SUNBEAM VENEZIA HISTORY

1959: Year of Great Hopes
By the end of the fifties the Rootes Group was doing very well and the Sunbeam marque was enjoying great success in European rallies thanks to the Rapier and great drivers such as Harper, Jopp and Hopkirk. In 1959 the Sunbeam Alpine was launched, allowing Rootes to enter the sports car market and compete with Abingdon's MGA and Triumph's TR2, but with new standards of comfort. At the top end of the range the new Humber Super Snipe, with a larger engine than the existing Hawk, had been on the market for only a year and at the bottom end the Hillman Minx and Husky continued to sell well. Singer, recently acquired by Rootes, was represented by the Gazelle, a luxury mid-range family car in the Minx mould. In short, the Rootes Group was confident about the future and William Rootes became Lord Rootes. Rootes had always been a master of the art of badge engineering and very few engines were used in these models. A four-cylinder 1494cc unit powered the Minx, Gazelle, Rapier and Alpine light car ranges, with only minor variations in specification to produce different outputs. This engine would soon be uprated to 1592cc, although a smaller 1360cc version continued to be used in the Husky. The Humber Hawk was powered by a 2267 cc four-cylinder engine derived from the Sunbeam 90 powerplant, and the Super Snipe by a six-cylinder engine based on an Armstrong Siddeley design, enlarged to 2651 cc but later stretched to 2965 cc. Looking to the future, work had been in progress since 1956 on a small car, still codenamed 'Slug', which finally saw the light of day in the spring of '63 as the Hillman Imp. Another, less radical, new model range was in the pipeline; the Hillman Super Minx, Singer Vogue and the new Sunbeam Rapier were ready for introduction during the sixties, initially using the 1592cc engine. However, the existing Rapier continued to sell so well that the new model was launched alongside it as a small Humber, the Sceptre.

Sunbeam Alpine: all roads lead to Milan
The Sunbeam Alpine was unveiled to the world's press at Cannes in the south of France in July '59. Alec Caine was the engineer who would oversee all future developments of the model. To improve the Alpine, one of his wishes was to increase the driver's limited legroom, but the Rootes design department was not convinced that there was a problem and Alec Caine decided to continue his research independently.

Representing Rootes at the Turin Salon in October 1959, he showed an Alpine to the Milan coachbuilders Touring while in Italy. Touring were able to lower the pedals by about an inch and back in England this modification was adopted on the Series II Alpine introduced in October 1960. By the end of 1960 it became apparent that Touring were often involved in modifying Alpines for customers of the local Rootes agent in Milan and the Rootes design department were particularly interested in the way Touring had increased the Alpine's limited boot capacity. Alec Caine was sent back to Italy with an Alpine for Touring to modify and the result was a boot with the spare wheel mounted forward against the rear of the passenger compartment and the large floor-mounted fuel tank replaced by two smaller tanks, one in each wing. Touring hadn't stopped there, they had also cut out the rear fenders and fitted a wooden dashboard and a wood-rimmed steering wheel! Alec returned to Coventry with the modified Alpine and the design department agreed to work on the design, trying to improve on all of Touring's modifications, such as the fuel filler arrangements for the twin tanks, which were very primitive. The result was that the Series III Alpine offered a much larger boot with increased fuel capacity, and a Grand Touring model was introduced with a wooden dashboard and wood-rimmed steering wheel. The new wing shape, however, was held back until the Series IV was ready in 1964.

Touring: new directions
Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni took over from his father at the helm of Carrozzeria Touring in 1948. During the fifties, the factory was very successful thanks to excellent work on projects for Bristol, Pegaso, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Aston Martin's DB4.

All these cars were built using the Superleggera method, which involved building a tubular steel frame on the manufacturer's chassis and then attaching aluminium body panels that were not in direct contact with the steel to avoid electrolytic corrosion.

Touring's order book grew rapidly and the decision was taken to move from cottage industry to full-scale industrial production methods. A new factory was built in Nova Milanese, one of the northern suburbs of Milan, and it had to be large enough to handle the orders resulting from agreements with Lancia for the Flaminia and Alfa Romeo for the Spyder 2600, as well as further work for Lamborghini and Maserati.
Touring also entered into an agreement with Rootes management on 23 October 1961 to assemble a maximum of four Alpines and ten Super Minxes per day at the new plant to supply the Italian market. This agreement was to remain in force until the demise of Touring.
Finally, in 1962, the new factory was up and running; it even had an assembly line, which meant that the company's assembly workers had to be painstakingly retrained over the preceding months. Nevertheless, in true Touring style, born of decades of tradition, each customer could still have his car built to his specifications. The Touring workforce was still capable of almost anything!

