Jim,
I guess my concern here has to be along the same lines as a car that has been
written off by insurance as a total loss and someone picks it up and rebuilds
it and sells it as if it has never been damaged. It seems to me that if these
cars are going to pass a TAC inspection there should be a special TAC
inspection sticker that indentifies the car has some kind of collision
history. Many states issue salvage titles to these cars and they are required
to go through an inspection process to verify its structural integrity is
still intact. I have actually seen cars and trucks in our area that have
broken in half in the middle of the road. All have had Mexican license plates.
If I am going to purchase an automobile that is represented as being as built
by the factory then I would disagree with the statement TAC implies-- it is an
authentic Tiger.
You said, "TAC looks for evidence that the body shell was originally
manufactured as a Tiger, and if some of the evidence screams Alpine, then you
look for a reason why (i.e., a clip replacement)." Let me see if I have this
right. Based on this argument, if someone like Norm Miller decided he wanted
to fool you and took an Alpine and added enough of the right parts and weld
changes to convince you the car started out as a Tiger the car could be
TACed, even though the car started out as an Alpine? Even better, as I
understand your statement in the case of the front clip rear clip argument, if
the car started out as an Alpine and had the front clip from a totaled Tiger
added then by your argument it is a Tiger because part of the car started life
as a Tiger? Now reverse the clips. The rear clip of a Tiger is added to an
Alpine. By your argument this could still be considered a Tiger and be TACed?
So now I have a Tiger with an Alpine front end and engine and it is
authenticated with a TAC sticker as being a Tiger? Seems to me if I bought one
of these cars, that what I got was a salvage car. Not a Tiger and Not an
Alpine. Keep in mind we are not speaking about a car that was completely
pulled apart and reassembled with new repair parts as in the true sense of
restoration or resurrection of a rare piece of history like a damaged racing
Cobra might go through. We are talking about a jack-leg mechanic who welded
two wrecked cars together to create what is regularly referred to as a car
with a salvage title. The question here has to do with what we call it, Alpine
or Tiger. If it is called a Tiger it will sell for twice what it will sell for
if you call it an Alpine. Sounds the same as the person who knows what he is
doing and builds a very nice Alger and sells it as a Tiger. As long as TAC has
not identified and loudly identified the car for what it is, a salvage, this
program seems to be no better than someone misrepresenting what they are
selling. Simple enough solution, issue a salvage TAC inspection sticker.
Dan Eiland
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