Listers,
I've been travelling the past two days to the East (right) Coast and back.
While flying seven miles high I had some idle time to reflect and consider
some what-ifs (hypotheticals) that were inspired primarily by the TAC
chairman's most recent post as well as various other input that I've seen
posted here over the past months. Mostly, I'm just trying to sort out what
TAC is, as well as what I think it aught to be. To help me along with this
I have done a bit of what I often do when trying to figure things out, and
that is to consider some realistic, but hypothetical situations. For
example, I considered what I think is a very plausible scenario where
someone I know, let's call him Joe, has purchased a Tiger, perhaps a year
or two ago, and let's also say it's a pretty nice one by all appearances;
Joe is, in fact, very happy with the car in all respects. However, Joe has
been reading various things about Tigers since he bought the car and has
begun to notice a few discrepancies. Joe has heard about TAC and their
"Authentication" program and is beginning to think about seeking out TAC to
settle for him this questions about authenticity of his car. So Joe comes
to me and asks my opinion about whether I think it's a good idea to have
his car "TACed" A few weeks ago, I would have had no hesitation in urging
Joe to get his car TACed. Hey, says me, what do you have to lose! The worst
thing I can see happen is that the friendly TAC inspectors will politely
tell Joe that they cannot authenticate his car and, although his worst
fears will have been essentially confirmed, that will be the end of it as
far as TAC is concerned. What Joe chooses to do with this information would
be entirely up to him. He could do what many would consider the "right
thing" and make a public declaration, perhaps re-register the car as an
Alpine, or whatever else the scrupulously honest and law abiding citizen
would be legally and ethically honor-bound to do. OR, he could do what
probably most people in Joe's position would do and just keep quiet. Hey,
it's his car, his life, his decision. At least, that's how I tend to feel
about it. As a friend of Joe's, I'd respect his decision and keep my mouth
shut about it too. If Joe want's people to know, then let Joe tell 'em.
And, come to think of it, I'd hope the TAC people would do the same. But
what if the TAC people are keeping records on all the cars they inspect;
not just the "authenticated" ones, but the "unable to authenticate" ones as
well. If they were collecting this information, this might start to make
Joe a little nervous; why are these people keeping a file on me and my car
if they mean me no harm? And what if Joe decides the sell his car someday;
is TAC going to be the one (either directly or indirectly) to blow the
whistle? Are they going to inform the buyer, the DMV, etc.? Are they
willing to appear in court to testify? Would they really have any choice if
they were subpoenaed? If a TAC spokesperson were subpoenaed, by the time
the all the dust settled, not only would we know everything about Joe's
car, but every detail of the closely guarded authentication criteria as
well. After mulling this over in my mind, I turn to Joe and say; "Hey, just
enjoy your car Joe and forget about opening up this can of worms."
Now, I know that Mr. Reisentz didn't explicitly say that TAC was keeping
records on cars like Joe's, but he did kind of imply it. All he really said
was, he wasn't going to give the information to Norm. I think we'd all like
to know if TAC is keeping a list of Algers and, if so, what is TAC's
purpose in doing this? I have to believe there are a number of Tiger owners
out there (or at least who BELIEVE they are Tiger owners) who are in pretty
much the same situation as Joe; kinda nervous, having some doubts, not
quite sure what the "experts" will say. I kind of consider them to be the
innocent victims in this whole situation. And I think we kind of have a
tradition in this country of not injuring innocent people just to nail a
few wrongdoers. Sometimes we feel otherwise, but I still believe it's a
good tradition to uphold.. And from a strategy point of view, I think it's
also in the best interests of the TAC program to make the decision to have
your car TACed as risk-free as possible. And if this is, indeed, TAC's
philosophy, then they should be making it clear by their assurances and
their actions that this is the way things have been, and will continue to
be run.
Just glad to be back in San Diego,
Bob
Robert L. Palmer
Dept. of AMES, Univ. of Calif., San Diego
rpalmer@ames.ucsd.edu
rpalmer@cts.com
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