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This Tigger is *so* sad....

64beam

Donation Time
:( There are a few things that could be salvaged from the Tiger, but definitely a shame to let it get that far gone. If the Alpine isn't saved it too will look like the Tiger. There is what looks like an Edelbrock F4B manifold on the Tiger as well (they are worth a few dollars by itself). I hate seeing this sort of neglect.
 

mackzknife

Donation Time
A lot of work indeed

From those pictures I think this poor Tiger may not be salvageable, if the underside is as bad or worse.

Seeing that auction shows me what a great deal I got on my Alpine.
 

jmthehermit

Donation Time
It looks like an early production (63/64) F4B manifold as it only has a single pattern to mount a Holley carb. Didn't the LAT manifolds have provisions for both Edelbrock and AFB's? It's very much a parts and VIN tag car now. Check the picture of the passenger front fender pointing up in the front with the cinder block under the A frame. It seems the main frame section is rotted and flexing a bit under the cowl. Jeff
 

agmason

Donation Time
I sent a message to the seller saying the Tiger looks too far gone te restore. The seller replied just move the Tiger parts and vin plate to the Alpine and you will have a "real " Tiger. My reply said that is called a Alger and no way that would pass for the "real" thing. I think that is why he kept the vin number hidden knowing that moving parts to the Alpine is the only way to have a Tiger.
 

V6 JOSE

Donation Time
And some poor sap, not knowing better, will buy it, invest a ton of money and effort on restoring it and will take it to a show and get jumped on, because he is trying to pass off an Alger as genuine. Sad.

Jose
 

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
Yeah, if he can find anything left to weld *to*! It's hard to weld to rust.
 

todd reid

Gold Level Sponsor
This Tigger is so sad....

Kevin,
The results of the members poll have been tabulated, and you are now authorized to take out the responsible party. As always, should you be captured the club will disavow any knowlege of your activities. This email will self-destruct in..........
 

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
Unfortunately, Todd, you too must now be eliminated, as you know about the plan. My sincerest apologies.

;)
 

alpine_64

Donation Time
Maybe you can use the salvageable parts on that tiger.. to save another tiger..??

but seriously.. while i think the car "could" be saved... the effort would far outweigh the cost. Its one of the worst tigers i have seen.. but i have seen similar ones manage to make it back to life.. without "tag swaping" but you really have to want to save that particular car to undertake jobs like that and i dont see a new buyer having emotional attachment to it... though i can see emotional scaring after
 

Bill Blue

Platinum Level Sponsor
Okay, now that it has been established the car is, for all reasonable purposes, unsalvageable, is there any reason it should not be used as the basis of producing an Alger?

Bill
 

jmthehermit

Donation Time
No, just notify the Tiger registry the car was stripped for parts and junked. Report the VIN and JAL tags, then destroy them. Make it so they will never be used again to creat bogus Tigers. If you're going to use an Alpine body to make a fake tiger, at least keep the correct VIN and SAL plates. That way the Alpine title stays with the Alpine shell. Every owner should face the fact that cars DO rust away and if you can't salvage the chassis let the damn car DIE!!!! The government, both state and federal, has laws against switching vehicle ID's. I have no qualms about the switched VIN fake cars being impounded and crushed.
 

Bill Blue

Platinum Level Sponsor
Excuse my ignorance here, but is an Alpine that has received all the Tiger goodies but not the Tiger VIN and JAL not considered an Alger? Sounds like your saying that by definition, an Alger is a fraud.

Bill
 

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
IMHO, an Alger is only a fraud if it carries Tiger VIN and SAL tags. If it still has the original Alpine tags, and ideally all of the Alpine insignia, then it's fair game - it's just a nicely modified Alpine, in the *spirit* of a Tiger.
 

alpine_64

Donation Time
I have no issues with Algers and Tipines as long as there is no deception about their conception. They should NOT carry JAL or tiger VIN numbers, they are about as Tiger as a V6 alpine. You are simply modifiying an alpine with parts off another car... all be it a sunbeam. They should still carry the SAl and Vin they have always had.

Before buying my Tiger i had a really long look at an Alger in Canada.. car was about 24K and was as nice as they come.. the owner had bought it for mid 40's as a "tiger".. My idea was to buy it and throw some alpine badges on it and have fun.. then I idecided if im going to send a car half way aroud the world i may as well get the real thing so i saved up more and got a TAC'ed Tiger. An alger can be as much fun as a tiger.. probably more as you can sort out tiger issues without worrying about "orignality" or having to have it returnable to stock.. just accept the car for what it is.

As a side note.. There were "Alpine 260's" which were the French and German Tigers that could not carry the Tiger name on the continent due to other manufactureres owning the rights to it.
 

66Tiger

Donation Time
I have nothing against Tiger recreations (I would own/create one) , but even if the Tiger VIN and JAL tags were destroyed, the next owner the car could add his own Tiger tags and start the fraud cycle if an Alger was made from this car.

It seems salvagable to me, I hope the car gets restored, whether it's worth the money or not....it would be a shame to take the life of a Tiger.

Also I would like to see as many Alpines saved as possible, whether they are worth the money or not.

Paul
 

Sownman

Donation Time
As a side note.. There were "Alpine 260's" which were the French and German Tigers that could not carry the Tiger name on the continent due to other manufactureres owning the rights to it.

As Michael knows I own one. It is a 100% factory built Tiger as true a Tiger as any, but it was destined for sale in Germany. In Germany the Tiger name was copyrighted by another car company so my car was sold carrying Alpine wing script and Alpine 260 badges.

Every Tiger that has a spec plate is also called an Alpine 260 but those sold in GB and USA did not also carry badges and script saying Alpine.

http://www.sunbeamtiger.co.uk/catswhiskers/CW68alpine260.htm

Steve
 

Jim E

Donation Time
Many dollars to donuts there are Tigers out there that have TAC and are rebodies.

There was a recent Tiger restoration that got taken apart so far that one guy could have picked it up what was left and toss it in the dumpster. Yet after it got all its "repair" panels welded back on it was still a Tiger.

I once ask... say this rusty Tiger got fixed with new rockers, replacment tunnel and floor pans and Alpine doors, hood and trunk lid. Then this poor car had a brake failure that resulted in the front clip frame rails and all being replaced with Alpine donor parts. Back on the road this poor luck unit then got rear ended and the rear clip was replaced with an Alpine donor transplant. Is it still a Tiger? the answer is Oh yes. and that is even if the quality of work sucks.

Yet this same rusty Tiger in the hands of one of the metal masters gets gutted and put into a complete Alpine donor with all the little details reproduced to a very high standard, and you can believe it can and has been done and basically the Tiger died.

I agree you cannot just slap Tiger bits in an Alpine and have a Tiger but there are some very high dollar rebodies out there that are more Tiger than some of the custom Tigers I have seen.

I just do not see the difference in plasma cutting all the donor bits off an Alpine and welding them to the vin tag of a Tiger over plasma cutting all the Tiger bits and welding them to a donor Alpine.
 

mikephillips

Donation Time
I talked to one of the known Sunbeam restorers about that once. While he didn't identify any specific cars I was told there were several west coast cars with TAC certificates that he had done in the 70s when they were just old beatup cars and rebody was the cheap solution.

I personally have never tried to have mine done, hopefully it'll be my estate's problem to worry about. And really, unless the car is for sale, or identified as historically significant, who cares. Not to mention I have a problem with the idea of self declared experts with secret criteria making the pronouncement...
 
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