[Tigers] Urban legend
Ken
ktisdale at ix.netcom.com
Tue Mar 10 14:37:07 MDT 2020
Very Lotus like!
Ken
On 3/8/2020 1:36 PM, Jay Laifman via Tigers wrote:
> Wow. Thanks Buck. I've never heard of the Apex (at least that I can
> remember). Just did a search and came up with these great pictures
> and info. Love the hardtop!
>
> http://tardis.dl.ac.uk/Mercia/killeen_book/node13.html
> <http://tardis.dl.ac.uk/Mercia/killeen_book/node13.html>
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 8, 2020 at 11:30 AM Buck Trippel via Tigers
> <tigers at autox.team.net <mailto:tigers at autox.team.net>> wrote:
>
> The best and most authoritative answers to the why the Tiger was
> discontinued that I’ve found are in the collection of Papworth
> papers housed in the Culture Coventry Archive at the Herbert
> Museum in Coventry.
>
> Mr Papworth was a very high level “planner” for Rootes. He
> reported to a very select group, comprised mainly of family
> members who were the heart of the Rootes board. After his
> retirement he donated thousands(?) of pages of notes and memos.
> I’ve spent several days reading them and want to go back.
>
> Mr. Papworth lays out a very comprehensive Tiger story. The Tiger
> represented only 2% of Rootes’ sales and was consequentially just
> a blip on management’s attention. Tigers were barely mentioned in
> board meetings as the high production Imps and Hillmans dominated
> the discussions. The Mk1s & 1As sold well. The Mk2 that was built
> was not the Mk2 that the engineers had designed and tested (with
> upgraded 5-bolt 14” wheels to fit 4-wheel discs, the same 3-puck
> calipers used on Aston Martins and street Cobras) and the
> resulting lack of initial sales seemed to be the straw that broke
> the camel’s back. But Papworth also outlines other contributing
> issues.
>
> Rootes engineers determined that Chrysler V8s would not fit in a
> Tiger. They explored alternatives including one that would have
> been built a new “Tiger” with fiberglass body in the USA.
> Obviously none of those alternatives worked out.
>
> After Lord Rootes passed away his brother, Reggie, assumed
> control. Reggie wanted to replace the Alpine/Tiger with a smaller
> sportscar that was similar to a Spitfire. That car, “Apex”, had
> been designed and was very close to production when a
> sub-contractor tripled the initial cost estimate for its
> fiberglass body. That ended Rootes’ attempt at a replacement
> sportscar.
>
> The US government had long imposed standards for the cars it
> purchased for government use – the GSA standards. These existing
> GSA standards were eventually adopted for all cars sold in the US.
> The Alpine/Tiger platform would have needed upgrades to comply.
> Tooling for these would have been costly on a per unit basis due
> to low production volume.
>
> The space used at Pressed Steel to build the Alpines and Tigers
> was needed by another Rootes vehicle which was high production and
> therefore a higher priority. Assuming Rootes would accept the cost
> of upgrades to comply with GSA standards, where could the
> Alpine/Tiger be built? Rootes looked at alternatives including
> moving the entire Alpine/Tiger production from Pressed Steel to
> Jensen. At one point Rootes even offered to purchase Jensen.
> Jensen refused. The move never happened. Rootes never found an
> alternate contractor to build the cars.
>
> Papworth cites all of these factors in the decision to end Tiger
> production.
>
> Buck Trippel
>
> *From:* Tigers <tigers-bounces at autox.team.net
> <mailto:tigers-bounces at autox.team.net>> *On Behalf Of *Ross Hulse
> via Tigers
> *Sent:* Sunday, March 8, 2020 1:57 AM
> *To:* Curt Bowland <cbowland at msn.com <mailto:cbowland at msn.com>>
> *Cc:* tigers <tigers at autox.team.net <mailto:tigers at autox.team.net>>
> *Subject:* Re: [Tigers] Urban legend
>
> The demise of the Sunbeam Tiger was that they did not sell very
> well. The USA import regs for cars would require expensive
> modifications to the car. So in February 1967 the decision was
> made to finish the cars that were in the line and send them to
> Canada. Everything about not fitting a Chrysler engine is just a
> rumor.
>
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--
Ken Tisdale
303-807-5488
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