Phil;
The AHCA is to be congratulated for providing clear guidelines for those who
want to participate in the concours restoration competition of their cars.
This, as we all know, requires dedication and effort that goes far beyond
the restoration of the vehicle. It also requires a higher level of care to
preserve the quality of their work, and necessarily restricts the use of the
preserved vehicle. It is good to know the rules of the game if you are
serious about playing.
But....one of the things I like about the Tiger community is the ready
acceptance of non-original modifications to our cars. Not all surviving
Tigers can be restored to 100% original condition without the heroic
destruction of someone's bank account, and once completed, it is difficult
to justify taking it out in the noonday sun or the rain to hasten the
deterioration of your hard work and spendyness.
My car, for example, a Mk 1A, came to me with a 1967 289 in the engine room.
Lots of signs all over that it was a survivor of the track wars. Much better
to forget concours competitions, and build a daily driver.
This illumination freed me to make safety and comfort changes that make the
"modernized" Tiger safer, more comfortable (and perhaps a bit more fun!) to
use, without worry of wearing out a pristine example of the marque. No
longer a contender for the Concours trophy, these daily driver Tigers can be
driven to the meets in comfort, and the money saved by not needing a
climate-controlled transporter can be spent on tires, oil changes and
birthday gifts.
Not to be too specific, but other marques I have been involved with have
participant owners who march around with their noses pointed skyward, and
loudly deride a peasant who would dare to change a nut or a bolt on their
car and thus destroy the factory-issued originality of their sadly abused
unit.
Long live the Tiger community and its understanding that it is better to
save a poorly preserved Tiger, than to send it to the bin because it can
never be brought to near concours level condition.
I love my "slightly" modified Tiger.
Dave
B382000450
Phil wrote:
" I was a member of the AHCA for many years and still have lots of friends
in
the Healey club. I owned my bug-eye for 35 years. Now I know there are
more
Healey owners but this is what they did.
http://www.healeyclub.org/concours.aspx. Its a booklet of what you need to
know for a concours, or just if you want to stick to orginal. Don't know if
a
club like cat could do this, just a thought.........cheers.....phil"
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