PART EIGHT - Analysis & Summary
Sunbeam has a long and proud history in Australia - an American company that
spread its rays around the world from 1880. Sunbeam entered the lawnmower market
here with considerable experience with lawnmowers back home. Its first Australian
model was the Twin Rotor Electric Rotary of 1959.
By the late sixties it was clear that electric mowers had become very much a
niche market. If Sunbeam wanted to stay with garden products then it had to
engage with petrol-powered machines. It could have imported a range of petrol-
powered machines from the USA. It was a wise move in understanding that these
would not sell in Australia.
The Lawnkeeper was very much an Australian lawnmower, incorporating all the
deluxe features of a top-end Australian rotary machine. I have argued that it
was probably designed by Victa for Sunbeam.
Originally powered by Kirby engines, the original 2 & 4 cycle models were
painted with a green and blue livery. It was Sunbeams takeover of Victa in
1970 that brought about significant change: new models powered by Victa
engines and with a new colour scheme. These were the Lawnkeeper 125 and
Lawnkeeper 160 models. It is my opinion that the early Sunbeams are less
common and more desirable than the Sunbeams made by Sunbeam-Victa.
The rest is history.
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Jack
