Bill-
I think you bring up some interesting points that I would like some
clarification on, as well, to better understand what the heck was going on
with Tigers when they were new. I'll throw out a couple of thoughts:
<<What was available then were LAT 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,
17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 25, 27, 48, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 58, 60, 63, 67, 68, 69,
70, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, and 79. This list is very similar to that
in Taylor's "Tiger - Making of a Sports Car". TMOSC also lists upgrade
parts available from Rootes Competitions Dept - no mention of LAT numbers.
Were LAT parts ever made available in England?
I have several other questions about this list. Norm Miller's TBON lists
many other LAT numbers; how and when were these made available? Tigers
were sold throughout the US; were they also unloaded on the East Coast and
if so, were Los Angeles Tiger options installed there at the dealers, at a
"New York Rootes Final Assembly Plant" or did you have to buy an improved LA
car and have it shipped to you?>>
I think much of the discrepancy as far as listed parts and actual parts had
to do with an overzealous marketing department. A number of LAT "parts" were
listed, but seem never to have been available. Kind of like, "Hey, that
sounds like a cool item, let's list it and figure out where to get it
later..."
I would think that Powr-Loks, gears, shocks, and other hardware related items
would have been available from Rootes Competition, but not a number of LAT
options which were manufactured in SoCal. As far as East Coast cars go, I'm
sure the LAT catalog was an integral part of any self-respecting salesman's
routine and the parts were dealer installed. Outside of Steve's citing the
existence of a Los Angeles "production line", I've always assumed that the
majority of LAT options were installed either pre-delivery at the dealer or,
perhaps more commonly, by the owner/dealer after delivery ("Gee, I bet it
would go better with the F4B and a Holley, how much would that cost.."). I
don't know why Rootes would send cars all the way to LA and then turn around
and ship them back to the East Coast, but then much of how Rootes did
business remains a mystery.
<<Homologation: My background is in '60's European rallying and to me
homologation is the paperwork by which the factory, via the British RAC, had
their cars approved as "production" under Appendix J by the French
Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FAI) for use in International
races and rallies.>>
That is my understanding, as well. I think the issue in the US was that you
had the SCCA looking at FIA papers, knowing that the Tigers in the showrooms
were not coming across with any of the hop up parts which made the cars
competitive in B production racing, and saying, "Hey, we're being bagged by a
bunch of Southern California hot rodders". Maybe not an accurate portrayal,
but with what I know of the history of the SCCA , it wouldn't surprise me the
least. The fact that Rootes had a California "assembly line" would not have
stood up to that scrutiny for long.
<<In 1966, my brother-in-law put on a Ford 4V carb and widened steel wheels -
who knows anything about that non-LAT option?>>
I'm not sure where you are going with that one, anybody could install wider
wheels and a 4V.
<<IMHO. Garrard's contacts with the Competitions Dept were used to get the
right bits for the rally engines, and West Coast racers developed racing
pieces, but most LAT options were bolt on hot rod items designed by the West
Coast importer to increase profit margins and had little or nothing to do
with the Rootes Group factory.>>
Your summary is right in line with what I've always believed. Competition,
particularly rallying, had been very important to Rootes since the
Sunbeam-Talbots (isn't that what they rallied in the early '50s?) and the
first Sunbeam Alpine (1954?). Clearly, Rootes was going to homologate the
pieces neccessary to insure class competitiveness for the rally Tigers. The
LAT pieces, except for cosmetic stuff like mirrors or fog lamps, were born
out of the thriving SoCal hot rod/fabricator scene of the '60s and were
definitely the result of an aggressive, and smart, marketing group. I would
disagree with the idea that the LAT pieces were "designed" by the West Coast
importer, most all of it was re-pops of existing hardware, like the Buddy Bar
castings for the valve covers and oil pan. Of course, I would imagine that
the powers that were in the home country had to sign off on the expediture
and nature of the parts which the US marketing group chose to run with.
Just my two cents, but would really like to know how this stuff really
happened.
Mike
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