Tiger list,I am the owner of the "Don Adams" Tiger on consignment at Fantasy
Junction. Tracking down the provenance of the car was done with the help of
Steve Sage (former owner) and Buck Tripple. Buck put me in touch with Sue
Kesler, film editor of the re-release of the"Get Smart" series . After
running into numerous dead-ends trying to work through Hollywood production
studios, Ms. Kesler was very helpful and was able to put me in touch with
Don's family. They were able to fill in key details about the title and
ownership. This car was not the "picture car" which is still missing. It was
a personal driver which Mr. Adams owned from 1966 until 1982.
Authentication of the Adams ownership was made last year by Sue, Dorothy
Adams ( Don's wife during the period) and by Tracy Adams, the daughter who
sometimes drove the car. It was corroborated with a copy from Steve of the
original California title made out to Don Adams. The title was deemed
legitimate because it was addressed to Don's personal accountant at his home;
the family was aware of this incongruous address but nobody outside would have
known this key fact. Dorothy Adams states that there were "picture cars" as
well as the personal car because they recognized that Don would put too much
wear and tear on the car to use it in the TV series. Indeed, the car was in
pretty poor shape when he let it go, and it was partially rebuilt in Ventura
CA by a dealer before being sold to Steve. Steve owned the car up through the
nineties, and maintained and improved its condition considerably. It had
evidence of several wrecks and lots of bondo, which he had redone properly in
metal. As some of you know, he did write it up in the CATS newsletter about
the time of the Tiger-dinner with Mr Adams. Business problems caused him to
sell it at the end of this period; he did not represent it as the Adams car.
It passed through 2 or 3 owners (I have the names of two) who did not know of
the Adams connection. It was extensively restored by Trevor Taylor in the mid
2000's, who went so far as to acid dip it to clean up the chassis. He sold to
a friend who eventually put it on ebay, where i bought it in March 2006. I
uncovered the connection to Steve through Norman Miller, who I spoke with
several times while it was for sale. It was listed in his registry and he was
aware of the car and the possible celebrity connection. I have filled in Norm
with this new information as the process went along. The search for the
"picture car" which was a 1965 Mark 1, not a 1A like mine, goes on. There are
also several Alpines claiming to be the original "gadget car" which contained
the pop up machine gun through the hood (no room with the V8 to do that). I
encourage anyone with more first hand information on these interesting cars to
help fill in the history. Best Regards,Bob in Sisters ORPS - serial number is
2219 - 219 must be a typo.
Bob Bridgeford
541 549 9539
Sisters OR 97759
> Date: Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:56:37 -0700
> From: fastsage@cox.net
> To: wwwdg@webtv.net
> CC: MWood24020@aol.com; tigers@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: [Tigers] "Don Adams" Tiger for sale
>
> To clarify, the seller (when I bought it) didn't claim the car was ever
> in the TV show, just that it was a gift from the production company to Don.
>
> Steve Sage
>
>
> David or Gary wrote:
> > The seller listing shows two different serial numbers 2219, and 219. The
> > book of Norman shows B9470310 as the Paramount Get Smart Tiger.
> > David
> >
>
>
>
>
>
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