superstructure was unique. The Rapier used the Rootes four-cylinder, five-bearing engine, which was tilted slightly to the right to enable a lower bonnet line, in common with the other Arrow models. With its twin Stromberg 150CD carburettors the engine produced at 5200 rpm. Overdrive was standard with the manual gearbox, and Borg-Warner automatic transmission was an optional extra. The Fastback Rapier continued almost unchanged until 1976, when it was discontinued without a replacement. During its lifetime it formed the basis for the more powerful Sunbeam Rapier H120, introduced in October 1968 and identifiable by its boot-lid spoiler and polished sill covers: it shared its Holbay Engineering-tuned engine (with twin Weber carburettors) with the Hillman Hunter GLS. The Rapier was also the basis for the slightly cheaper but similarly bodied, single-carburettor Sunbeam Alpine Fastback introduced in October 1969. Rapier running gear (though not the estate chassis) was also used in the Humber Sceptre MkIII, Hillman GT and Hillman Hunter GT models from the Arrow range. Between 1967 and 1969, the Rapier was built at Ryton-on-Dunsmore, but from 1969 until its demise in 1976, it was built at Rootes' Hillman Imp factory at Linwood in Scotland. In all, 46,204 units were built (including Rapier, H120 and Alpine versions). Maximum speed of the Rapier was and it could reach from rest in 12.8 seconds. In the United States, the Rapier was marketed as the Sunbeam Alpine GT. Sunbeam Alpine Fastback coupé The Sunbeam Alpine Fastback, introduced in October 1969, was essentially a Rapier with a simplified specification, developed to fill a gap in the Arrow range above the Singer Vogue. It used the same engine as the Hillman Hunter which, fitted with a single Stromberg 150CD carburettor, developed at 5500 rpm. Transmission options included overdrive on cars with a manual gearbox or a Borg-Warner automatic transmission. The Alpine, though well equipped, was less sporty in style than the Rapier. It had a wooden dashboard with fewer instruments, instead of the Rapier's cowled plastic one, and wood instead of metal on the transmission tunnel. There were also different wheel trims, no aluminium sill finishers (nor the polished ones of the H120) and no vinyl trim on its C-pillars. Above all at £1086 in the UK it was significantly (for the time) cheaper than the £1200 Rapier. Maximum speed of the Alpine was and it could reach from rest in 14.6 seconds. The Fastback Alpine