Tim- Hey this is great! Hope you can go into more detail in part 2 of
part 1. I've always wanted to travel to South California. Now my dream is
being lived out......
Chris in Trinidad
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> From: Tim Jordan <tjordan@wagnerprocess.com>
> To: tigers <tigers@autox.team.net>
> Subject: Fw: 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 1:45 PM
>
>
>
> ----------
> > 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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