I am not a Tiger lister, I am a Tiger digester. The digest is transmitted
daily at 5:10AM EST, and provides a summary of the previous day's Tiger list
postings which can be casually "digested" over coffee each morning. About the
only drawback is that, by the time it's received, the subject matter is often
so stale that it has already been OBE (overcome by events), and thus a
response is rarely necessary or appropriate. But in the case of the St.
Patrick's Day (March 17) posting on Lister Tigers by (surprise!) Steve
Laifman, I feel obliged to respond.
Although the Sunbeam Tiger Le Mans coupes (not Lister-Tigers, please!)
wallowed in obscurity in the years immediately following their poor showing at
Le Mans, they have enjoyed considerable exposure in recent years. A variety
of books and magazines have included articles featuring the cars and their
history, but unfortunately, much of this information has been inaccurate.
Bill Carroll wrote the first book on the Tiger back in 1978, and although I
regard Bill as a friend, his book is frought with inaccuracies. Other authors
contributing inaccurate accounts on the cars include Alex Gabbard, Geoffrey
Bewley, Matt Stone, Graham Robson, and even Mike Taylor. And despite the
efforts of David Duncanson and Norman Miller to properly educate the rest of
us, the misinformation still persists. Let me try to help set the record
straight.
There were only 3 Tiger Le Mans coupes. Not "at least" 3, only 3. Brian
Lister was contracted by Rootes to prepare the cars for the the 1964 race, and
although he was in the pits as an advisor during the race, he was not the team
manager. Marcus Chambers was. Chambers succeeded Norman Garrard as Director
of the Rootes Competition Department in early 1964 after Garrad had initiated
the Le Mans effort, then retired. This is well-documented in Chamber's own
book covering his career in auto racing, as well as in other articles he has
written on the 1964 Le Mans effort.
Rootes delivered three Series 3 (not Series IV) Alpines to Lister. Shelby
American provided 4 Ford 260 engines with dual Carter AFB (not Holley)
carburetors and aluminum-cased BW T10's (not Ford toploaders), Dunlop provided
the 32 special 15X 6.5 magnesium wheels (not 15 X 7 or 8 or whatever), and the
custom bodywork was done by London coachbuilder Williams & Pritchard (not
Lister). In recent years convincing evidence has been discovered that
suggests the first car delivered to Lister was, in fact, the first Alpine-Ford
prototype, Jensen Project 870 (for more on this, see Norm Miller's Tiger web
page at: http://www.shell3.ba.best.com/~
rootes1). This LHD car already incorporated all production changes necessary
to convert an Alpine to a Tiger, including installation of the complete V8
driveline, thus expediting Lister's ability to complete the necessary racing
modifications (including conversion to RHD) in a minimum of time. On the
track, ready for testing by April of 1964, "AF-1", the Le Mans development
vehicle, or "mule", was assigned chassis # B-9499999, registration # 7734KV,
and during the test weekend at Le Mans, racing # 7. Car # 18 referred to by
Steve in his posting was an Aston-Martin, not a Tiger (note the Aston-Martin
banner on the wall behind the car in the bottom photo on page 39 of Bill
Carroll's book). 7734KV was used only for development (including wind tunnel
testing), and did not participate in the actual 24 hour race. Lister finished
B-9499998 and B-9499997 (ADU 180B/race #9 and ADU 179B/race # 8, respectively)
at the very last minute, which allowed testing on them only on the day before
the race. This resulted in ADU 179B spinning it's bearings after only 1 1/2
laps, necessitating an all-night engine change (recent Tiger list FAQ: do you
think they did out the top or out the bottom?)
I don't know what Steve meant when he said, 'Don't know how many "prototypes"
or "mules" could be considered if they weren't raced under Lister regime,' but
maybe some of the foregoing cleared that up??
For those fortunate enough to attend last summer's Tigers United XXII in
Eureka, there was the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see all 3 Le Mans
Tigers gathered together in their first reunion since 1964. It was certainly
interesting to observe first-hand the subtle differences among the cars, and
to note the changes that have/have not been made to each of them over the
years. To say that each is a hand-built, distinctly individual vehicle is an
understatement. And for the measly sum of $25, a whole bunch of lucky people
were treated to a unique and exciting ride around and around the track in
either Syd Silverman's or Tony Eckford's Le Mans Tiger. I can still hear (and
feel) the exhaust of Silverman's ADU 180B thundering across the start/finish
line with Rosemary at the wheel! All-in-all, it was a mind-boggling occasion
which will probably never again be repeated, and for which most of those who
attended were sincerely grateful.
Everyone, of course, except Jeff Cushing of Tiger Technologies. Jeff wrote in
a letter to the editor of C.A.T. Tiger Tales that "....spending my time
admiring that collection of historic Tigers was wasted....I ( and others) had
their fill after the first viewing." And further, "....the Southern
California Healy Club...gathering at Big Bear....didn't dust off some race car
that never made the grade at Le Mans to eat up funds." The letter also
included the now "classic" comments about dash plaques and goose poop. Goose
poop to you Mr. Cushing. In rendering your services to the Tiger communtiy,
you have carved yourself a niche in Tiger history which you shall never
outlive.
Dick Barker
B382001472
B9499999
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