Yeah, but....
I could catch flak for dropping the LSx into my '89 951. It could be argued that I should've kept the '89 as stock and picked up an '86 instead
However, I already own the '89, here in the USA it's not worth that much, at least in the past 10 years. It already had a custom welded rollbar, harness mounts, etc. It has the better brakes/suspension/transmission setup that I'd have to add to another car. On and on...
Definitely not my cup of tea. It's not how I would do a Tiger, but to each his own I guess. I don't know that I could keep one stock if I had a Tiger, but I don't think I would have cut the body.
I don't find the project offensive. If its as old as it appears, its cool that its still around. There was a perfect Alpine candidate on the local Craigslist a few years ago. It was a rusty heap with no engine but enough was left to turn it into something cool. I think the guy was only asking a grand or two.
The fact that people post "please no ridiculous offers!!" and other condescending gibberish but don't list a price is what irks me. I'm almost afraid to ask what he thinks a non-running car is worth.
I'm not above an engine swap (although I am careful of what I chop out), but the tubbing etc of the body will make it hard to turn that car back into a Tiger. Since it's sorta a spiritual brother of my Jensens (surprise surprise: the Tigers were built by Jensen in the same West Bromwich plant as the early Volvo P1800's, the Austin Healey 100-6 and 3000's, Interceptors and Jensen Healeys) I do feel some kinship there.
If that thing turned up in my garage, I'd fix the bodywork, get it running, put some late '60s / early '70s lettering on it and a Dodge A100 bucket seat in the interior, and go drag racing.
As an aside, if that is a REAL Tiger, and they do have value, it can be restored. I have brought back cars from less than that. It is NOT a good idea, but it can be and is done.
While I wouldn't have started a project like that, I'd finish that one off in full pro street attire and then tell purists that I started with a restored one, just to piss them off. 
people are idiots
I think the main reason he mentions its a real Tiger is so people know not to offer less than $75k for it lol.
To me, it's like taking Neil DeGrasse Tyson, giving him a partial lobotomy, juicing him up on steroids, and putting him on the offensive line of an NFL football team. Can it be done? Sure. Successfully? Maybe. Is that the best use of his particular talents, or the best starting place for the project? Not even a little bit. So why ruin something special doing it?
Duke wrote: To me, it's like taking Neil DeGrasse Tyson, giving him a partial lobotomy, juicing him up on steroids, and putting him on the offensive line of an NFL football team. Can it be done? Sure. Successfully? Maybe. Is that the best use of his particular talents, or the best starting place for the project? Not even a little bit. So why ruin something special doing it?
Because at the time it looks like this build was started, a Tiger wasn't considered all that special. If you had put a Tiger in my garage ~25 years ago, I would have wanted to do the same thing. I'm not sure you realize how popular pro-street cars were back then.
Duke wrote: To me, it's like taking Neil DeGrasse Tyson, giving him a partial lobotomy, juicing him up on steroids, and putting him on the offensive line of an NFL football team. Can it be done? Sure. Successfully? Maybe. Is that the best use of his particular talents, or the best starting place for the project? Not even a little bit. So why ruin something special doing it?
I'm still wondering if it would matter if it was a different pretty car, one that is even rarer than that one- but worth less. Like the Fiat 1200 that I posted a picture to.
alfadriver wrote:Duke wrote: To me, it's like taking Neil DeGrasse Tyson, giving him a partial lobotomy, juicing him up on steroids, and putting him on the offensive line of an NFL football team. Can it be done? Sure. Successfully? Maybe. Is that the best use of his particular talents, or the best starting place for the project? Not even a little bit. So why ruin something special doing it?I'm still wondering if it would matter if it was a different pretty car, one that is even rarer than that one- but worth less. Like the Fiat 1200 that I posted a picture to.
I believe I know where you're trying to lead me with that. And, from my understanding, the car in question was a complete pile that was basically used for a hat over another chassis. What was left of the car in question was not a viable restoration candidate anyway.
Assuming we're talking about the same car (and that my understanding is correct), that settles the Tiger question. What about my Type R example? An ITR was never just "an old furrin car" here. It's always been something special to drive, and always been known for what it is. So how do you justify specifically picking one to make something like this? Note the 5-lug hubs.
But ALL THE HARD WORK IS DONE!!!!!
