the front and drums at the rear. It had dual downdraft carburetors, a soft top that could be hidden by special integral covers and the first available wind-up side windows offered in a British sports car of that time. Coupé versions of the post-1959 version were built by Thomas Harrington Ltd. After the Le Mans Index of Efficiency success of 1961, Harrington sold replicas as the "Harrington Le Mans", using a fastback body and an engine tuned to . Unlike the Le Mans racers, these cars had a more integrated rear roofline and were without the tail fins of the roadsters. Until 1962 the car was assembled for Rootes by Armstrong Siddeley. An open car with overdrive was tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1959. It had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0– in 13.6 seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car cost £1031 including taxes. 11,904 examples of the series I were produced. One of the original prototypes still survives and was raced by British Touring car champion Bernard Unett. Series II 1960–63 The Series II of 1960 featured an enlarged engine producing 80 bhp and revised rear suspension, but there were few other changes. When it was replaced in 1963, 19,956 had been made. A Series II with hardtop and overdrive was tested by The Motor magazine in 1960, which recorded a top speed of , acceleration from 0– in 13.6 seconds and a fuel consumption of . The test car cost £1,110 including taxes. Series III 1963–64 The Series III was produced in two versions: GT with removable hardtop only (no soft-top) ST with soft-top (stored behind the small rear seat) Other distinguishing features were: High fins Quarter-height window for guide post Roll-up window rear edge angular Vertical spare tyre Tanks in fins All chrome bumper guards Later "flat" rear window hard top Series 3 badge on front wing and Rootes Group badge centered low on the bonnet. Serial number begins with B 92___ The rarest production Alpine, the Series III was produced from March, 1963 to January, 1964 for a total of 5,863 units. It was a transitional model, incorporating many of the modifications of the later low fin cars such as roomier boot, later hard top (common with Tiger), tube type rear shocks, improved micro cell seats, and a vacuum brake booster. The 1592 cc engine was