Hi Norm:
This is an important point - why WOULD any knowledgeable person pay this
much money for this VIN plate with a Tiger (?) attached? The key word here
is "knowledgeable".
I was not "Tiger knowledgeable" when I bought my car in 2002, and didn't
know the importance of a correct, in position with the right rivets, VIN
plate, to its provenance. My bad, even stupid, I accept.
However, over time, and with the help of the intelligence available from the
members of this list, and with the help of an expensive eBay copy of the
"Book of Norman", I became much more aware of this detail. I also became
convinced of the authenticity of my particular Tiger.
This was confirmed when I had my car TAC'd at the TE/AE Annual gathering in
Rockland, Maine in 2010. A gang of five inspectors swarmed over, under,
inside and around my car for the better part of an hour, and became
convinced of my car's origin as a Tiger from the Jenson plant. It passed,
without a VIN plate.
I also had the interesting opportunity at that time to meet the person who
"restored" my Tiger back in 1986-88 for the previous owner, and asked him
about the missing VIN plate. I got a shrug and a question mark hanging over
his head. I wonder where it went??
So here I am with a TAC'd Tiger and no VIN plate. What are my options?
1/ Make a replacement as authentic as possible and hope no one notices. (Bad
idea because it has as its basis an attempt to deceive the observer.
Discovery leads to suspicion that the car is a fake.)
2/ Leave it off and explain the circumstances to a prospective buyer. (Good
option but guaranteed to reduce the value of your car to a knowledgeable
potential buyer.)
3/ Make a nice but obvious replacement that will also trigger some doubt as
to the authenticity of the car to a potential buyer, but leaves you with the
opportunity to explain its presence.)
The obvious lesson here is that if you have a Tiger without an authentic VIN
plate, your car is worth less than if it had one, regardless of its
condition. Know this if you are buying and negotiate the price accordingly.
Know this also if you are selling and react according to your conscience. If
you believe "caveat emptor", and can sleep at night after deceiving an
unsuspecting buyer with a fake VIN plate, good luck to you. If not, bite the
bullet and do the right thing.
Dave
----- Original Message -----
From: "Norman C. Miller" <rootes1@earthlink.net>
To: <tigers@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 11:06 PM
Subject: [Tigers] TOTALLY RESTORED
Would you pay $63,000 for a Tiger with this chassis plate?
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=b63ea59c60ac1d44#cid=B63EA59C60AC1D44&id=B63EA59C60AC1D44%21384
Norm
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