Buyer's advice needed

[Hillman]

I lost my SII Alpine in a fire a couple of months ago. There aren't many Sunbeams in my area but I heard of a Tiger for sale nearby. I'm going to look at it early next week. Any advice on what to look for would be appreciated. I know the usual Alpine body things to look for but wonder if the cat has any differences. Mechanicals, I can handle if I can find parts. Are any made of unicorn dung?

Here's what I know. I met the owner about 10 years ago, haven't seen him since. At that time he'd owned it for about 30 years. Hadn't driven in it in a few years, between moving and mice getting at it, it wasn't a runner. He spent the last 10 years restoring it. A friend who (among other things) appraises classics for insurance companies was asked to look at it. He is our local guru in British cars. He says it's a good restoration, and worth about twice what the guy is hoping for.

The bad news is that it was originally sold in South Africa and came to Canada around 1970. Therefore, it's RHD. It's also badged as an "Alpine 260" but that's not an issue to me. I want a driver and am not sure I can adapt to RHD on 2-lane roads. Can I? My friends and I do summer runs into Montana and the Dakota's, is it legal to take to the US? Does RHD lower the value if I decide I can't drive it and want to sell it?

Looking at my previous Alpines, I always thought it might be an easy conversion to LHD. Is it, or at least for the V8 version?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Al

 

[Warren]

The RHD steering rack and water and the radiator outlet on the bottom are unobtainable parts followed by the expansion tank fan shroud etc. It seems easier to go US spec then the other way. Please show some pictures

 

[65beam]

Right hand drive is not a problem here in the states. There are a lot of right hand drive Jeeps sold .

 

[alpine_64]

Al ... Converting to lhd on a Tiger is easirt than the other way. You can probably sell the rhd rack, throttle setup and pedals for a decent amount. Same with toeboard.

Lhd steering and dash etc are an easy find in usa.

 

[Ken Ellis]

In your situation (and with adequate funds) I would buy it and not change it. Originality would reign over local driving culture. Plus you can drive down the road with your buddy reading a newspaper and get lots of attention.

Does it have appropriate certifications? Personally knowing the owner for 40 years certainly helps, but conversions were done back then, too...

 

[Alpine Addict]

Find someone going the other way and swap the parts

 

[Hillman]

Does it have appropriate certifications? Personally knowing the owner for 40 years certainly helps, but conversions were done back then, too...

I'm guessing you mean TAC? I doubt it, don't think the car has been within 1,000 miles of a TAC session.

I plan to get the SN, JAL and any thing I can find on the egine/trans/diff. As well, I'll be taking a lot of pictures. Anything I've missed?

 

[65sunbeam]

Leave as is and don't change to LHD. South African Tigers are rare. Contact Norman Miller once you get the numbers. Find an experienced Tiger owner to look it over and let you know what is missing and for verification.

 

[Hillman]

Find an experienced Tiger owner to look it over and let you know what is missing and for verification.

There just aren't any Tigers within 1,000 miles (well I know of 2 Tigers, no idea about owners, the closest is a 6 hour drive). I'm on my own. Maybe people can help from pics. If not, it's priced at the high end of a nice Alpine in USA (<US$20K) so maybe it's worth the risk.

Anyway, when I see it there will be a lot of Pics, maybe someone here will be able to say yea or nae based on them (or point to a more detailed exam points).

Interesting. I was more interested in how to/if I could adapt to RHD than is it a 'real Tiger'.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted and bring on more questions when I actually see the car.

Thanks again

al

 

[Ken Ellis]

"If not, it's priced at the high end of a nice Alpine in USA (<US$20K) so maybe it's worth the risk."

Absolutely. If you'd prefer someone else take that risk, please let me know. First.

 

[DanR]

If money is available, I'd buy for nothing else than an investment. Betcha it will bring many times over what you are giving.

What is left of your Alpine that was burned? Sorry you lost it.

 

[Alpine 1789]

Two thoughts: first, less than $20K is a steal, so be careful about letting the details get out. Second, the only real problem with LHD in the states is with toll or ticket booths, which are a pain. (I know that from driving a LHD car in Europe.) That is considerably lessened today, thanks to electronic toll tags, but something to think about if this is an issue in your area.

 

[Hillman]

I went and looked at it today. Have a lot of pics.

The good:
Not a spot of dirt anywhere, nothing was hidden (except by more expensive means)
Had a lot of patch panels added (floors, sills, wheel arches)
Everything cleaned up and painted, no rust issues on spring hangers or exhaust pass-thrus (or at leat I couldn't identify any) or other usual places.
Nice hardtop, needs new 1/4 windows.

The bad:
Had a lot of patch panels added (floors, sills, wheel arches). Wheel arch profile wrong. Hardly concours but looked ok for a driver
JAL number plate more or less blank, may have been buried in paint.
Heater blower motor missing.
Brake booster missing.
Wheel arches replaced, profiles wrong.
Needs a paint job
A bit of rust bubling up in a strange place, high on the left rear fender, probably no biggie.

The ugly:
None.


So I asked the guy "what do you want for it". He answered "I have to talk to your friend the appraiser before I come up with one". I said "ok, you have my phone number". We'll see.

If I had a brain, I'd use the money I might pay for this car to get someone to turn my V6 SV into a showpiece. Time will tell.

 

[Warren]

Possibly you may not want to put a lot of pictures on the WWW. You definitely need to make sure all components belong with the car. The cars is best as stock but for your own personal use it's easy to get the LHD bits and retain the original stuff. Most all Tiger guys modify with the goal of putting the car back to it's stock configuration when the needed. I'm not sure that the South African Tigers were in the Jensen ledgers. At that price you mentioned it seems a good buy.

 

[65sunbeam]

Google "South African Violets Sunbeam Tiger" to learn more about this CKD Tiger model's history. The only Tigers that were built outside the UK during the production run.

 

[Hillman]

I doubt this is a "CKD Tiger". My original post contained ifo from the guy who apraised it. The owner told me he bought in 1972 from a guy who brought it to Canada from Rhodesia. It may well have been built in GB for the home market. That said, I sent a search request to the Tiger Registry and have had some interesting conversations with Norm. He didn't mention CKD. He did say that the SN suffix (RRO FE) has about 17 survivors.

 

[alpine_64]

RRO is right hand drive export.. So uk built

 

[Warren]

Maybe give Graham Vickery a email in the U.K. I have his email or he's the Administrator on the UK Tiger forum.
I understand that the TAC program is doing a Colorado event

 

[todd reid]

If the floors, sills & wheel arches have all been patched, please take a good hard look at the X bracing under the car. Rust in that area can present serious issues. Hopefully the area has been well lubricated by oil leaks!

 

[Warren]

The top loader will puke out the vent on top of and out the main pinion seal . When the factory installed the pass through they torched letting the scrap fall into the X .
It sure wasn't the Jag line.

The Tiger pass thru has no drain holes and can easily fill up with salt water and dirt and quite a fertile and rust prone spot. It's also too far away from the anti rust producing top loader.

There's a number of drain holes that contribute to rust in a Sunbeam. With your description and no pictures 20,000 seems high.