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A new level........

Paul A

Alpine Registry Curator
Platinum Level Sponsor
For any who may be interested, I found Norm to be extremely helpful in my quest for answers about my '66 Tiger. He answered my questions very quickly, providing information for me that was specific to my car.

Self-absorbed? Absolutely not. He is a unique and important source of Tiger information. His only motivation, it seems to me, is to serve the Tiger owners community the best way he knows how.
 

kenny_ii

Donation Time
IMHO, the trouble with this train of thought is the books probably don't go with the car when sold. Also, I think there are quite a few non-Tiger people that would buy a detailed reference book in the $50-$75 range. If it hurts the value of a first edition nestegg, too bad. Books should convey information, not college funds. With today's digital technology and direct from web Kindel type books, a run of 300 digital or paperpack editions becomes cheap enough to run. I would love to read through one of these before buying a Tiger, rather than afterword or at all (given the current prices). I agree Norm is very helpful and gave me some good info when I first looked for a Tiger, but hopefully these cars will outlive us all, not not mention I would not want to take advantage of Norm's good nature for every little question I have as I continue to learn about Tigers and how to restore one.

Tim
 

agmason

Donation Time
"So you go to the effort for a reprint with the original material lost, to sell a couple hundred books and piss off the current 1000 owners that think of the book as a retirement nest egg. "

The effort is minimal to do a reprint. You can print as many copies, one or one hundred and the cost depends on how many you print. I seriously doubt Norm would care if the current 1000 owners are pissed off if he does a reprint. Do you think he personally knows everyone who owns a copy?
 

64beam

Donation Time
Hi,

I would love to hear that Norman has changed his mind in regards to 'the book'. I suppose that he has weighed things up with the effort required to produce a second volume versus the number that may be sold (realistically, who know whether it would be 100 or 1000). By the sound of it, he seems to be happy keeping the registry up to date and answering our questions.
If there was a reprint, it will annoy some of the original book owners but in saying that original books seem to hold their value better than reprints (look at Chris McGovern's book for an example). It just means that it may take longer to sell if more copies are out there, but people are always after originals. May be Norm should also consider a small number of authorised copies.

Regards, Robin.
 

P. Scofield

Bronze Level Sponsor
I knew someone would step up and "defend" the book and the price. You must own a copy! :)

"The Book of Norman," despite all it's shortcomings, is the best restoration guide for Tiger owners who are interested in wanting to put their cars back to stock condition. In addition, it contains the information that was available at the time of print concerning the Tiger registry. I, for one, think it is a very noble effort on the part of Norman Miller to undertake such a task; trying to document details of a particular car, ANY car, in a format such as this is a huge job, no matter how you look at it. Yes, there have evidently been some mistakes discovered over time, but overall it's a great Tiger restoration guide. As far as what it's worth, like anything else it's worth what the market will bear. It evidently took two people who thought it was worth over $1,500.00 to get it there in the first place. Personally, I didn't pay that for my copy, nor would I have if I were looking to buy one now. However, if the buyer has the money to spend on it, who are we to begrudge him???

As the owner of a Tiger Mk1A and Series I Alpine, I feel qualified to ask this question...why is the price of this book, which doesn't deal with Alpines, such a big deal to Alpine owners? I own numerous books on BOTH Alpines and Tigers and have never once been asked what I paid for them. Before someone flames me here, let me again say that I do think that's a lot of money for this book. But, again, why should we give a rip what this guy paid for it???

My .02 worth,
 
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