Hi all:
I once corresponded with a man who had spent some time with Doane and
who asked Doane a similar question about the 260 engine.
Doane asked him "can you tell the difference between a 260 and a 289
engine just by looking at it in the car?"
"No," replied the man.
"Neither could the Tech inspectors" said Doane.
A third-hand story at best, but I like to think there's some truth
there.
Regards
David Sosna
Larry Paulick wrote:
>
> Bob, interesting account of the racing history of the Tiger, and the players
> participation.
>
> How did Doane Spencer achieve 349 hp from that 260 ci. Do I remember that he
> had a very high compression engine, with selves? Also, was this a estimate or
> was it dyno tuned.
>
> Larry
>
> Bob Palmer wrote:
>
> > Steve, Ray,
> >
> > For those interested in this part of the Tiger's history, here's a brief
> > (well, maybe not so brief) summary of Friedman's book, Chapter 2, "The
> > Sunbeam Tiger". Friedman was the official Shelby American photographer from
> > 1962 to 1967. He was also our banquet speaker at the 1998 Tigers United in
> > Big Bear (my plaque says TU XIII, but it was really TU XXIII). During Dave's
> > talk he raised more than a few eyebrows with his adamant assertion that
> > Shelby American was only involved with one Tiger, the #45 race car, and not
> > any "prototype".
> >
> > In Chapter 2 Friedman writes: "Garrad wanted Shelby to build two prototypes,
> > one for the street and one for the track, but the time frame was too narrow
> > for Shelby to handle the construction of both cars. Although Ken Miles
> > worked for Shelby American at the time, he had a small workshop of his own
> > where he did some outside work. Miles was given the task of building the
> > first Sunbeam Tiger street car and Shelby built the first race car. After
> > much modification, the first race car made its debut at the SCCA divisional
> > race run at Tucson in early April 1964. The driver was the very capable Lew
> > Spencer, who had years of experience racing production sports cars. His
> > performance at Tucson proved that the Tiger had possibilities but that a lot
> > of work was needed to make the car a winner. The biggest problem with the
> > Tiger was that it tended to swap ends without warning at the most
> > inopportune times. This, of course, did little for the driver's confidence
> > in the car. The problem - never cured by the Shelby crew - was likely caused
> > by too much horsepower installed in a too-short chassis."
> >
> > Mike Taylor in his book writes: "In March 1963 a Mk II Alpine was delivered
> > to the Miles workshop and work began." At the same time, Ian Garrad had
> > independently commissioned Shelby American to build a prototype for $10,000,
> > which he said would be ready in "about eight weeks' time". It was the eight
> > week schedule that prompted Ian to have Ken build a second prototype.
> > Apparently, during these same eight weeks, Mr. Friedman was out of the
> > Shelby American shop. Also, it's a long time from May 1963 to April 1964,
> > which coincides with both the Tucson SCCA race and the start of production
> > of the Jensen Tigers. Thus, Friedman must be presumed wrong on this point
> > and the #45 race car was really the second Tiger developed by Shelby
> > American. According to Mike Taylor, "In March, 1964, the prototype vehicle
> > AF3 was flown over from Coventry to Shelby's workshop in California where a
> > tuned 260 cu in (4.2 litre) engine was installed." And, "Later, in the
> > Pacific Coast Divisional Championships at Willow Springs, Lew Spencer made
> > history by being the first man to win a race in a Sunbeam Tiger, finishing
> > 12 seconds in front of his nearest rival who was driving an E-type Jaguar.
> > In September of the same year, Lew drove the Tiger in the 200 mile National
> > Sports Car Race at Elkhart Lake, where he finished second overall and first
> > in class. Lew Spencer recalls, 'Apart from the cooling problems, the Tiger
> > was always a little frightening to drive on a race track because of its
> > short wheelbase.'" (Hey, Lew! Driven any Porches lately?)
> >
> > According to Friedman, at the SCCA B Production race at Laguna Seca in May
> > 1964, Lew Spencer lost control of #45 on the high speed approach to turn 2
> > and came to rest on the dirt hill below the spectator area. Friedman says
> > this was just one in a series of off-track shunts that convinced Lew to give
> > up on the Tiger. The #45 car was later sold to Sports Car Forum's Don
> > Sesslar in Ohio and rebodied as #74. It is interesting that the picture of
> > Lew and the shunted #45 car shows no serious damage to the right front
> > wheel and sheet metal, whereas the picture in Norm's book shows extensive
> > damage in this area, so this obviously wasn't the last race for #45. If Lew
> > last raced #45 at Elkhart in September 1964, that doesn't leave much time
> > for the wreck that Norm's picture documents (at Kent, Washington race?) or
> > the sale and rebodied by SCF and its first race, according to Friedman, in
> > September. Again, it appears that Friedman must have his facts wrong.
> >
> > Friedman says that Ken Miles first drove the #74 nee #45 Tiger at the Badger
> > 300 at Road America in September of 1964, where he won the B Production
> > class and finished second overall to Dan Gerber's Cobra (not bad for "too
> > much horsepower installed in a too-short chassis").
> >
> > In any case, after the generally disappointing showing for the 1964 season,
> > Ian decided to turn the Tiger race effort over to Doane Spencer at Hollywood
> > Sports Cars and the rest, as they say, is history. BTW, Doane's 260 with a
> > two-barrel carburetor put out 349 bhp!
> >
> > Bob
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