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<p>Very Lotus like!</p>
<p>Ken<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 3/8/2020 1:36 PM, Jay Laifman via
Tigers wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAAjp1z495wqGgv_N9iKLuiyFcCKD1RPVLceTJ5Y0rR_J4zrLZg@mail.gmail.com">
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<div dir="ltr">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!
<div><br>
</div>
<div><a
href="http://tardis.dl.ac.uk/Mercia/killeen_book/node13.html"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://tardis.dl.ac.uk/Mercia/killeen_book/node13.html</a> </div>
<div> <br>
</div>
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<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sun, Mar 8, 2020 at 11:30
AM Buck Trippel via Tigers <<a
href="mailto:tigers@autox.team.net" moz-do-not-send="true">tigers@autox.team.net</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div lang="EN-US">
<div class="gmail-m_5180423360813125264WordSection1">
<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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </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. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </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. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </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. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Papworth cites all of these factors
in the decision to end Tiger production.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Buck Trippel</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> Tigers <<a
href="mailto:tigers-bounces@autox.team.net"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">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
href="mailto:cbowland@msn.com" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">cbowland@msn.com</a>><br>
<b>Cc:</b> tigers <<a
href="mailto:tigers@autox.team.net" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">tigers@autox.team.net</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Tigers] Urban legend</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:24pt;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:24pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif">rumor. </span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
</div>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Ken Tisdale
303-807-5488</pre>
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