbeam - in 1912 Sunbeam achieved 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Coupe de l’Auto race in France, with further successes of 3rd, 4th and 5th in the French GP which was run consecutively, using almost standard 12/16 cars.
