I sent this before but found autox.team.net had a problem with my return
address. I hope this is not a duplicate.
This may be long and boring to many but I needed to write it down.
June 1965:
Summer before my last year of college. I had $500 in pocket to
buy a car for the
next school year and beyond. I found a nice TR3 for sale for the $500. I
went home and
told my parents about the find. They suggested that if they contributed
some more money
that they have some say in the car I buy. So I bought a 1964 Corvair
instead for $900. So
much for my first LBC opportunity. The next school year I collected all
the literature I
could about various sport cars including the Tiger brochure (black cover
with Red car). I
still have the brochure.
June 5th, 1968:
I returned from Vietnam with $5000 in pocket, no wife, no job,
no obligations.
My parents were living in King City, CA at the time (just south of San
Jose). I got a copy
of the San Jose paper looking for Tiger ads. Found two for sale on used
car lots.
June 8th, 1968:
My father, brothers and I went to San Jose to look at the
Tigers. The first one
had been worked over extensively, flares, straight exhaust, a 289 engine
that was claimed
to have spent time in a land speed record attempt car. It ran well,
sounded great, but had
more rattles, clanks and other body noises that made it sound like it
would not last very
long. On to the next car. A 1967 Carnival Red Mk1A (B382002420) with
only 10,000
miles. Factory stock except for the LAT 5 weld on traction bars. Black
hard top included.
I took my father on a test drive around the block, went back and bought
the car. $3,468
including California sales tax and licensing. I ask the sale man why the
car was on the
lot. He said that the user car lot in San Jose (Jack London Imports)
belonged to the new
car dealer in San Francisco who originally sold the Tiger. The car
belonged to the new
car dealers wife. She apparently did not like the car so the dealer took
it back and gave
her a Ferrari instead.
Summer 1968:
Trip to Oregon, job looking, back to California for my brothers
wedding, back
to Oregon (got a job). 10,000 miles in 10 weeks.
Winter 1968:
A college friend of mine lived in Portland, drove a BRG Mk1. He
told me the
previous summer that if I got a job in Portland he would teach me to
snow ski. I bought a
pair of studded snow tires for the Tiger and the friend and I would take
turns driving our
Tigers up skiing each weekend (about 65 miles to Mt. Hood). One weekend
we decided
we should take the studded tires off the back of one Tiger and put them
on the front of
the other one. We never went skiing again with studded tires only on the
back. As long as
the roads were plowed, the Tiger was a great ski car. The heater even
worked well
enough to keep you warm. The Tiger was never a handling problem as long
as the driver
paid attention and planned ahead. The only damage to the car during the
5 years I drove
it skiing were rock chips to the paint and glass.
1969:
I got into sailing. I bought a Sunfish, 13 foot sail boat (same
length as the
Tiger). I made a carrying rack for the Sunfish out of one inch square
steel tube. It
mounted to the Tiger hardtop like a ski rack and mounted to the rear
bumper. I used this
rig for a number of years to carry the Sunfish to local races.
December 1970:
I got married. The Tiger was our honeymoon car (ski trip).
1970s:
I drove the Tiger daily to work. Much of that time it was 6
miles and 21 stop
lights one-way. Four or five clutch jobs. The stop and go and the 2.88
gears are hard on
the clutch.
Early 1980s:
I had a Thistle sail boat for years. It is 17 foot, boat and
trailer weight about 750
pounds. I needed a new tow vehicle so I used the Tiger for several
years to tow the boat
to local races. Fortunately I did not have to launch or retrieve the
boat on the steep ramp.
1984:
I drove the Tiger as a daily driver for 16 years and 154,000
miles. It got to the
point where it was starting to smoke a little and my two sons could no
longer fit together
in the passenger seat with the one seat belt. (When your wife also
works, taking and
getting kids is shared responsibility.) The Tiger went into the garage
and I bought a
commuter car.
Summer 1991:
Finally had the time and money to rebuild the Tiger. I spent the
summer
rebuilding the engine, transmission, rear end and all suspension
components. I got it
running in early September and decided that a good break-in run would be
a trip to
Bakersfield, California for my 30th high school reunion. 850 miles the
first day. I was
reminded very quickly that the sitting position in the Tiger was
different than the other
cars I drove. The only problem on the trip down was part of the original
oil filter system
coming loose and losing a couple of quarts of oil before I figured out
exactly were the
leak was. On the trip back I developed a blister on one tire about 50
miles from home.
The tire blew while I was on a back road. I have since learned about the
failure mode of
steel belted radials that set for extended periods of time with out
moving. The trip was
1850 miles in 4 days.
1990s:
Each summer I select a project for the Tiger. With two children
in college I can
only afford one project at a time. The dash refinish project is
documented at the Tiger
Web site. Fuel tank strip and refinish and trunk repaint. A set of
Sunbeam Specialties
LAT 70s after my original steel wheels cracked around the mounting
holes. The Tiger
was never autocrossed or driven excessively hard so the wheels lasted a
long time. This
summer was rebuilding door panels.
Today:
I try to drive the Tiger to work every day during the Summer
(including today),
weather permitting (this is Oregon). I take to the Portland All British
Field Meet each
Labor Day. It still has the original paint wearing a little thin in
places. There is no rust
even though it sat outside for 15 years. It is still factory stock, all
the original stuff is
under the hood or in a box if not needed (windshield washer bottle and
original oil filter
plumbing). I use the small half quart spin on oil filters for daily
driving and put the
original back on for shows.
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| Dave Wedeking
|
| david.wedeking@merix.com 1967 Sunbeam Tiger Mk 1A |
| 503-992-4450 B382002420
|
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|