Hello Tim,
I saw your post on the Tiger list, and it certainly sounds like an
interesting opportunity. Your comments, and those of others, about the
"Doane Spencer Tiger" recalled a few of my own thoughts on this subject,
about which I submit the following comments:
As Curt Bowland correctly pointed out, Darrell Brunn and Doane Spencer
became friends in Doane's later and final years, and while it is true that
Doane did most of the modifications on the car, it was all done to
Darrell's personal specifications. As a result, the car mostly reflects
Darrell's preferences, and was probably not the kind of Tiger Doane would
have produced for himself. In my view, it would probably be more proper to
refer to the car as the "Darrell Brunn Tiger," although I can understand
why someone wanting to sell the car might be inclined to associate it with
the name of Doane Spencer.
Everybody is familiar with the origin of Dave Stone's legendary 55 car, and
with Doane's reputation for building killer engines. But did you know that
the motor in the one-off Harrington Tiger (a car which does not exist,
according to infamous Rootes expert and author Graham Robson) is an
absolutely dead-stock 260 built by Doane? That was what was specified by
the car's long-time conservator, Bill Van Velkinburg with the help, I
suspect, of Bill's mutual friend Darrell Brunn. Although Van usually
referred to the car as "Harry", to my knowledge it was never called the
"Doane Spencer Tiger." Nor do I think the Darrell Brunn car should be.
My 2 cents worth......
Dick Barker
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