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<p>Thank you Buck for settling this matter. Wish that I could spend
time going through the archives!</p>
<p>Ken Tisdale<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 3/8/2020 12:30 PM, Buck Trippel via
Tigers wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Papworth cites all of these factors in the
decision to end Tiger production.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Buck Trippel<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> Tigers
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:tigers-bounces@autox.team.net"><tigers-bounces@autox.team.net></a> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Ross
Hulse via Tigers<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Sunday, March 8, 2020 1:57 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Curt Bowland <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:cbowland@msn.com"><cbowland@msn.com></a><br>
<b>Cc:</b> tigers <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:tigers@autox.team.net"><tigers@autox.team.net></a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Tigers] Urban legend<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:24.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif">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</span> <span
style="font-size:24.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif">rumor. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Ken Tisdale
303-807-5488</pre>
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