Subject: Re: [Tigers] Sunbeam Tiger Cost Question

From: Chris Thompson <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 19:47:33 -0400

Good advice overall.  Personally, I wouldn't pay too much attention to 
the big auctions - the prices only seem to be attained through the big 
auctions.

But the other advice seems good.  Personally, I would rely on Hemmings 
the most, I think.  It seems a whole  lot of e-bay auctions are 
no-sales, as apparently nobody in the world is willing to pay what the 
owner thinks it's worth, and I've never seen (noticed) a bargain.  With 
Hemmings, at least you know what the owner wants for a starting price.

I'm a little bit out of date, as I bought my Tiger about 15 years ago.  
I started with Hemmings, but then found myself in San Francisco, and 
called Norm, the guru at the time (well, he's still a guru) and he 
referred me to a car in the area that I bought within an hour of seeing 
it.  When I bought my Jaguar E-Type, I did kinda the same thing, finding 
one of the gurus in that field who referred me to an absolute steal on a 
99 pt car.  Stay on this list and keep reminding us (occasionally) that 
you're looking and want to know if anything is available, plus you'll 
also see listers occasionally put their cars up for sale.  Join STOA and 
TE/AE and do the same.  A Tiger that is known by the community, and 
referred by the community, is likely to be a safer buy than one bought 
blind.

Rust is of course something to look out for.  A good buddy of mine 
bought a Tiger many years ago, and after he dipped it, he found there 
wasn't enough of it left to restore, and had to go buy another one. You 
don't say where you are, but you'll find the most rust-free cars are on 
the left coast and the south west.

If you're patient and make the right connections, I think you can 
probably find something around $20K for a decent driver.  As is typical, 
if you buy a car for $20K, and put $10K into it, you'll probably end up 
with a $25K car, and if you buy a car for $5,000 and put $50,000 into 
it, you'll likely end up with $25K car.  Spend as much as you can afford 
up front, unless you've really got a lot of time on your hands to do 
almost all of the work yourself, and you really love doing it.  All that 
said, in my opinion (and Hemmings, too) is that the Tiger is one of the 
most undervalued cars on the market. You probably won't make a killing 
on it as an investment, but it's highly unlikely to lose value for you 
(unless you spend too much on restoration).

Welcome, and good luck to you finding the right car for you!

Chris
B382000331

On 11/24/2013 6:52 PM, [email-masked] wrote:
> http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?LOT_ID=AN1113-167986
>   
> I saw this car before it went to auction; needed paint, top redone(missing
> back glass moldings), interior work, no spare cover, 70's glue on side
> moldings,  windshield scratched and all rubbers bad.  Had screws holding ID
> plate and  the motor was frozen. This went for $28,000.00. So that is what you
> are looking  at these days. Do a E-Bay Motors search for Sunbeam, highest
> price and get  e-mail for new listings. Check Hemming's and Craig list every
> week and you may  find a nice one. I found mine in Hemming's a few years back
> and spent  $18  for it. One owner and garaged for most of it's life 0 rust.
> All the mechanicals  are done, just needs some trim work and a new top. Good
> Luck
>   
>   
> In a message dated 11/24/2013 12:55:39 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
> [email-masked] writes:
>
> Hi  Everyone,
>
> I've been becoming interested in classic cars over the last  few years, and
> I
> recently came across the Sunbeam Tiger.  Needless to  say it was love at
> first
> sight for a number of reasons.  I am just  curious about how much it may
> cost
> to realize my dream someday.  In a  perfect world, I would find a driver
> that
> would work for a number of years,  with hopes of restoring it down the line.
> What is a reasonable expectation  to pay for a Sunbeam Tiger Mark 1A in
> drivable condition?  I know  there are different levels of restoration, but
> what do you think the range  for that may be?
>
> Thank you for your help! This is a great  resource!
>
> Tucker  Brown
> _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________

[email-masked]

Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
Unsubscribe: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/tigers/[email-masked]

---

From: "Thomas Witt" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 16:42:59 -0800

If you go to Ebay, Completed Items, Cars & Truck you can see what Tigers 
were actually sold.  There are a fair number of sold cars to give you an 
idea of condition and price.  all the best in your search.

Tom ($5,100 basket case - 13 years on jackstands... that's a warning) 
_______________________________________________

[email-masked]

---

From: Tom Hall <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 01:58:28 -0800

Since STOA and our Tiger Authentication Committee (TAC) have been 
mentioned in this discussion, I thought it would be appropriate for me 
to mention our new web site: http://sunbeamtiger.orgAfter a lot of work 
by our web master Don Whitely, our new site is not only up and running, 
it has the (almost) up to date listing of the Tigers that STOA has 
Authenticated in the twenty years we have been running this program.The 
total number of chassis is between 900 and 1,000, from all over the world.

For non-members, there is a search procedure under the "TAC" tab.This 
procedure will allow you to look up any Tiger VIN and tell you if the 
chassis is in our database.It will tell you when the chassis was 
Authenticated, the Model and the original color code recorded from the 
VIN tag.

For members of STOA, the database is additionally both searchable and 
sortable by subject columns, minus any personal information.So you can 
spend some time viewing this database by several criteria.For example, 
you can find all the original black (color code 1) Tigers,or you can 
list all the Mk II's in Texas.

We hope that you will find this new feature both fascinating and 
useful.It's taken several months to get this database up and running 
properly and as a result, it's only up to date as of the first of June 
this year.I'm expecting that we will be current by the end of the year.

Also new to our website is our on-line store under "THE STORE" tab.It 
also asks you to "log-in", as the members only section does, but in this 
case the log-in sets up your account for purchase through 
PayPal.Membership NOT required to purchase the merchandise shown on this 
site.You will find clothing, Club stickers and patches, and other 
miscellaneous merchandise.  Have a look.

-- 
Tom Hall
ModTiger Engineering LLC
www.tigerengineering.net  

On 11/24/2013 3:47 PM, Chris Thompson wrote:
> owner thinks it's worth, and I've never seen (noticed) a bargain.  
> With Hemmings, at least you know what the owner wants for a starting 
> price.
>
> I'm a little bit out of date, as I bought my Tiger about 15 years 
> ago.  I started with Hemmings, but then found myself in San Francisco, 
> and called Norm, the guru at the time (well, he's still a guru) and he 
> referred me to a car in the area that I bought within an hour of 
> seeing it.  When I bought my Jaguar E-Type, I did kinda the same 
> thing, finding one of the gurus in that field who referred me to an 
> absolute steal on a 99 pt car.  Stay on this list and keep reminding 
> us (occasionally) that you're looking and want to know if anything is 
> available, plus you'll also see listers occasionally put their cars up 
> for sale.  Join STOA and TE/AE and do the same.  A Tiger that is known 
> by the community, and referred by the community, is likely to be a 
> safer buy than one bought blind.
>
> wasn't enough of it left to restore, and had to go buy another one. 
> You don't say where you are, but you'll find the most rust-free cars 
> are on the left coast and the south west.
>
> probably find something around $20K for a decent driver.  As is 
> typical, if you buy a car for $20K, and put $10K into it, you'll 
> probably end up with a $25K car, and if you buy a car for $5,000 and 
> put $50,000 into it, you'll likely end up with $25K car. Spend as much 
> as you can afford up front, unless you've really got a lot of time on 
> your hands to do almost all of the work yourself, and you really love 
> doing it.  All that said, in my opinion (and Hemmings, too) is that 
> the Tiger is one of the most undervalued cars on the market. You 
> probably won't make a killing on it as an investment, but it's highly 
> unlikely to lose value for you (unless you spend too much on 
> restoration).
>

[email-masked]