WooHoo!
Yeah, Mayf!!!
While I occasionally kick myself for selling my Tiger before values shot
up (who knew?), one of the things I'll always be grateful to my late
wife for was when she said: "It's your car. Do what you want with it
and don't worry about whether someone will want to buy it when you're
through with it."
Of course, it didn't hurt that the P.O. had put in a 302, a C3 slushbox
and an E-type IRS. There wasn't much that *I* could do that would take
it further from it's origins.
:-)
Okay, yes there is. I just chose not to go there.
Still, one of the things that attracted me to the Tiger was an article
in Car and Driver. To paraphrase, it suggested that Tiger owners in
general had few qualms about modifying their tigers to suit the owners
tastes. Of course, this was back in 1990, so the 'it's an old car and
not that many people even know what they are, let alone care whether
they're stock' attitude was a bit more prevalent.
To those of you who are into the 'matching numbers'--well, I'm glad
you're around. Sometime in the future someone is gonna want to know how
an original Tiger was supposed to look, and they'll turn to your cars as
the yardstick. But for the rest of you who want to make your cars more
competitive with todays vehicles (which have benefited from about 50+
years of engine and chassis design) or just like the look of 16" rims,
I'd say "it's your car. Do what you want with it."
And for those of you who bought your Tiger primarily as an investment (I
haven't really noticed any of you on this list), I'd say that you're
missing out on the best part of owning one of these--driving the wheels
off it. My Tiger was a daily driver and I really enjoyed the attention
that it got (fortunately, not to the point of getting T-boned by a
minivan). When I sold it I'd had enough of it--my '97 Miata is nimbler,
more fun and gets better gas mileage (though I miss the attention the
Tiger got!). And if I really want more power, there's always a
supercharger or a Corvette engine swap.....
Best Regards
David Sosna
P.S. I gather that the fellow I sold my Tiger to dropped in a 347 crate
motor, painted the car 'arrest me' orange metalflake and put 16" rims on
it. I really liked the orange metalflake. :-)
On 01/28/2012 03:21 PM, Larry Mayfield wrote:
> Is there somewhere, a second Tiger list? One that has as it's members
> those who own, have owned or wished they owned a Tiger for the fun of
> it? Whose members use them for road rallies, drag racing, or even land
> speed racing (no, mine is an Alpine). Members who use them for daily
> drivers, grocery getters and whose cars are not hanger queens/? Whose
> cars may be modified to their hearts content and are justifiably proud
> of their accomplishments? Who use paint other than what Rootes put on
> them? A list where the car and driver can be appreciated for what he
> is and what his car is with undue critical comment behind his back?
> That includes all persuasions of owners but with out being snide or
> snobbish because the only good Tiger is one that has been perfectly
> restored? That wasn't purchased as an investment but rather because the
> owner always wanted one?
>
> Does that list exist? If so, where? If not, maybe I'll start one on yahoo.
>
> mayf
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