Rootes Italia: birthplace of the Venezia
Rootes' Italian subsidiary was also based in Milan and was managed from 1960 to 1965 by George Carless, who had the idea of producing an elegant sports saloon specifically for the Italian market. In the spring of 1960, George Carless presented his proposal to Brian Rootes, who was enthusiastic about the project. The staff at Ryton were more hesitant; in the sixties, no self-respecting British engineer believed that foreigners could make a better car than they could!
George Carless went ahead and spoke to Touring towards the end of the year, knowing that they were involved in the Alpine modifications and that Rootes already had contacts there through Alec Caine.
Signor Anderloni was receptive to the idea as it would make good use of the new factory being built at Nova Milanese. The agreement to assemble Alpines and Super Minxes was still unheard of.
Naturally, Alec Caine was to be the engineer responsible for liaising between the companies.

The project takes shape
In 1961 Touring began work on the design of the new car and built a 1:10 scale model. The styling was similar to other current Touring models, notably the Lancia Flaminia and Maserati. They all have similar rear wings, wraparound windscreens and clean lines. The Venezia had twin headlights with apertures above and vertical bars to the radiator grille. Rear wings were soon to be seen on the Alpine, the fins of the earlier series having been trimmed back.
The Touring style was immediately recognisable. Unlike Bertone or Pininfarina, all Touring designs were a team effort, with Signor Anderloni's father personally supervising the styling coordination.
The main draughtsmen on the Venezia were Frederico Formenti and Aquilino Gilardi, who was mainly responsible for the scale drawings.
It was around this time that the name "Venezia" was chosen by George Carless.
Towards the end of 1961, the 1:10 scale model was shown to Lord Rootes and his colleagues, who were sufficiently impressed to ask for a prototype to be built.

A Hillman Super Minx rolling chassis was sent to Milan where the prototype right-hand-drive body, very similar to the model, was built. A Sunbeam Rapier grille was used, retaining the Sunbeam badge. The apertures above the headlights initially housed indicator lights, but were later used for fresh air intakes, initially finished with small vertical bar grilles. The new dashboard used gauges from other Rootes cars, but the first change was made before the car went to England. The backs of the front seats were shaped to improve legroom for rear seat passengers. No engine was fitted.
In mid-1962 the prototype was brought to England and on seeing it Lord Rootes gave the go-ahead to the Italian coachbuilders. A contract was signed for the initial production of 300 Venezias, to be built on Humber Sceptre chassis and powered by the Rootes 1592cc engine. (The Sceptre, launched in February 1963, was based on the almost identical Hillman Super Minx chassis). Over the next two months the prototype underwent numerous tests by Rootes engineers, who made a number of modifications.
The fresh air intake grilles were removed, leaving a single vertical bar, and an engine and gearbox were fitted.
The prototype then returned to Italy with its (now familiar) English registration of 3153 VC. To avoid recognition, the radiator grille was completely covered.

Back at Touring, it underwent further modifications:
-The fuel filler cap was moved to the side of the right rear wing.
-The front seats were changed to a more conventional design.
-The structure of the doors and their internal mechanisms were revised.
-The dashboard was completely replaced by a more traditional design in painted steel, without a clock and with three scattered warning lights.
-The interior lighting was simplified and the sun visors changed.
-Soundproofing was studied and improved.
-The dashboard was redesigned once again, with the heater controls and radio being moved to allow the installation of a clock (an Italian Veglia). The number of warning lights was increased to five in a cluster above the steering column.
Thus modified, the prototype was again taken to England, where it was used for press photographs. For the sake of the photographs, the car was finally given temporary Venezia badges, which were mounted in temporary positions!

Touring Nova Milanese factory, assembly department, Venezia production line on the far left. (Bianchi Anderloni family archive)

The launch in Venice: the first moments of doubt

After its unveiling in Milan on 9 September 1963, the Sunbeam Venezia was officially launched on Thursday 12 September 1963 in the splendid setting of Venice, in the presence of the Mayor of the city and the British Ambassador. It was the first time a motor car had entered St Mark's Square, having been transported there by gondola along the city's canals. Some people will never forget this trip: the handbrake was off and a man leaning against the back of the car set it in motion. Luckily he stopped in time!

Presentation Piazza San Marco & on the Canal Grande

The press gave the car a very warm welcome. However, they were sceptical about the price at which Rootes Italia was selling the car. Their doubts were not unfounded. Of the 1963 Rootes models, the Venezia cost about the same as the big Humbers. In 1964 it cost almost as much as a Sunbeam Tiger with a Ford V8 engine and more than a Jaguar MK2 2.4 litre.

How could Italian (and later foreign) dealers sell a 2+2 with only a 1600cc engine at such a high price? Of course, they could emphasise the car's beauty, its comfort, the prestige of owning a foreign car and even its rustproof aluminium body. But they would also have to resort to some cunning. Take the advertising leaflet, for example. The stated 94 bhp was inaccurate; the engine was the same as that of the Humber Sceptre. The top speed of 175km/h (or 170km/h in another brochure) was also imaginary. The small increase in speed over the Sceptre was only due to weight savings (50kg) from the use of aluminium panels and a more aerodynamic profile. Another gimmick to attract buyers was the installation of an oil cooler, as found on high performance cars.

