My only disagreement is with Graham's comment of the Tiger's "achieving its
potential" only with modifications to push it beyond 164 bhp.
By design (worsened by the Tiger's steering configuration), the Tiger is
almost beyond its "potential" with 164 bhp! There's a reason the Tiger
never did very well on the race track (It scared the crap out of Sterling
Moss).
Modified terribly beyond its Alpine configuration, the length of the
wheelbase, wheel/tire size, Ackerman angle, etc., make the Tiger more than a
handful to drive fast. Yep, it's a beautiful car and fun to blast from
stoplight to spotlight, but let's face it: it's VERY easy to exceed the
Tiger's limits..... (trust me, only good luck has me still here to recall
the memories...)
The key difference with the AC Ace was that the setup was uniquely adaptable
to accept the dramatic increase in power that Shelby's modifications
represented. Simply put, the Sunbeam Alpine setup was not.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-tigers@Autox.Team.Net [mailto:owner-tigers@Autox.Team.Net] On
Behalf Of gharlowe@comcast.net
Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 7:30 PM
To: tigers@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: RE: Subject: FW: carroll Shelby
"Shelby wanted to race, and sold cars on the side so he could race more.
Rootes wanted to sell cars, and raced on the side so he could sell
more."
The title of "poor man's Cobra" applies to the Tiger because at the time
a Tiger cost a little more than half as much as a new Cobra and offered
nearly the same performance.
The stock 260 in the Cobra was actually modified by Shelby and rated at
260bhp, versus the 164bhp 260 in the Tiger.
But Shelby only made 75 of those 260 Cobras before upgrading to the 289,
which was actually the hipo 289, specially modified by Ford to produce
271bhp.
And by the time Rootes started making 200 bhp 289 Tigers, the Cobra had
been modified to accept the 427.
So it's no surprise that so many Tigers have been modified by their
"poor men" owners to achieve the car's performance potential. Cobra
owners paid dearly to have Shelby/Ford do the mods for them. It could
be argued that all Cobras and only some Tigers are modified...if you're
not particular about the who.
I don't think they would have been considered the poor man's Cobra, nor
would they have as strong a reputation for performance, if all Tigers
stayed at 164bhp. And (modified) Tiger performance has increased the
value of the marque as a whole -- both modified and unmodified examples.
"A high tide floats all boats."
- Graham H.
B382001466
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