Thanks again, Dick, for all your efforts with your restoration project,
Tiger United (ultimate) participation, and this wonderful post to the
digest. I was one of the lucky few who rode in Sylverman's Le Mans Tiger.
Your mention of the Tiger's voice, with Rosemary at the wheel, brought the
moments of Tiger United back. I spent most of my time talking with all who
had patience and studying all the wonderful historic Tigers. The only
"goose poop" I saw was the stuff flying through the Net.
Kindest Regards-Chris in Trinidad
----------
> From: TigerCoupe <TigerCoupe@aol.com>
> To: Tigers@autox.team.net
> Subject: More on Tiger lister
> Date: Thursday, March 19, 1998 12:46 AM
>
> I am not a Tiger lister, I am a Tiger digester. The digest is
transmitted
> daily at 5:10AM EST, and provides a summary of the previous day's Tiger
list
> postings which can be casually "digested" over coffee each morning.
About the
> only drawback is that, by the time it's received, the subject matter is
often
> so stale that it has already been OBE (overcome by events), and thus a
> response is rarely necessary or appropriate. But in the case of the St.
> Patrick's Day (March 17) posting on Lister Tigers by (surprise!) Steve
> Laifman, I feel obliged to respond.
>
> Although the Sunbeam Tiger Le Mans coupes (not Lister-Tigers, please!)
> wallowed in obscurity in the years immediately following their poor
showing at
> Le Mans, they have enjoyed considerable exposure in recent years. A
variety
> of books and magazines have included articles featuring the cars and
their
> history, but unfortunately, much of this information has been inaccurate.
> Bill Carroll wrote the first book on the Tiger back in 1978, and although
I
> regard Bill as a friend, his book is frought with inaccuracies. Other
authors
> contributing inaccurate accounts on the cars include Alex Gabbard,
Geoffrey
> Bewley, Matt Stone, Graham Robson, and even Mike Taylor. And despite the
> efforts of David Duncanson and Norman Miller to properly educate the rest
of
> us, the misinformation still persists. Let me try to help set the record
> straight.
>
> There were only 3 Tiger Le Mans coupes. Not "at least" 3, only 3. Brian
> Lister was contracted by Rootes to prepare the cars for the the 1964
race, and
> although he was in the pits as an advisor during the race, he was not the
team
> manager. Marcus Chambers was. Chambers succeeded Norman Garrard as
Director
> of the Rootes Competition Department in early 1964 after Garrad had
initiated
> the Le Mans effort, then retired. This is well-documented in Chamber's
own
> book covering his career in auto racing, as well as in other articles he
has
> written on the 1964 Le Mans effort.
>
> Rootes delivered three Series 3 (not Series IV) Alpines to Lister.
Shelby
> American provided 4 Ford 260 engines with dual Carter AFB (not Holley)
> carburetors and aluminum-cased BW T10's (not Ford toploaders), Dunlop
provided
> the 32 special 15X 6.5 magnesium wheels (not 15 X 7 or 8 or whatever),
and the
> custom bodywork was done by London coachbuilder Williams & Pritchard (not
> Lister). In recent years convincing evidence has been discovered that
> suggests the first car delivered to Lister was, in fact, the first
Alpine-Ford
> prototype, Jensen Project 870 (for more on this, see Norm Miller's Tiger
web
> page at: http://www.shell3.ba.best.com/~
> rootes1). This LHD car already incorporated all production changes
necessary
> to convert an Alpine to a Tiger, including installation of the complete
V8
> driveline, thus expediting Lister's ability to complete the necessary
racing
> modifications (including conversion to RHD) in a minimum of time. On the
> track, ready for testing by April of 1964, "AF-1", the Le Mans
development
> vehicle, or "mule", was assigned chassis # B-9499999, registration #
7734KV,
> and during the test weekend at Le Mans, racing # 7. Car # 18 referred to
by
> Steve in his posting was an Aston-Martin, not a Tiger (note the
Aston-Martin
> banner on the wall behind the car in the bottom photo on page 39 of Bill
> Carroll's book). 7734KV was used only for development (including wind
tunnel
> testing), and did not participate in the actual 24 hour race. Lister
finished
> B-9499998 and B-9499997 (ADU 180B/race #9 and ADU 179B/race # 8,
respectively)
> at the very last minute, which allowed testing on them only on the day
before
> the race. This resulted in ADU 179B spinning it's bearings after only 1
1/2
> laps, necessitating an all-night engine change (recent Tiger list FAQ: do
you
> think they did out the top or out the bottom?)
>
> I don't know what Steve meant when he said, 'Don't know how many
"prototypes"
> or "mules" could be considered if they weren't raced under Lister
regime,' but
> maybe some of the foregoing cleared that up??
>
> For those fortunate enough to attend last summer's Tigers United XXII in
> Eureka, there was the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see all 3 Le Mans
> Tigers gathered together in their first reunion since 1964. It was
certainly
> interesting to observe first-hand the subtle differences among the cars,
and
> to note the changes that have/have not been made to each of them over the
> years. To say that each is a hand-built, distinctly individual vehicle
is an
> understatement. And for the measly sum of $25, a whole bunch of lucky
people
> were treated to a unique and exciting ride around and around the track in
> either Syd Silverman's or Tony Eckford's Le Mans Tiger. I can still hear
(and
> feel) the exhaust of Silverman's ADU 180B thundering across the
start/finish
> line with Rosemary at the wheel! All-in-all, it was a mind-boggling
occasion
> which will probably never again be repeated, and for which most of those
who
> attended were sincerely grateful.
>
> Everyone, of course, except Jeff Cushing of Tiger Technologies. Jeff
wrote in
> a letter to the editor of C.A.T. Tiger Tales that "....spending my time
> admiring that collection of historic Tigers was wasted....I ( and others)
had
> their fill after the first viewing." And further, "....the Southern
> California Healy Club...gathering at Big Bear....didn't dust off some
race car
> that never made the grade at Le Mans to eat up funds." The letter also
> included the now "classic" comments about dash plaques and goose poop.
Goose
> poop to you Mr. Cushing. In rendering your services to the Tiger
communtiy,
> you have carved yourself a niche in Tiger history which you shall never
> outlive.
>
> Dick Barker
> B382001472
> B9499999
|