From September 1963 it became clear that the car would have to be sold in European markets other than Italy, where sales were dominated by Lancia and Alfa Romeo at lower prices. Most European countries were covered, except Great Britain, where high import taxes would have made the retail price prohibitive.
Thus, the future of the Anglo-Italian Venezia project looked very uncertain due to the high cost of low volume production. For this and other reasons, further promotional efforts were abandoned. Firstly, the Rootes Group suffered several crippling strikes in 1961. Production programmes were delayed or cut back and financial losses were incurred. With the Hillman Imp project already in trouble, Rootes didn't want to risk money on uncertain ventures. The Venezia project became a low priority, with little chance of this changing.
There was also a strike at Touring in 1963, just a few months after the move to the new factory in Nova Milanese. This was very damaging for the company, which had invested heavily in the new plant and was running out of cash. These problems were never fully resolved.
Finally, changes in Italian law meant that cars with larger engines were taxed more heavily. Contracts between Touring and Lancia, Maserati and Lamborghini were cut back and design studies for new sports cars virtually stopped. The Nova Milanese factory was therefore underutilised and financial pressures became too great. In March 1963, the company was partially placed under receivership, and in 1964 many workers were made redundant. Despite an improved situation, the company went into receivership in March 1965 and officially ceased trading on 31 December 1966, although some cars may have been completed as late as 31 January 1967.
In the light of these problems, the agreement between Rootes and Touring was regularly reviewed with a view to reducing production volumes. As early as August 1963, during a visit to Milan, Brian Rootes (Export Sales Director) reduced the number of Venezia's required to 250.

Venezia: a commercial flop
With so many uncertainties clouding its future, the Venezia became increasingly difficult to sell. If the serial numbers are any guide to production quantities, little more than 200 units were made. It's known that Rootes sent only 145 Sceptre chassis to Milan, so it's reasonable to assume that around 50 Venezias were built using floorpans intended for the Italian Super Minxes also built by Touring between October 1962 and December 1966. This would have made no difference to the Venezia as the two chassis are identical, but it does suggest that Rootes wanted to discourage Venezia production while Touring needed to produce as many as possible to reduce unit costs.
Sunbeam Alpines were also built by Touring from June 1963 to December 1966. Eager to demonstrate their styling lead, the Italian coachbuilders unveiled the Alpine with clipped rear wings at the Turin Show in October 1963, several months before the introduction of the English Series IV with its similar body modifications.
But there was to be no such evolution for the Venezia: no all-synchromesh gearbox, no increase in engine power, not even the 1725cc engine which became standard in all Rootes cars by mid-1965 and which Touring fitted to the Milan-built Alpines and Super Minxes!
At the major European motor shows and in dealers' showrooms, the Venezia was unable to compete with the new models. Handicapped from the start, it looked increasingly dated, its elegant lines the only remaining attraction. A few cars found buyers as late as 1968, but the price had been drastically reduced - as much as 25% between 1963 and 1965.
About ten cars left Rootes Italia for Spain; they were to be the last.

Projects to save the Venezia
There have been several attempts to save the Venezia. There was talk of replacing the Sunbeam Rapier with the Venezia, which from some angles (certainly from the rear) bore a strong family resemblance to the Alpine.

Such a scheme might well have succeeded, as a more modern look would have benefited the now ageing Rapier. However, financial constraints forced the Rapier to continue until 1967 when it received its new fastback body. There was also talk of fitting a Ford V8 engine to the Venezia to enable it to compete with other American-powered English, Italian and French cars such as the Gordon-Keeble, Jensen, Bristol, Iso and Facel-Vega. An agreement was even reached between Rootes, the Ford Motor Company and Carroll Shelby: download. This idea, applied to the Alpine, had come to fruition in the Tiger V8 with its well-known successes and problems. In 1964 Rootes engineers experimented with V8 engines (eventually Chrysler units) in the Humber Super Snipe and Sceptre. A Sceptre V8 prototype was even built. But Chrysler's financial intervention in the Rootes Group prevented any further experimental development, and with Chrysler engines being larger than comparable Ford units, these projects were soon forgotten. One mysterious rumour remains: that Brian Rootes owned a Sunbeam Venezia with a Ford V8 engine. Fact or fiction?
Finally, did anyone ever dream of a Venezia convertible? Certainly Touring did, and Frederico Formenti even drew up a design study.

The conclusion
Even before production of the Venezia began, circumstances conspired against the existence and development of a beautiful car that had everything going for it. Soon after production ceased, the companies and people involved in the Venezia's creation would disappear along with the car. Touring in December 1966, Rootes in 1969. Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni became styling director of Alfa Romeo, Alec Caine was soon to retire and George Carless became managing director of Rootes Motors in the Bahamas. Even the Sunbeam name disappeared in 1976 (1978 in some countries).

The Venezia: a collector's car?
Although original in construction and beautiful in design, the Venezia was largely ignored during the seventies. Like most other Rootes cars (with the exception of a few other Sunbeams) it was not popular with collectors. But today the Venezia's status is on a par with other rare post-war Sunbeams such as the Alpine (1953-55), Harrington and Tiger. The Sunbeam Venezia will now surely receive the interest it deserves from enthusiasts and collectors of English (and Italian!) cars all over the world.