44 years old with one Tiger I acquired around '85 or '86.
Started Grad School UCLA, 1983. Fellow student in the program was
building a '66 Mustang convertible, I had a '79 BMW 320i. Great car,
albeit underpowered. Did a European delivery on the Bimmer
.. awesome 4 weeks even if I never could get the car over about 108
or 109. Was at UCLA as an undergrad at the time (went on to grad
school there) and drove home Sunset Blvd. from Westwood to PCH every
day for over 8 years ... had it pretty wired, 4 wheel drifts and knew
where to slow down for the radar cops.
I digress ... I spent a non-trivial amount of time under my buddys
Mustang and at some point he informed me what I really needed was a
Tiger. Studied up a bit but was a little hesitant to bag the BMW. It
was really pissing me off though, that the rabbit GTI, when it
came out, could out run me off the line.
Oh, I forgot, had experience with cubic inches. On my 16th birthday I
slid behind the wheel of the former family car 65 Buick Riviera
Gran Sport. 425 ci, factory dual 4 BBL, rated as 360 hp and 465 lb-ft
torque. Its ability to accelerate far exceeded its ability to turn or
stop. Best donuts-in-the-rain car ever built. Also not passed too
often on that stretch from Bishop to Mammoth Lakes. Who cares about
10 mpg city and 14 highway (down hill)?
On PCH at Temescal Canyon Blvd where it goes from 3 to 2 lanes Im in
the middle lane. On my left theres a 1980-ish body style Corvette,
on my right theres a Fiero GT. Behind the Fiero sits a Tiger with
some goofy looking guy and a gorgeous passenger. It was obvious that
the vette & the Fiero were about to race. When the light turned
green, I just sat there. The Tiger got past me and left the other two
as if they were standing still, much like I was. That was IT.
Starting searching for a Tiger in earnest.
Within months of acquiring it, I temporarily relocated to Berkeley for
a Grad School project. It was a record rain year. At one point 17
inches in less than a 3 week period. I took over a month for my
carpets to really dry out. Did a ski trip to Tahoe. Generator was
eating brushes. Idiot light goes on on the way up; fortunately I make
to the house a bunch of leased for the winter. Take out the generator
with the crescent wrench I kept in the glove box. Open it up with my
Swiss Army Knife (MacGyver fan) and the brushes are barely there. Ski
the next day and on the way back to the cabin hitch a ride to the
local part place and fine a pair of brushes that are bigger that what
Ive got. Fortunately, one of the ladies on the trip had an emery
board that I used to sculpt a pair of brushes to make the generator
functional. Drove home uneventfully.
Was having typical British car problems on and off and beginning to
lament giving up my triumph of Teutonic engineering when I ended up
next to my old nemesis at a traffic light VW Rabbit GTI. Let him
get about halfway across the intersection and then left him behind
like his motor fell out of his car. Generator problems? What
generator problems?
Anyway, the car has been in slightly more than a fender bender,
prompting a nice coat of Grabber Blue (think 70-ish Boss 302 blue)
which is its 3rd color and a fairly built 302, Lakewood scatter
shield, Toms Differentials rebuilt top loader and rear end (Tom used
to build Shirley Muldowneys drive train), drove it for a while until
I quit work in 95 with a 2 & 4 year old to go back to Med
School. Been in practice for about 1 1/2 years now. They are now 13 &
15 (both girls) and the Tiger doesnt need much to be on the road
again. My brother-in-law has offered my 15 year old an original 62
Fairlane. She loves helping me when I work on the daily drivers and
wants to restore an old car for when she starts driving. Guess the
Tiger will have to wait a little longer.
Pardon me for rambling.
Now in the Sacramento area. Hopefully not to be stolen.
Derrick
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