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Re: Where does one draw the line?

To: "Andy Walker" <awtiger@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: Where does one draw the line?
From: Tom Hall <modtiger@engravers.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 1997 11:16:00 -0800 (PST)
At 10:12 PM 3/12/97 -0800, you wrote:
>On the subject of TAC: 
>...
>       The TAC system, however, does have one major down point that I feel 
>that I
>must express.  This has been the topic of conversation on several
>occassions between myself and my other Tiger buddies from this area;  we
>see ads now in the Tiger magazines where someone may have his or her car
>for sale and the ad will read "...recently TACed."  This is nice for that
>owner and I am quite sure that it also fosters piece of mind for a
>prospective buyer.  It could even persuade a buyer to maybe give a higher
>price for a car that he or she feels has been fully authenticated by the
>"people in the know."  Again, that is great for both seller and buyer.  But
>what about us folks stuck here in the mid-section of the country?  Our cars
>are every bit as authentic as the next persons but we have no way of
>"proving it."  I have e-mailed several people about this and so far the
>only response has been that we would have to bring our cars to one of the
>coasts to have them TACed.  Obviously, this is totally impractical. 
>Whereas myself and my Tiger friends here in Oklahoma would love to join you
>all at a Tigers United or a Suni meet, they are just too far away to make
>it practical to attend.  
>       Please do not get me wrong;  I enjoy reading about the meets that you 
>guys
>have and who knows, one day maybe I'll be able to attend one.  The closest
>meet that I even remember hearing about was the Suni event in Colorado
>quite a few years ago.  That, unfortunately, came at a time when I was knee
>deep in a '65 GT350 and had had a momentary lapse in sanity and sold my
>Tiger (that will never happen again, I can assure you!).   But that has
>been our only chance at a national meet and even that was before TAC had
>been created.  Is there some way that we could get a similar program
>started in this area of the country?  I would really like to see the TAC
>program available to all Tiger owners regardless of where they live.  Maybe
>I don't realize what all goes into qualifying someone as a TAC official but
>I have been involved with Tigers since 1979 and would gladly volunteer to
>do what I could to get such a program started here.  
>
>                                               Respectfully,
>                                               Andy Walker
>                                               B382001600

Andy,

STOA is working on plans to expand the TAC program where ever possible.
There are some situations that make expansion complex.  First, to avoid the
possibility of individual corruption, we settled on a 3 inspector
concurrence requirement to grant TAC certification. This may be too
conservative for some, but we think it is reasonable.  Second, like it or
not, those who are the most dangerous from the perspective of creating
"counterfeit" Tigers are members of our "owners fraternity".  To combat this
fact, we have attempted to keep much of the technical knowledge confidential
to members of the TAC committee.  Regardless of rumor, Tigers are not
"modified Alpines", any more than Buick, Oldsmobiles, and Pontiacs that
share common stampings are the same marque. Or even closer, Mercury Cougars,
are not Thunderbirds.  Third, it just may be the case that existing
conversions are in the ownership of politically powerful club members.  It
certainly doesn't benefit them to encourage expansion of the TAC program.

We have begun training inspectors from areas outside of Northern California.
This is an ongoing situation, and if interested parties are going to be in
our area, it could be possible to put together a training session on a short
term basis.  I am the self appointed chief trainer for this situation.  So
contact me, or TAC chairman Mike Andres if this is something you would like
to do.

We have taken the program "on the road" in a number of ways.  We are
contacting all owners in the greater SF Bay area with the intent of
certifying up all the non-op Tigers that exist locally.  We normally do this
road routine once a month.  We have also offered the service at SUNI II and
at last years United East in Orlando.  I and other members of the committee
have paid our own way to these events in order to offer TAC services to
interested parties.  I try and do this on a vacation basis, to see more of
this great country.  If you have a group of individuals that want the TAC
service and are willing to underwrite the expense of the trip, I'm pretty
sure we can find volunteers to take the trip.


Finally, the role of TAC inspector has its own related problems.  I and
other inspectors now have to "keep our distance" so to speak at Tiger
events.  Our simple cursory examination and visual enjoyment of these cars
is limited, because some owners fear the possibility of "inadvertent" TAC
inspection.  Sometimes you just can't win.

Tom Hall


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