Hello Mike!
Hows Australia? Any new Tiger stuff happening? I have a bit of an issue... I was ordering those brake parts from Sunbeam Specialties the other day when Kelly noticed (in photos) that my "Tiger" has a SERIES lV badge under the Tiger badge on both fenders! She said that the SERIES lV badge was a Alpine designation, not a Tiger designation. she also noted that the side body chrome trim is missing. The I.D. plate shows that this is a first year (1964 production date Tiger) that came with the 260.
A little history, the car was owned by very close family friends for some 50 years. My buddy had a fender bender on the drivers side in 1979. The story as I recall it, a doner "Tiger' was found and body panels replaced. The doner Tiger had the 289 so, the 260 and 4 speed was swapped out for the 289 and an automatic transmission at this time, I still own the 260 drivetrain. The curved lower front door corner remains on my car however, the bonnet corner is the later "squared off" version. Years later, the brother of the original owner did some minor rust repair. I'm uncertain if body panels may have been replaced.
So, I never recall the Tiger being spoken of as originally an Alpine. The previous owners were brilliant car guys but I'm not certain they would have known the correct badging for a Tiger vs an Alpine, internet wasn't around in the 70's. If they would have known, they would have removed the Alpine badges if they were trying to produce a Tiger clone. There is also a V8 badge on the rear.
Obviously, I'm looking for your opinion on this matter. Were the SERIES lV badges exclusive to the Alpine? The chrome strip could have been too mangled to salvage and thusly, it was removed. Im going to try and attach a photo file to this. You'll see all the badging, the I.D. tag, bonnet and door edges, etc.
Are there any other tell-tale signs of a production Tiger vs the Alpine? I have heard something about the holes cut in the frame at the factory for the exhaust.
Any help here would be greatly appreciated Mike. Feel free to send this to the group.
I owe you a tall libation of your choice!
If you can't open these pics, might I be able to forward them to you in another way? Text or other email address?