At 12:20 PM 3/14/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Tom,
... My question to you is: Do you
>use information supplied by the registry to make a determination of
>authenticity. If the answer is yes, then there needs to be a review of HOW
>that information was retrieved in all its historical steps. It is a proven
>fact that mistakes have been made over the years with the accumulation of
>data on Tigers.
>
>What guidelines are there now for INTEGRITY of the data that is, (and has
>been) supplied? Research is only as good as the process, and confirmation,
>with which it is retrieved. If that information has ANY bearing on the
>outcome of an assesment by TAC in a negative way for a Tiger owner (or
>seller) than it should be recognized. Your integrity, and that of STOA or CAT
>or TAC is not at stake here in my opinion. Instead it is the INTEGRITY of the
>process of which evaluation is made. Without exposure of the parameters, one
>can not determine 100% correctly, especially if misinformation is used. That
>affects all of us if TAC becomes "the way" to approve a Tiger. Mistakes will
>be made in life, and in retrieving data, but it becomes 100X worse when BAD
>data is input into a larger paradigm for assesment. What you do for the Tiger
>marque and your fellow club members is terrific, and commendable. I for one
>am more concerened about the process for which assesment is made-Hank
First there is a misunderstanding about the relationship between the
"registry" and the TAC program. Norm Miller owns the TIROST (The
International Registry Of Sunbeam Tigers). It is his personal property, and
totally under his administration. STOA began some 25 years ago sharing
member information with George Fallehy, the original self pointed registrar
for the Marque. Norm purchased George's documentation several years ago and
has continued this important work. Norm will be the first to tell you that
the registry is imperfect and contains some errors. The factory records
which Norm personally entered into the database were imperfect. This does
not invalidate its importance.
The TAC program does not use ANY information from the registry in the
process of Authenticating a Tiger. It is done strictly on the basis of a
detailed physical examination of the body shell. It doesn't even have to
have VIN tags on the shell for us to make the determination. The
determination itself require a full concurrence of three inspectors. We do
not, and can not verify that the VIN is correct for the body shell unless
the original rivets are still in place. If the Tiger shell is authentic, we
record as much of the VIN information as is available, and apply our own
non-transferable sticker to the shell. This sticker is serialized and forms
the basis for STOA's TAC database.
Subsequent to this process, we do give Norm the information for his
registry. He, in turn gives us information which occasionally helps
identify missing data. We have in several instances been able to resurrect
the correct VIN number, and JAL number for Tigers with missing ID. This is
done on the basis of matches with Transmission and differential numbers Norm
extracted from the factory records. If the numbers don't match or are not
in the registry, no ID can be made.
The STOA TAC data is entered into two different computers independently so
we have at least one level of redundancy, as well as paper and tape backup.
The TAC inspectors are a mixed group of individuals. Some of us have been
playing with Tigers since they were new, and others are new to the Marque.
All of the "trainers" have years of experience in building and restoring
Tigers. Most of them have spent countless hours examining and comparing
Tiger and Alpine shells and assembly methodology. Essentially all of the
details are discussed verbally, and very little "documentation" exists. We
have a general list of things to look at that is used as a initial training
guide for new inspectors. The "trainee" inspectors are given a written test
to determine what they have observed, and are asked to write an essay
response based on their evaluation of certain situations. This process is
repeated at a later date, and when the trainers feel that an applicant fully
understands the criteria, has shown the ability to mentally retain the
information and is able to critically evaluate and clearly and credibly
describe the authentication process, they are given TAC Inspector ID cards.
It's not easy, and it's not intended to be.
After all that, you get to pay your own way to look at other peoples Tigers.
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