B9470003

at the beach

at the beach

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I recently purchased B9470003.

Evidence suggests it is AF4, one of the earliest Tigers and this particular example one was one of two that Rootes used for the preproduction endurance testing. It was one of the very first Tigers built.

Right now the car is in Dayton awaiting restoration at Doug Jennings' shop.

It's a GT and came with a hardtop with a Webasto sunroof installed.

The chart below is from Mike Taylor's book and is a great graphic for relating the time line. Mike does a nice job of narrating the weekly Experimental Department memos relating to the use of the AF cars.

bt
at the beach
 
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Great

Love the Webasto roof. I saw Webasto website the other day they are still in business. ASC made a US version that got ended up in a lot of cars.
 
Congrats!

Hey Buck, great find! Where did it come from? Congratulations!

Kirk
 
It was in eastern Ohio.

Several months ago I went over to the UK to do some more Tiger research. Graham Vickery and I spent about a week at various archives. At some point he mentioned that there may be an AF car back in the US that needed investigation.

Once I returned home, his comments made me make some phone calls. I asked Doug Jennings, Jr. if he'd mind taking a look. He took photos and that got the ball rolling. It wasn't quite a barn find but while the owner had it for 35 years he was not a member of the Tiger club community.

Graham's been doing some great original research into these early cars and I can't wait to see it published.

bt
at the beach
 
That's the kind of story you would expect about a lost AF car- cool!
 
This 'find' in Ohio that Buck has taken on compels a few changes to our understanding of the 'AF' assignments and also prompts a modest challenge to the scribes of the 1st page of the Jensen Motors Ledgers.

Buck's AF4 has numerous hallmarks of the Tiger development programme and a few that are unique to our understanding, ranging from a door triggered courtesy cabin light to 'De-Dion' independent rear suspension.

It is remarkable that B9470003 / AF4 fetched up in Ohio, it is likely the machine came to the USA in 1965. Come what may it has a great deal to reveal!!

Graham Vickery
 
Congratulations Buck. It is great for community knowledge that the prototypes end up in the hands of caring experts. The chart is fascinating - does anyone know which car went to Ford to test fit an automatic and when?

Bill
 
Wow, sounds like anoter great piece of history has unearthed. Certainly worth an article in the next Tiger Tales and Cats whiskers :)
 
Articles

bernd_st said:
Wow, sounds like anoter great piece of history has unearthed. Certainly worth an article in the next Tiger Tales and Cats whiskers :)
Click to expand...

I second that motion. I think it would make a wonderful multi-part article. Could be broken down into sections, such as the history of the car; locating and obtaining the car; and the restoration of the car.

Thanks go out to Buck and Graham and all the other folks retrieving the history of our favorite cars!
 
GREAT !!

at the beach said:
It was in eastern Ohio.

Several months ago I went over to the UK to do some more Tiger research. Graham Vickery and I spent about a week at various archives. At some point he mentioned that there may be an AF car back in the US that needed investigation.

Once I returned home, his comments made me make some phone calls. I asked Doug Jennings, Jr. if he'd mind taking a look. He took photos and that got the ball rolling. It wasn't quite a barn find but while the owner had it for 35 years he was not a member of the Tiger club community.

Graham's been doing some great original research into these early cars and I can't wait to see it published.

bt
at the beach
Click to expand...

Most definitely worth doing well . . . .and you've picked good people to do it.
 
HRS121E said:
This 'find' in Ohio that Buck has taken on compels a few changes to our understanding of the 'AF' assignments and also prompts a modest challenge to the scribes of the 1st page of the Jensen Motors Ledgers.

Buck's AF4 has numerous hallmarks of the Tiger development programme and a few that are unique to our understanding, ranging from a door triggered courtesy cabin light to 'De-Dion' independent rear suspension.

It is remarkable that B9470003 / AF4 fetched up in Ohio, it is likely the machine came to the USA in 1965. Come what may it has a great deal to reveal!!

Graham Vickery
Click to expand...

The argument for this car being AF4 looks pretty solid...it's VIN # is neatly sandwiched between AF3 and AF5; although not positive proof, combine that with Mike Taylor's indication that AF4 had the experimental De-Dion independent rear suspension, it makes a good case for this car!

Buck, does the car have any of the other developmental pieces indicated by Taylor? Dunlop inboard 10-3/4" disc brakes?
 
does the car have any of the other developmental pieces indicated by Taylor? Dunlop inboard 10-3/4" disc brakes?
Click to expand...

It has bracketry that could be used to attach the Salisbury 4HU diff that Taylor mentions.

It also has the panels that Jensen? reshaped to allow the 10-3/4" inboard brakes room to fit.

bt
at the beach
 
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03

buck,
the wife and I had a good look at it today. it looks to be a pretty decent car especially being a GT. I'm going to enjoy watching the progression of this car.
 
Cool mods .......

at the beach said:
It still has all the bracketry to attach the Salisbury 4HU diff that Taylor mentions.

It also has the panels that Jensen reshaped to allow the 10-3/4" inboard brakes room to fit.

bt
at the beach
Click to expand...

Anyone notice the nicely styled in "Air-dam" ? , NICE !

Bosspwrd -
 
notice the nicely styled in "Air-dam" ? , NICE !
Click to expand...

Not any longer.

Mr. Jennings decided to enlarge his trash pile with a scoop, a spoiler and the air-dam.

bt
at the beach
 
03

buck,
what was the previous owners reason for the scoop, air dam and spoiler? have you heard what he was trying to create? I remember wally swift talking about this car many years ago.
 
The car had a mechanical problem in the mid seventies and was inoperative. He owned it for 35 years and was slowly getting it back to roadworthy condition. I did not discuss his motivation. He was doing his own thing, which I can relate to.

After all, the contract for the LAT options was finalized between Rootes and Shelby American long before the first production Tiger rolled off the Jensen line. Rootes meant for the Tigers to be personalized or customized.

I plan to restore it to a point in time during its AF life. I'm not sure when. First we have to nail down that it's AF4 which is what most of the evidence I've seen suggests. (In my mind there's a very slight possibility it might be AF5.)

AF4 served in various configurations. In the beginning it was equipped with a 260 and a T-10 with 3.07s. That's the configuration used for the 15,000 mile endurance testing. Later it was used to evaluate what would become the MKII, equipped with a 289. It also used 14" wheels, 2.88s and I believe rear disc brakes. Then in January, 1965 it was the Tiger used to test the De Dion rear suspension, an effort Mike Taylor described as "possibly the most significant modification of the entire Tiger program".

We have a lot of research and work to do on it before we have to cross those bridges.

bt
 
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Mr. Jennings decided correctly. Wonder if the Webasto roof was even existing in the early days of the car. Like the inboard brake panels. Means another strong evidence.

Would bring the car back to initial condition, i.e. 260, T10, 3,07 ,13" wheels but just my opinion :)
 
T-10

Buck

Does the car still have the original T-10. If so, I think you might want to consider retaining it...not many of those still around. Just my .02.
 
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