Listers,
My in box has been filling up the past two days with inquiries regarding
the events last Sunday at the Rootes Group Depot and about the current
condition of Norm Miller, so I will pass on to you what little information
I have. Bill Martin has been visiting Norm regularly in the hospital and
reports that his spirits are high and, thanks to some very strong pain
management medications, he is feeling much better. As you can tell from his
sporadic and terse postings, he is beginning to get some control of his
voice-activated e-mail program. His first posting after the accident
"TeStiNg -- tEsTinG one, two, 3 -- 1, tWo, THrEE", followed by "Sounds like
a question for Tiger Technologies?" shows how quickly he is mastering this
new technology. Bill says the outpouring of concern and sympathy for Norn
has been amazing and has helped to lift his spirits. (Norm will thank both
of you personally as soon as he is able.)
Among the people who have called Norm to offer their condolences and
support is Dale Akuszewski. It is simply amazing how adversity can bring
people together!! As Norm and Dale discussed the failed plan to
remanufacture Tigers using New Mexico State Prison labor, an even more
exciting idea began to emerge. As some of you close to Dale already know,
his uncle Jan Akuszewski is the director of a YUGO factory outside Warsaw.
Of course sales of YUGOs are very slow these days, what with the depressed
eastern block economy and the poor demand for these reliable, but
uninspired vehicles. So the essence of the idea is to replace the
production of YUGOs with brand new, manufactured from scratch Tigers!!
Given the current economy of Poland, an initial investment of only $2-3M
will be all that is needed to get the necessary tooling to swing into full
production. One of the really beautiful aspects of this idea is the labor
intensive expertise for manufacturing cars of the '60s vintage is already
in place. All that may be needed is to bring in a Japanese origami expert
to help get them up to speed with the concept of unibody construction and
someone to give them some help in mastering the use of a large sledge
hammer to do the final shaping of the engine tunnel. (They are hoping to
get that really big guy who did this job, first for Shelby and later on the
Jensen assembly line, to come out of retirement.)
Well, of course there are a few details of this plan to work out, but
obviously the essence of the idea is sound. There must be a considerable
market for brand new Tigers with a retail price in the range of $25-30k.
But what about the initial investment needed?? Well, Norm has been talking
to a lawyer that assures him that he will be able to collect at least $3M
or more as a result of his accident. But the deal almost fell through when
Dale began talking about all the mistakes in the original Tiger design he
wanted to correct while, of course, Norm insisted on building the cars
EXACTLY as they came off the Jensen assembly line. A compromise was reached
and two models, the "A" and the "M" will be built. The A model will be all
aluminum and stretched 16" to allow the engine to be moved back and also
accommodate big block as well as small block motors. The added length will
also allow the rack to be moved back another 8". According to Dale, "That
should fix that nasty Ackerman geometry problem once and for all!!" The A
model will also have 14" disk brakes in front and 11" in the rear along
with various other race-proven modifications that Dale has developed.
So whether you want yours stock or modified, your local YUGO dealer will
have the right model for you.
Oh yes, the car will be called the YUGER.
Still amazed in San Diego,
Bob
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