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> From:
> To: tigers <tigers@autox.team.net.>
> Subject: Thrillseeking in San Diego or along for the ride in Dick
Barker's Tiger LeMans Coupe/ kinda medium longish post #1of a 12 part
series
> Date: Friday, September 04, 1998 10:22 AM
>
> Tigers,
> If you can beat 'em, join 'em. No, I won't and don't worry. You will
all
> be spared the
> additional 11 parts of this series. Part #3 about my incredible
daughters
> (beautiful, respectful and highly intelligent) will be saved for future
> gushings. Part #5 reveals the fantastic life of our family hunting dog
> Riptide.
> He is a stunning Golden Retiever that with a smile and wagging tail
> retrieves the few birds I manage to hit. He also pisses all over my
> vegetable garden, thus saving me the chore of fertilizing. (How about
> that Colin?) Part #8 Chronicles the lady of my life. I'll spare the
> details of her journey as a Playboy Bunny to her accomplishments as a
> Surgeon and pro bono Attorney representing charitable organizations.
>
> You see, this is a Tiger related list. So, I'll just have to leave the
> other stuff for another list and another time.
>
> Today you will get to relive my unbelievable and hard to describe ride
with
> Dick Barker in his stunning Le Mans Tiger Coupe.
>
> All stories have a beginning and this one starts during the summer of
1969.
> The boys of summer are playing lineball. Baseball with a tennis ball
> using only one fielder. You know, over the house homerun, off the roof
> triple, on the street an out. That whole summer a BRG Tiger seems to
buzz
> the game every couple of days. Back and forth, up and down the street.
> "Hey, we're playing a game here!
> The poor owner was just trying to sort things out. He probably had very
> little support back then. Anyway, the Tiger stuck in the back of my
> subconscience as a cool roadster and I knew of the Shelby connection.
One
> of our neighbors had a Hertz GT350 and seemed to know some of the
> Shelby/Tiger story. Unfortunately, by the start of school we stopped
> seeing the Tiger. The Tiger guy may have been called to serve his
> country in Viet Nam, but the Tiger was gone and never seen again. After
> that summer I don't recall ever thinking about a Tiger. Went the German
> route driving a 1964 VW Squareback 1600 Dual Carb during college and a
1976
> BMW 2002 during my
> bachelor days in the early 1980's. (Colin are you still with me? If you
> are not, I understand. Even F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway and other
great
> writers took a few days off.)
>
> Flash forward to the Summer of 1996. Somehow I have developed a serious
> "Jones" for a performance car from my youth. After a few weeks of
looking
> for a victim (ie. Shelby, Pantera, Torino CJ) BING!! I spot a Maroon
Tiger
> in front of a Dentist office called Rootes Group. That's the car!
> Knock-knock and I immediatly discover that Norm is not an Orthodontist.
> This is Tiger Nirvana and as I will soon learn Norm is "The Tiger
> Enthusiast" of them all. (I wonder if the Tiger List is saying get to
the
> damn Tiger Le Mans ride!) Be patient or I will give you a dose of Part
#3.
>
>
> For several months I did my due diligence looking over and driving a few
> Tigers. Several Tiger owners were helpful and I could always count on
> Norm to contribute. "Now Tim, where is the Booster?" "I don't see an
air
> cleaner." "Do you really want flares and blue velour seats?" "It's
junk!"
> "RUST!" "Don't worry you"ll find a Tiger and after all it's only a car"
>
> So it goes that in September I finally found my Tiger. The 1964 BRG
Tiger
> (B9470080) was found up the street from where I was born and raised in
> Redwood City. Was it the same Tiger that I remember from my Summer days
in
> 1969? Maybe. The car sat for over 14 years then had a brief run until
the
> owner again let her sit. Had the TAC Inspection and learned that
according
> to Paul R.
> the car was also "A PEACH." Had a ball with the car
> and even made the trip to Eureka for TU XXII. Yes, I was the BRG Tiger
> with the golf clubs hanging out from behind the seats and the beer cans
> falling out the
> navigator door. Remember? We arrived a little worse for wear and parked
> next to LeMans Coupe #9. Pointing in the wrong direction of every Tiger
> lined up and with many "Tiger
> Eyes" starring at us, I informed my navigator "don't touch the car next
to
> you or we will DIE!"
>
> Some were impressed with the old survivor. Probably because it was a
real
> beater, almost all original, a very early chassis and we actually made it
> the 500 miles to the event. We had a great time! Did'nt play in the
> points events and was to green to understand any of the political/club
> shananigans. The trip back home is a real "Twilight Zone" episode that
we
> can relive another day(part#2).
>
> End of the first half of Part #1. In all the excitment of the ride with
> Cmdr. Barker, I must admit that some of the details are a blur.
> Maybe Dick will help me relive the ride when I see him this weekend at
the
> Mini-Nats in Sear Pt.
>
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