Listers,
Since knowledge of the "Get Smart" Tiger seems so profuse, I thought I'd
add my 2 cents worth to the current thread. WARNING! If this is of no
interest to you, this is your last chance to use your DELETE key!
I'm going to throw some real fuel on the rumor fire now by suggesting that
there could have been not one, but TWO Don Adam's Tigers! That ought to
launch the serious car collectors and brokers in search of more definitive
pieces in the lucrative "Get Smart" puzzle!
Of course, anyone who correctly answered question #42 on the open-book quiz
for Tigers United XXII at Eureka in 1997 knows that the car leased to
Paramount Studios for use in the Get Smart TV series was serial no.
B9470310. That information from TIROST is published on pages 186, 187,
370, and 370 of the BON. What is also know from other sources is that Don
Adams drove a red Tiger long after the TV series was terminated. But was
it B9470310 or some other car?
Suppose that, on the set, Don Adams really learned to like the Tiger, so he
bought one for himself? And that when the lease expired, the studio Get
Smart car was returned to International Automobiles (Ian Garrad at the
Rootes West Coast office), then sold off along with other
promotional/studio cars at a greatly depreciated value?
OK, you say, so what does TIROST list as the serial number of Don Adam's
personal Tiger? Answer: Nothing. No one has any idea what the number of
that car was. The only thing known about it is that it was a B947xxxx
series (from a photo of him carrying a trash can in the jump seat of the
car). OK, then what happened to the studio car? Answer: Subsequent to
it's sale by Internationl Automobiles, there's no record of what happend to
it either, except to say that is was NOT the car that Adam's continued to
drive after the TV series was terminated.
Over the years, there have been many rumors about the "Get Smart" Tiger
(without any distinction as to whether that meant the leased car, or Don's
personal car), and at one time or another there have been at least a dozen
reports that "the car" has been discovered, and/or is in the hands of a new
owner or broker, including cars with B3820xxxxx chassis
numbers. Unfortunately, none of these claims has ever been substantiated.
I sure that Mr. Miller at the Rootes Group Depot/TIROST would appreciate
any SUBSTANTIVE information on the whereabouts or disposition of either or
both cars. By the same token, I doubt that he would be very receptive to
more of the SOS if it leads nowhere and wastes time.
Who knows? Maybe somebody will spot Elvis cruisin' in the Get Smart Tiger
down at their local drive-in this summer.
See? You should've hit Delete.
Dick
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