Steve,
great to see you may have helped someone avoid a catastrophe or is it a
'TAC'astrophe.
Perhaps the counterfeit cars should have a couple of letters carefully
swapped around by those in the know, so they end up proudly displaying
their manufacturers name
B U M S E A M
front and rear 8-)
best regards
Jeff
In message <3495401F.CB86211B@flash.net>, Steve Laifman
<laifman@flash.net> writes
>Colin,
>
>I know I've sent you a few e-mails about your Tiger Hunt. In my haste to
>give you my years of wisdom, I forgot one very important caution. There
>is reputed to be a COUNTERFEIT Tiger in the bay area. I only have the
>sketchiest details, but thought I should warn you, anyway.
>
>The car in question has apparently been cobbled together from "bit's and
>pieces" of at least a dozen vehicles, some of which were Rootes
>manufactured. The counterfeiter is reputed to be very skilled, and even
>sly. It is said that his car is NOT in perfect condition by design, to
>allay fears of buyers. The seller has even gone to the length of forging
>a TAC certificate.
>
>I have heard that the tell-tale indicators must be carefully sought. The
>details are as follows:
>
>1) The car is freshly black in color, but the paint job has been
>artificially aged and chipped by an antique furniture dealer to imply
>originality. It covers a multitude of scars from welding on parts from
>Hillmans, Humbers and Singers. It is mostly Austin A-40 in origin.
>
>2) It has what first appears to be a 260 4V engine. This is not the
>original engine. It is from a 1964 Dodge Ram Charger 440 cid hemi with
>the distributor re-mounted to the front of the block. The "4V"
>carburetor is a phony. The interior of the carb has the secondaries
>sealed off with Bondo. A non stock, non LAT hood scoop was added to
>clear the Chrysler origin block.
>
>3) This car has a dead give-away. The forger unknowingly put in a tan
>interior, thinking it to be in the correct British fashion. His lack of
>Rootes knowledge shows its ugly face. Lord Rootes was once bitten by a
>tan billy-goat, and since has gotten deathly ill on seeing that color.
>His face would blanch, and his jowls would quiver as his faced got red.
>Be his decree, no Sunbeam has ever come with authentic British tan
>upholstery. The forger thought to fool previous Morgan owners, who like
>that color.
>
>4) His biggest mistake, I hear, is the installation of a neatly
>appearing wiring harness. Anybody who has been around cars made in Lucas
>Land knows this is un-British, and a dead giveaway.
>
>5) He couldn't find a top mechanism that would fit his non-standard
>body, so he cobbled up one from a 1952 Singer. Now everyone knows that
>the "Conestoga Wagon" Singer top didn't even fit the Singer.
>
>6) The last indicator is the Tachometer. The original unit was damaged
>and the previous owner tried to repair it with peanut butter. There is
>still a lingering odor.
>
>I am sure these cautionary notes are unnecessary, as you are a trained
>English car specialists, and much of your Morgan background will serve
>you well. Just make sure your Tiger has three wheels on the ground, two
>spare tyres, and a suspension system that is frozen in place at the
>factory, and you're home free.
>
>
>{8->
>
>Steve
>--
>Steve Laifman < One first kiss, >
>B9472289 < one first love, and >
> < one first win, is all >
> < you get in this life. >
>
>
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--
Jeff Howarth
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