[Tigers] Original as they come

[Jeffrey Nichols]

"Question:
What has been the highest price paid for a Tiger that was not a factory one
off or car with bona fide racing history?

I think the answer will surprise many of you..".


I think the record goes to the Tiger sold last spring which went for over
$100,000.  The car was more of a resto-mod than a "original" survivor.  As far
as I know, the Sunbeam Tiger is the only marque that
the buyer market seems to value customized and modified cars over original.
The highest I ever heard of a non-modified Tiger selling for is in the $50,000
range.  Take any other collector car and modify it and you have knocked off a
significant part of the market value of the car.  You can check the auction
results and original cars bring much higher bids than modified for the most
part.   I always thought that original beats modified in the market and that
is why my car is as original as I can make it.  Although with the Tiger, that
is probably a false assumption.

If someone really wants to buy a real Tiger I wouldn't let the fact that their
are fake Tigers put you off.  You have to do your research before you buy.  I
had a friend who thought he was buying a real  Pontiac GTO until he had a
member of the local Pontiac club check the car out and it was a fake.  Of
course the seller disavowed any knowledge of converting a Pontiac LeMans into
a GTO.   It happens all the time.


                                                                             
                                                      Jeff