"He did say that it was the Feds
that killed the Tiger. Particulary the 5mph bumper standard as well
as the heigth. He said that Chyrsler did think about raising the suspension
ala the rubber bumper MGB but the cost for only 2500/cars per year was
prohibitive."
5 mph bumpers were not required until 1974. So strong bumpers could not
have been a consideration in 1966 - 1967 timeframe.
Everything I read points to the fact that the 1968 safety regulations
required a major updating or redesign of the Alpine and Tiger. Rootes was
loosing money at that time so Chrysler certainly would not put money into a
car that had little profit potential. The market at that time had lots of
small two seat sports cars to choose from and the Alpine/Tiger was never a
major seller.
I don't see how the Tiger made any money for Rootes. They had to buy
engines and transmissions from Ford and have them shipped overseas to Britain.
I believe the body panels came from Presssed Steel which was an outside
vendor. The body had to be transported to Jensen for assembly. Most of the
profit must have been eaten up by the overhead of building the car. At least
the Alpine didn't have to deal with the cost of Ford and Jensen.
Jeff
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