?Thanks to all,
A learning experience as usual.
I am coming to realize that the more unclear an issue is...the more
discussion it generates.
In absorbing the responses from all I think I will forego the hardtop
project. My reasons...
I was originally under the impression the hardtops were pretty much standard
equipment or that most were ordered with one. As it turns out, it seems very
few were ordered that way from the factory. Add to that the lack of any
evidence that says my Tiger ever had a hardtop. So I guess I'll just play
the odds.
By the way, if anybody has a very early Tiger Mk1 (first couple hundred)
and/or
has photos I would really appreciate taking a look, especially interior
and engine shots. Here are a few photos of mine from a few years back when
it was owned by Dan Fitzgerald.
http://www.britishv8.org/Other/DanFitzgerald.htm
Thanks,
Jim Lindner
B9470033
----- Original Message -----
From: "rande" <rande@thecia.net>
To: <tigers@autox.team.net>
Cc: <jliny5@cox.net>
Sent: Saturday, January 01, 2011 6:01 PM
Subject: re: hardtops
>
> There is some debate whether Rootes actually shipped some Tigers that were
> not
> Gran Turismo models with matching hardtops if they were ordered with the
> car.
>
>
> Norm Miller and I have copies of the same b&w photograph from Smart
> Motors,
> Madison, WI showing a truckload of cars being unloaded, circa 1966 (i.e.
> Tiger
> IA's). I maintain that the photo is clear enough that one can find at
> least
> one Tiger with a matching hardtop, and this is the period after Rootes
> melded
> the two models into one with SOME of the GT features on all Tigers. Norm
> maintains
> that Tiger's assembled after the handful available either as Sports Tourer
> or
> Gran Turismo were not available with matching hardtops.
>
> First, for folks who haven't seen a true Gran Turismo model(I'm using
> Rootes
> spelling from the original brochures that featured both the Sports Tourer
> and
> the Gran Turismo) what separates the GT is the area behind the front seats
> that's
> upholstered differently and is missing the front panels of the Sport
> Tourer
> folding top stowage area. When Rootes chose to limit the models of the
> Tiger,
> the full carpeting, wood instrument panel, and wood steering wheel of the
> GT
> was installed while keeping the Sport Tourer folding top and rear
> upholstery
> for the Mark I. For the IA, they added the black padded bolster at
> shoulder
> height on the doors from the GT.
>
> I think all of the brochures from Mark I through the Mark II offered
> matching
> hardtops from the factory when ordered at the same time as the car. What's
> a
> little confusing to some owners is that it was common to piggyback black
> hardtops
> installed on Tigers as a convenient shipping method to parts departments
> in
> the States, according to Wally Swift.
>
> A couple of writers during the period of sales wrote that they specified
> hardtops
> for their cars, and they had to be painted to match(and it was a poor
> match,
> they say).
>
> So, to answer question #1, yes, a handful were available in two models, up
> to
> about the 200th VIN, and by one estimate, the number of Gran Turismo's
> built
> was around 15.
>
> Skipping to question #3, finding a hardtop from an Alpine Series III or
> later
> will probably work. I am told that somewhere in production, the latching
> design
> was changed, and I don't know where the cutoff point for that was. A quick
> check
> of the parts catalogue could not find that change.
>
> Rande Bellman
> B382000048LRXE
> (originally an Embassy Black car with an Embassy Black hardtop, so that
> tells
> you nothing).
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