Hi All,
My name's Dan Jones and I'm interested in purchasing a
Sunbeam Tiger. A Tiger has been on my "maybe someday
when I have more garage space" list but recently I've
come across a rolling Tiger chassis that's for sale
locally that might make a good project car and I'm going
to check it out this weekend. I believe this car to be
the one that generated the "tiger roller off to the
crusher" thread in the October archives.
I contacted the owner and there's a strange story
surrounding the car. He claims it had been road and
drag raced back in the sixties and had complete SCCA
documentation and logbooks. After he lost storage earlier
this summer, he decided to sell. He got a lot of out of
town callers but no takers. The only guy who came up with
cash was someone who wanted only the racing documentation
(to pass off as his Sunbeam's history?) and some of the
racing parts, so the current owner sold that stuff off.
What's left is a complete rolling Tiger chassis with all
the trim pieces but no engine or tranny. Also included is
the optional removable hardtop. The owner claims everthing
is straight and solid.
The fact that the car comes without an engine and tranny
doesn't bother me since I'd rather do a roller cam 5.0 and
a T5 tranny anyway. However, I'm a newbie to Sunbeams
and I've never even sat in one, much less driven one.
Assuming I restore the car, how can I expect it to ride
and handle? Are they comfortable for a taller (6' 4")
driver? Besides looking for the usual signs of rust (any
Tiger-specific tips greatly appreciated), are there any
other potentially expensive areas to check?
There's one thing that does bother me that I do need to
trace and that's the fact that the car is being sold
with a salvage title or certificate (not sure which at this
point) which implies the car was either stolen or wrecked at
some point in its career. I'll try to get the details this
weekend, along with the VIN and serial numbers (where are
these located on a Tiger?).
Hoping to save one from the crusher,
Dan Jones
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