Hello,

I am in search of a Tiger in good to great condition. I would appreciate anyones input.

Thanks,

Grant

Better hurry on this one. These cars have gotten expensive. You will need to decide if you want and early car or later one. These cars are also very difficult and expensive to restore, so you will spend less if you buy a nice car up front.

Thanks for the information. I would like a '66.

Read lots at these two sites. http://teae.org/ http://sunbeamalpine.org/ and keep an eye on their classifieds.

Many fakes out there. Arm yourself with knowledge and forums (fora?) that can answer questions, maybe lay eyes on a distant car. While Tim certainly speaks from experience, there are a lot more parts available than when I got my first Alpine in the late '70s, and immeasurably more online support and documentation as well.

David in Nashville

I agree with the "hurry up and get one now" comments though they may have suffered a very slight price drop recently. They are likely to cost some serious money in the next few years. Here are a few I recently found for sale:

http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/1573191162.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/1590140522.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/cto/1592147155.html

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the links. How knowlegable are you on the Tigers? I really liked the first car that you sent. What are your thoughts? I realize that I need to be extremely careful with knockoffs or recreations.

Thanks,

Grant

There is no rush. There are a great many modified Tigers out there and fewer factory original ones. Do some reading and browsing the net to get an idea of which you want. A modded Tiger can be expensive to return to stock. There are poor quality modifications and several fakes out there. I searched for months before buying the one you see in my picture. It's factory stock. What part of town are you in ? There is a big Tiger meet in the SF area next summer. Great place to see 80+ cars and talk to owners. Theres a fellow named Norm Miller who wrote the definative Tiger book. You won't likely find the book for less that $1k but you can browse his website. http://www.rootes1.com/

There is also a Tiger owners email group where you can ask questions and let people know you are interested in a car. I can't recall which address is to join the group but try these.

Tigers@autox.team.net > http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/tigers > > http://www.team.net/archive

Tiger owners are a very tight helpful group.

Steve Mk1

I would say that it is a decent car from the sound of it and they guy seems to have backup for it being original. Ask people in the club what they think of his car. They will tell you. :)

The above advice about not rushing into buying one is good. Make sure you due the due diligence to make sure you are buying the one you want and that it is genuine.

Couple other websites came to mind....

http://www.tigersunited.com/

http://www.vast.com/cars?make_id=Sunbeam&model_id=Tiger

http://www.catmbr.org/

http://www.sunbeamtiger.co.uk/index2.htm

BTW of the three cars in the offered links

1 is supposed to be in Austin Texas and it is.

It is the wrong color. Color code 86 is Forest green not black otherwise looks pretty good. The seller say original rivets on vin tag. I don't think so. They look wrong. The ricets used by Rootes have a very distinctive appearance.

Car #2 has no info or pictures but it does have the wrong engine.

Car number 3 also has the wrong engine. It should be in N Calif and it is. Can't tell much else by the one picture.

Cars 1&3 do carry a TAC number which means they have been certified as authentic Tigers.

Tigers fall into 3 groups Mk1 Mk1a and Mk2. Mk 1 and 1a both should have Ford 260 with 2bbl. Mk 2 is the most rare and most expensive and should have Ford 289. I prefer the looks of the Mk1

Hi Andy,

Thank you for the infomation and your input.

Grant

Hi Sownman,

Great information. Thanks for all the good info. I have been reading through the links provided and they are very helpful. One question, car one is Green and the owner said that it matches with Code 86. Is that correct. I am interested in that car, however I am taking my time researching and trying to verify each car.

thanks

Grant

My car is code 39 Carnival Red, the Maxwell Smart car color. Code 86 is green. Link to Rootes paint codes....

http://www.sunbeam.org.au/paint/index.html

Meant to add...

Norm Miller keeps the registry and is a very knowledgeable helpful guy. I gave you the link to his site. Write to him introduce yourself. I asked him about several cars. You can give him the chassis number of any car that interests you and he'll let you know any info he has.

Mk 1 starts with 947 Mk 1a starts with 382 Mk 2 starts with 3821

I got several warnings and one clear "fraud" plus a couple no info replies. He could look at the picture of the chassis tag and tell you if those rivets look original to him.

Steve

I've had several Tigers (bought my first one from Tim more than 20 years ago, but that's another story.) These days, it's always a risk to buy an example that is not authenticated.

Sold my Tigers, but I'm still a TAC inspector. If you get a line on one you would like to have inspected, let me know and I will line you up with an TAC team (three are required to TAC a car). How quickly that can happen depends on where the car is located.

Happy Hunting!

John