[Tigers] List-Ownership stories

[A. C. Tynes]

Some long-time list members may remember some of this from years ago when I
still had hopes of finding my Tiger and to those I apologize for the
repetition.

I was 21 when I bought my Tiger new on October 8, 1965, according to the note I
signed (36 payments at $102.11). That's the only document I have relating to
the car so I don't know the VIN. I traded my TR-3A on it.
     
Of course, I really wanted a Cobra after having driven one while working an
SCCA race in Lafayette, LA. Also, of course, I couldn't afford one.

The Sunbeam dealer in Baton Rouge, Louisiana was Love Motor Company, long-since
out of business. It was essentially a used car lot and this was the only Tiger
they had in stock. They had had it since early in 1965 and it had a few hundred
miles on it. I suspect their finance company was pushing them to get it off
floor plan. I knew of only one other Tiger in Baton Rouge - a BRG one with
Webers.

I was bookkeeping for a Rambler dealer at the time and had to have my mother
co-sign the note for me. About a year later, my father talked me into going to
work for him at a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership in a Baton Rouge suburb. The
deal was for no increase in salary, but I would have a new car to drive.
Initially, that was a new Plymouth Satellite hardtop. I wanted a Hemi, but had
to settle for a 383 2-barrel. I kept the Tiger despite my father telling me I
was foolish to be paying car notes when I had a new car for free. The Satellite
was nice, but the Tiger was way more fun. 

We bought lease returns from Chrysler Leasing each month to resell as used cars
at the dealership. These were very nice cars which had been used for six months
or so by the engineers at the Chrysler space facility in New Orleans, which was
a big operation at the time.

I spotted a 1966 Dodge Charger Hemi at one of the auctions. I convinced my dad
that we should buy it even though it was a model year old and we didn't sell
new Dodges. After all, it had a Hemi in it and we did sell Plymouths with
Hemis. 

I also told Dad I would sell the Tiger to my brother, if I could have the
Charger. My brother, in turn, promised to sell it back to me when he was ready
to get rid of it. All of this happened within the hour or so in between the
time I spotted the Charger and when it crossed the auction block.

The Charger was unbelievable. I could tell the right rear quarter panel had
been replaced and called the engineer who had it leased. He told me he lost it
on a wet street in New Orleans and took out a telephone pole. He also told me
he backed off when he got nervous at 135 on a highway in Texas. 

All that, and the car got almost seven miles per gallon when you were in a
hurry which, of course, I was all the time.

Everything was great until my brother decided to go to California on vacation.
I tuned the Tiger and checked it over for the trip and all looked good. The
only problem was that my brother came back driving a new Pontiac Firebird 400
convertible instead of the Tiger.

It seems that the Tiger developed clutch problems in Los Angeles and my brother
traded it in on the Firebird when he was told it would take a week or so to
change the clutch. (It was probably just a bad slave cylinder, but we'll never
know for sure.)

That's the last I heard of the car. So, if anyone knows of a light blue Tiger
from Louisiana that was at a Beverly Hills Pontiac dealer around 1968 or 1969,
please let me know. 

It was a Mark I with the metal top boot and short shifter, probably with a VIN
in the late teens.

Just as a side note, Mr. Love from the dealership called me after I had had the
Tiger for a few months and asked me to stop by and see him. It turned out he
had a 1965 GT-350 he wanted to trade me for the Tiger. The Shelby had several
thousand race and street miles on it and was rough, loud, and brutally fast.
Hearing that Detroit Locker chirp as we turned back onto Mr. Love's lot told me
I could not drive that car every day and have any hopes of keeping either my
license or my sanity. 

So there you have it. I haven't owned a Tiger in almost 50 years, but I had a
new one once and I drove Shelby's two jewels when they were just cars and not
legends.

I've owned and driven a bunch of cars in the last 50+ years and I'd like to
have a lot of them back, but the Tiger will always be "the one that got away".
Even so, I think I've been damn lucky with cars.

Thanks for listening.

A.C. Tynes
New Orleans,