My 1955 Porsche 356 Continental Coupe, a genuine Continental, as rare as can be, came to me with a '37 Buick split rear window, sunken number plate, and recessed horizontal '53 Buick tail lamps. All done back in the late 50's/early 60's before the 356 was considered to be made of bullion.
This car was probably one of the very first Outlaws.
Takes all sorts . . . but timing is an important factor.
In reply to Duke:
Didn't people do 5 lug conversions on regular Integras too? Granted I suspect it is an ITR, simply because would be almost as expensive to swap on all of the important ITR bits required to make a base Integra into an equivalent 'show' car, as it is to do the same for performance reasons. Which is to say, probably more expensive than supply/demamd places the value of just starting with an ITR in the first place. Would you be equally offended by a racer who buys an ITR over hopping up a lesser Integra yet replaces the stock ITR suspension, wheels, brakes, guts the interior, installs a weld-in cage, builds the engine for more power, adds downforce, and gives it a race quality paint job?...There by also removing or replacing much of what made it a genuine ITR.
Either way, if the molestation of a factory tuned Integra is enough to provoke such a strong reaction from you...I strongly recommend avoiding the "Japan Streets" GoPro video thread, to avoid seeing what people can do to truly 'special' cars.
It's a Honda hatchback, they are barely even decent monster truck fodder.
In reply to Duke:
So since Andy did the Fiat, you assume that the condition was ok to trash the car.
What if he did the Tiger? Why do you assume that the condition of the Sunbeam was so great to restore?
Besides, why get bent out of shape what people do to their stuff? It's theirs.
I know the feeling. I would like an old English Ford. Perfect, Anglia, Cortina, Escort... Something that would be a cool light rwd to drop the Zetec into but 8 out of 10 cars found on CL are already tubbed out with an automatic backed V8. Damnit!
I owned a Tiger back in the day when it was considered cool to modify them, the more mods the better. They were a car that lended themselves very much to this.
There is probably no car group that has gone from being fun beer drinkin' hot rod guys to hang out with than to being now totally anal than with the Tiger owners. In the old days a converted V8 Alpine was welcomed into the family but nowadays its mostly all about original radio knobs, etc. I miss the good old days but don't miss the Tiger. They really weren't that good of cars, especially in stock configuration.
TR8owner wrote: . They really weren't that good of cars, especially in stock configuration.
Which explains why it was modified. I bet the one in the original post would stay cool for a 1/4 mile at a time.
Why is putting a Zetec in something ok but not a V8? Is there a panel we should be running these ideas past?
Woody wrote: Also: Pics of the cheap JC Whitney dune buggy seat and the bumper sticker but not a single photo of the Hi-Po?
moparman76_69 wrote: 'murica
alfadriver wrote: In reply to Duke: So since Andy did the Fiat, you assume that the condition was ok to trash the car. What if he did the Tiger? Why do you assume that the condition of the Sunbeam was so great to restore? Besides, why get bent out of shape what people do to their stuff? It's theirs.
We pulled a Fiat out of a junk yard from the row of cars to be crushed. The car did not have an E&T, the rear was not original, the car was starting to fold in half at the footwell because of rust. We called the President of the car club that supports these cars and he said make a race car out of it, it does not have value except as scrap and the removable top. We sold every possible part off to others with a 118G. And, turned it into this...
The car is loved by many, enjoyed by it's owner, hated by at least one. It's considered rare because it 'has' a removable hard top that is one of less then 300 made for a car that had a 15,000 unit production number. The car was going to be crushed in days had it not been "trashed".
I enjoy the Fiat as is. My family spent time together with a bunch of friends making it run and drive. We ran 10s with it, Auto-crossed it and took it to shows. I don't care what the previous or current owner of the Tiger did or does...it's his car. If the owner enjoys the car, that his deal and I am happy for him.
wheels777 wrote:alfadriver wrote: In reply to Duke: So since Andy did the Fiat, you assume that the condition was ok to trash the car. What if he did the Tiger? Why do you assume that the condition of the Sunbeam was so great to restore? Besides, why get bent out of shape what people do to their stuff? It's theirs.We pulled a Fiat out of a junk yard from the row of cars to be crushed. The car did not have an E&T, the rear was not original, the car was starting to fold in half at the footwell because of rust. We called the President of the car club that supports these cars and he said make a race car out of it, it does not have value except as scrap and the removable top. We sold every possible part off to others with a 118G. And, turned it into this...
That Fiat looks awesome. Do you still own it?
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