Howdy To All Sunbeamers Out There:
First off, we may as well offer our impressions of Tigers United in
Eureka.
One thing to note is that we didn't bring a Tiger to the meet this year
so we weren't directly involved in the concours. That said, we have to
say that we enjoyed this event as much as any Tigers United we've been
to. If you're into the history of the car, this was a fantastic
opportunity to see all those incredible historical cars, that we've read
about in all the Tiger books, in one place, in person, and to meet three
people who were directly involved in the cars' past: Laura Garrad (Ian
Garrad's widow), Rosemary Smith (the Rootes rallye driver) and Ian Hall
(also a Rootes race and rallye driver and later The Rootes Group's
assistant competitions manager).
Any Tigers United (or any other car event, we're sure) can be honestly
looked at to see what could have been done differently. We've put on a
couple Tiger events ourselves and there's always room for improvement.
Again, that said, we had a great time, spent lots of time talking to
Laura, Ian and Rosemary (even spending time in the hotel bar with them
with super Tiger dog Carrie hidden under our chairs), enjoyed the
amazing Rootes factory events slide shows put on by David Duncanson, and
even finished the rallye, somehow, with what we passed off as our Humber
sedan (actuallty our Acura, but we're sure no one noticed the
difference). Even the food was good, (the banquet food was great!).
We think the money we spent, and the drive we made from L.A., was well
worth it for the cars, the people we met and re-visited and just the fun
time we had. I doubt if the three Le Mans Tigers, plus all those other
historical cars, will be in one place again for a long time and for
getting them together, and the Rootes celebrities, Norm Miller and
Margie, and company, deserve some serious praise.
It was also interesting to re-visit Eureka for us as I used to manage
the car dealership, McCrea Nissan, right accross the street from the
Eureka Inn! At one time, McCrea was a Rootes dealer (nothing left from
those days when I worked there, though). We lived in Trinidad, about 20
miles north of Eureka. It's a beautiful little village, right on the
ocean, with about 400 people, and was a very nice place to live.
Finally..... (everyone is probably saying!) to the point: Jane and I are
the official "chairs" of next year's Tigers United XXIII. The location
is set for Big Bear Lake, California. The official event theme will be
"The Tiger Meets The Bear". The date is set for June 26, 27 & 28, 1998
at the Northwoods Inn Resort. The hotel is right in the new resort
shopping area of town, has beautiful rooms, good food, a spa and a big
pool overlooking the Sunbeam parking lot.
Jane and I of course welcome any suggestions about the meet as we
formulate the events of the weekend. We already are planning for lots of
fun! More details to come as soon as they develop here and in your club
newsletters. We hope to see you there!!!!
Steve and Jane Sage
rootes@ix.netcom.com
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