Great story.....
Kind Regards-Chris in Trinidad
----------
> From: Wedeking, Dave <davew@fgmail01.merix.com>
> To: Tigers <tigers@autox.team.net>
> Subject: 30 years with a Tiger
> Date: Monday, June 08, 1998 7:53 PM
>
> I sent this before but found autox.team.net had a problem with my return
> address. I hope this is not a duplicate.
>
> This may be long and boring to many but I needed to write it down.
>
> June 1965:
> Summer before my last year of college. I had $500 in pocket to
> buy a car for the
> next school year and beyond. I found a nice TR3 for sale for the $500. I
> went home and
> told my parents about the find. They suggested that if they contributed
> some more money
> that they have some say in the car I buy. So I bought a 1964 Corvair
> instead for $900. So
> much for my first LBC opportunity. The next school year I collected all
> the literature I
> could about various sport cars including the Tiger brochure (black cover
> with Red car). I
> still have the brochure.
>
> June 5th, 1968:
> I returned from Vietnam with $5000 in pocket, no wife, no job,
> no obligations.
> My parents were living in King City, CA at the time (just south of San
> Jose). I got a copy
> of the San Jose paper looking for Tiger ads. Found two for sale on used
> car lots.
>
> June 8th, 1968:
> My father, brothers and I went to San Jose to look at the
> Tigers. The first one
> had been worked over extensively, flares, straight exhaust, a 289 engine
> that was claimed
> to have spent time in a land speed record attempt car. It ran well,
> sounded great, but had
> more rattles, clanks and other body noises that made it sound like it
> would not last very
> long. On to the next car. A 1967 Carnival Red Mk1A (B382002420) with
> only 10,000
> miles. Factory stock except for the LAT 5 weld on traction bars. Black
> hard top included.
> I took my father on a test drive around the block, went back and bought
> the car. $3,468
> including California sales tax and licensing. I ask the sale man why the
> car was on the
> lot. He said that the user car lot in San Jose (Jack London Imports)
> belonged to the new
> car dealer in San Francisco who originally sold the Tiger. The car
> belonged to the new
> car dealers wife. She apparently did not like the car so the dealer took
> it back and gave
> her a Ferrari instead.
>
> Summer 1968:
> Trip to Oregon, job looking, back to California for my brothers
> wedding, back
> to Oregon (got a job). 10,000 miles in 10 weeks.
>
> Winter 1968:
> A college friend of mine lived in Portland, drove a BRG Mk1. He
> told me the
> previous summer that if I got a job in Portland he would teach me to
> snow ski. I bought a
> pair of studded snow tires for the Tiger and the friend and I would take
> turns driving our
> Tigers up skiing each weekend (about 65 miles to Mt. Hood). One weekend
> we decided
> we should take the studded tires off the back of one Tiger and put them
> on the front of
> the other one. We never went skiing again with studded tires only on the
> back. As long as
> the roads were plowed, the Tiger was a great ski car. The heater even
> worked well
> enough to keep you warm. The Tiger was never a handling problem as long
> as the driver
> paid attention and planned ahead. The only damage to the car during the
> 5 years I drove
> it skiing were rock chips to the paint and glass.
>
> 1969:
> I got into sailing. I bought a Sunfish, 13 foot sail boat (same
> length as the
> Tiger). I made a carrying rack for the Sunfish out of one inch square
> steel tube. It
> mounted to the Tiger hardtop like a ski rack and mounted to the rear
> bumper. I used this
> rig for a number of years to carry the Sunfish to local races.
>
> December 1970:
> I got married. The Tiger was our honeymoon car (ski trip).
>
> 1970s:
> I drove the Tiger daily to work. Much of that time it was 6
> miles and 21 stop
> lights one-way. Four or five clutch jobs. The stop and go and the 2.88
> gears are hard on
> the clutch.
>
> Early 1980s:
> I had a Thistle sail boat for years. It is 17 foot, boat and
> trailer weight about 750
> pounds. I needed a new tow vehicle so I used the Tiger for several
> years to tow the boat
> to local races. Fortunately I did not have to launch or retrieve the
> boat on the steep ramp.
>
> 1984:
> I drove the Tiger as a daily driver for 16 years and 154,000
> miles. It got to the
> point where it was starting to smoke a little and my two sons could no
> longer fit together
> in the passenger seat with the one seat belt. (When your wife also
> works, taking and
> getting kids is shared responsibility.) The Tiger went into the garage
> and I bought a
> commuter car.
>
> Summer 1991:
> Finally had the time and money to rebuild the Tiger. I spent the
> summer
> rebuilding the engine, transmission, rear end and all suspension
> components. I got it
> running in early September and decided that a good break-in run would be
> a trip to
> Bakersfield, California for my 30th high school reunion. 850 miles the
> first day. I was
> reminded very quickly that the sitting position in the Tiger was
> different than the other
> cars I drove. The only problem on the trip down was part of the original
> oil filter system
> coming loose and losing a couple of quarts of oil before I figured out
> exactly were the
> leak was. On the trip back I developed a blister on one tire about 50
> miles from home.
> The tire blew while I was on a back road. I have since learned about the
> failure mode of
> steel belted radials that set for extended periods of time with out
> moving. The trip was
> 1850 miles in 4 days.
>
> 1990s:
> Each summer I select a project for the Tiger. With two children
> in college I can
> only afford one project at a time. The dash refinish project is
> documented at the Tiger
> Web site. Fuel tank strip and refinish and trunk repaint. A set of
> Sunbeam Specialties
> LAT 70s after my original steel wheels cracked around the mounting
> holes. The Tiger
> was never autocrossed or driven excessively hard so the wheels lasted a
> long time. This
> summer was rebuilding door panels.
>
> Today:
> I try to drive the Tiger to work every day during the Summer
> (including today),
> weather permitting (this is Oregon). I take to the Portland All British
> Field Meet each
> Labor Day. It still has the original paint wearing a little thin in
> places. There is no rust
> even though it sat outside for 15 years. It is still factory stock, all
> the original stuff is
> under the hood or in a box if not needed (windshield washer bottle and
> original oil filter
> plumbing). I use the small half quart spin on oil filters for daily
> driving and put the
> original back on for shows.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------------------
> | Dave Wedeking
> |
> | david.wedeking@merix.com 1967 Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A |
> | 503-992-4450 B382002420
> |
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------------------
|