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Re: [Tigers] Alger ?? Tiger ???

To: <sralsten@ca.rr.com>
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Alger ?? Tiger ???
From: "Rense, Mark (GE Indust, ConsInd)" <mark.rense@ge.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 15:09:46 -0400
Steve,
First of all, welcome to this little conclave of anal-retentive
anarchists! You have discovered a little dirty secret: Tigers are one of
the few iconic classic car types that do not seem to suffer from
personal modifications and variations from OEM stock configuration.
Maybe it's because the are low volume hybrids, maybe because they were
imperfect and underdeveloped by their parent company, maybe because we
can't resist the challenge of taking an antique car and forcing it into
a 21st century performance bubble. It's probably a little of all the
above. We're not the only ones out there, the Cobra, Pantera and the TVR
come to mind as well. Until recently, the value of a stock Tiger was not
comparable to an E-Type Series I or even to the Big Healeys, so most
owners did not consider the value of the car's originality when making
modifications.

There are many Tigers out there that are meticulously kept as original
and as stock as possible by their owners. Then there are all the
variations beyond stock. I think Tiger owners are a little more of the
hooligan sort, enjoying the dichotomy of a big-assed engine in a little
car. Most of us like to tinker and improve the breed, and a stock Tiger
literally screams for it. The E-Type Jags or BJ8 Healeys were complete
cars, gradually developed over many years. The Tiger was not as
fortunate, so there is more room for improvement. I am fortunate to own
two Tigers, one painfully stock and original, the other not. I chose to
go with "period correct" modifications on the one car (5-bolt hypo 289,
corrected and reinforced front and rear suspension and brakes), making
sure that the changes were reversible. Driving the two back-to-back is a
night and day experience. I think you will find the vast majority of
Tiger owners following a similar path, applying improvements that can be
reversed back to stock if needed. There are a pant-load of old, tired
164 hp 260s, remote oil filters, generators, and Toploaders sitting
under garage work benches right now just waiting for the day to be
reunited with their chassis. That day may come for some if the values
keep going up.

So, the question now is: what do you want? If you want to cherish,
preserve and enjoy the breed as it was in 1964, then you want a stock,
original car. If you have a glint in your eye, and the thought of owning
a sleeper little car with 300 hp gives you cold shivers, well, we got
that too!

Bugz
B382000991
B382001465

-----Original Message-----
From: sralsten@ca.rr.com
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 2:07 PM
To: Tigers@autox.team.net
Subject: [Tigers] Alger ?? Tiger ???


Now I don't want to make a bunch of enimies with this but the post I
respond to asked for thoughts. Mine are from someone with only months of
Tiger knowledge who wants badly to own a car but does not yet. As said I
find the "correctness/modification" issue to be quite off-putting.

Steve Ralsten
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