Hi to all:
Sorry to bomb the list with this as I am really only trying to contact Tiger
owners in the south central U.S. who may be interested in attending the 29th
Annual Mid-America Ford Performance and Shelby Meet in Tulsa, OK, on June
19-22. Basically, I just wanted to give you guys a heads-up that the board of
directors of the Oklahoma Region of SAAC has seen fit, in their
not-so-inspired wisdom, to cancel the Tiger class at the car show this year,
preferring to combine it with the Pantera class and calling it "Ford Powered
Exotic."
Having served on the board of directors of the Oklahoma Region of SAAC from
1982 to 1994 with the Sunday car show as my charge, I am both embarrassed and
ashamed of the decision that has been made. It's one thing to include the
seemingly unending newer variations of the Mustang, but to do it at the
expense of cutting the Tigers out of their own class is unconscionable. Ford
Motor Company is and has been footing the bill for this show for quite some
time now and, consequently and understandably, the Okla. Region of SAAC is now
catering more toward the newer Mustangs and performance Fords. Unfortunately,
their chosen direction leaves out one of the vehicles that SAAC was founded
on, the Sunbeam Tiger. They, the Okla. Region of SAAC and the Ford Motor
Company, are making the mistake of forsaking their heritage and history by
cutting out and/or combining classes. I have spoken to one member of the
board involved in this decision and the response I received was that they were
trying to cut down on the classes at the car show. Well, maybe they should be
cutting down on the 15 classes of Mustangs from '87 to the present!!! instead
of cutting out complete classes of cars that are central to the formation and
history of the Shelby American Automobile Club.
To say that I'm not happy about this is an understatement. I am well aware
that times change and we must change with them but cutting Tigers out of a
"Shelby" meet shows complete and utter disregard and disrespect for the
marque. Therefore, I will not be attending this or any subsequent Mid-America
Ford Performance and "Shelby" Meets with my Tiger until they re-establish it's
car show class, once again recognizing the Tiger's rightful place among the
cars that were connected with Shelby American.
I'm sorry if I've bored most of you with my editorial, but I just wanted the
possible attendees to understand what they were going to be faced with should
they bring their Tigers.
Thanks,
Andy Walker
B382001600LRXFE
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