zander0206

I’m a born and raised Angeleno, fell in love with cars at a young age due to my grandfather being quite the traditionalist restorer of 1930’s Ford Sedans on the side of his Engineering Career working for Howard Hughes after having moved my Grandmother out to Manhattan Beach in late 1949. Many projects later and several decades he used to drive me in his 34’ Phaeton, a real beauty that ended up earning the prestigious Dearborn award, to a local car show in Palos Verdes. I am mediately fell in love with the car enthusiast subculture and after College and some adolescent crisis driving simple warranted economy cars, something clicked and I reverted back to my old ways of 5+ cars all pre-1970 in my driveway to no one’s appreciation but my own and it’s like I just reacquainted with an old best friend. A few years back I manage a car detailing and maintenance service here in Malibu detailing cars and storing cars for people that I would come in and out of town you know the type with multiple houses and more multiples of cars, and I had to go get this client who lives on Malibu Beach that had a 66 tiger with the 289. I remember the first time I folded my knees of my lanky 6’3” frame happily in to that little operating bay and ended up having to take off my shoe of my left foot so that I could better operate the clutch due to my size 13 feet my sneakers not being very agreeable with the firewall contours and very narrow petal bay, But the minute I pushed that lever forward and up into first gear after backing it up outta the garage, I let that clutch go it sprang into action down the PCH like very few cars I’ve ever driven. That stout power coupled with the low weight and wind blowing through my hair made that 1/2mile drive to our shop to detail the car one of the most fun and memorable drives of my life, and I had driven everything after having worked their doing our pick up and delivery’s for nearly two years at that point. I knew I had to have this car, and when returning home and educating myself to the history of the vehicle and the great minds and racing heritage that surrounded it, it only solidified my obsession with what I thought was Possibly the most unknown and underrated, influential sports car of the automotive golden era here in America. Keeping true to the Ford Sunbeam heritage I knew I wanted to build a Tiger that was more than the Tiger, of course though being 35 and blue collar by our local standards I wasn’t going to be able to purchase a matching numbered oem original Tiger as regardless of the pseudo nickname Poor man Cobra, I was poorer on my best days he’ll I might of well had holes for pockets and paper shredder for a wallet. I knew I would have to take the approach of the engineers of old like Ken Miles and Carol Shelby I’m living by the seat of my pants these days it’s not time to afford a very r as releasing half of six figures car even in reasonable condition and I wanted one that would live up to the heritage one that would utilize the vast improvements and engineering ideas and concepts that have come about sincee we it’s inception while staying true to the heritage of the Ford small block 289. I wanted some knock your socks off power, iron gripping suspense drivability, and no holds barge personality, something the driver would have to actively and mentally control with the limitation being that of his own understanding and not the cars no matter what road it was being driven on. I’m calling my Sunbeam the Liger but it might as well be called the LIAR if you’d better have it off that way, since I never could quite stomach the Alger or Aliger or whatever it is or was hybridized name those who approach the endeavor and those whom owned the real deal dubbed such “abominations.” Back in the day, I’m sure that had the early Alpine V8 conversion crowd known that Liger would exist due to breeding exotic cats in captivity, that this hybridized mock name was obviously much more ideal and suits the purists as much as it does the radicals who I know would gladly address my car as a LIAR rather than a Tiger, and as such, the 21st century Sunbeam LIGER concept had begun (and I recognize great minds may think alike and although I coined this for myself not having influence from another I’m sure that possibly some other talented individual such as myself has also found this rendering of the models name to be the most witty and pleasant and possibly advantageous to the liking of car enthusiasts everywhere and the most noble and proper purists as they decay slowly in the number 3 lane trying to hold 85. I am teaming up with a fellow out in Simi Valley Joe Souza, who owns a shop called Hawaii Racing, and has been around since the good ole days when he was head mechanic for a team in Del Mar and personally oversaw and took care of nearly a dozen Race ready Tigers in the early 1970’s. This experience and decades more of NHRA head mechanic management, habe taught Joe a few things and he will be pointing me in the right direction for powertrain advice and will be personally building the 327 aluminum heads stroker that will put the “iyiyi”in Liger. Just as the apex exotic feoline Evokes a feeling of scare and prowess so will this 10:4:1 compression long stroked modern version of its ancestor will inevitably scare the poop out of you while Having more of the speed and agility then any of its factory or period correct counterparts. The 327 stroker utilizes the top end of the 331 stroker kit but maintains the standard bore of the motor to preserve strength and temperature issues that arise from bored out cylinders not having the appropriate amour of insulation to appropriately dissipate the heat from lots of action on the road. This coupled with a fairly aggressive roller cam crank and roller rocker valve setup, coupled with the low relief low shroud aluminum heads should make for an efficient high stamina engine with a long power band, high redline, and exciting driveability that will be ready for long passes on mulholland hwy or hours of lap racing Leguna Seca any time of year. We are underway currently motor is built waiting on tremek TKO5 speed and Ford 9”