I think the recent discussion of the Black Tiger revealed several
topics and shown several more that are pertinent to the Marque. This
restoration didn't occur in a vacuum. Someone "found" a reasonably
rare example of the Marque (Color code #1) and invested a
considerable sum in "saving" this particular rusty structure. Noting
that it was accomplished by a group that is not commonly associated
with Tigers tells you quite a bit. It means that other investors and
enthusiasts are becoming more aware of the Tiger. This was not an
example of a long term owner "saving" his pride and joy. If it was,
it would be for their future enjoyment and not put up for sale
immediately after completion. This clearly appears to be an
investment for profit
The pictures of the external bodywork and floors were through, but
the series of pictures certainly lacked any knowledge or information
about the structural integrity of the finished chassis. It is not
obvious that the pieces were taken from an Alpine donor. They looked
more like pieces created by Rob Martel, our favorite Canadian
replacement panel creator. Since the floors and lower fender
structures were obviously in need of replacement, one has to wonder
about the X frame, the front and rear sub frames, the exhaust pass
thru's etc. Not one picture about these critical structures, or any
of the area's that I commonly rant about, the front leaf spring
mounts, Panhard bar mount, and the tube nuts in the front frame
horns. I'm assuming these omissions are due to the lack of
familiarity by the shop that did the photographs of the
reconstruction. But what value would one put on a chassis that
clearly showed severe rust and degradation at the start of the
restoration process, but no visual indication that these very
critical structural area's also received appropriate attention. I
think the lack of the soft top, the mismatched gages and the other
irregularities again show a restoration shop that is not that
familiar with the Tiger and what the collective owners expect out of
a restoration.
Unfortunately, E-Bay continues to prove that there are buyers out
there with money but very limited knowledge, that are willing and
able to pay premium prices for pretty-ed up pieces that may or may
not have what most of us understand as an appropriate price to value
relationship or even Alger imposters .
All that said, I am beginning to believe that the obscurity that we
have been blessed or cursed with, depending on your personal
perspective, for many many years, is fast coming to an end. We have
a National magazine that has just restored a Tiger and is about to
begin a series of stories and showings on this process. We have the
release next month of the new "Get Smart" movie, featuring a vehicle
that closely approximates and for all practical purposes appears to
be a Tiger. We have the recent history of the Resto-Mod "Tiger",
created by Dale Akuszewski for Scott Lempert, selling at national
auction for over $100k. The Sunbeam Tiger Owners Association (STOA)
has managed to authenticate over 10% of the total original Tiger
production run in our 15 year effort, thus giving knowledgeable
collectors a reasonable level of confidence in their individual Tiger
investments.
All of these indicators tell me that Ian's very special piece of
automotive history is about to become a much more significant player
in the collector world. Move over Shelby, the Tiger is on the move, again.
Tom Hall
ModTiger Engineering LLC
www.tigerengineering.net
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