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Posted

I know I'm late to the dance, but Ken Miles worked with Shelby to try and develop the "Tiger" into a racer but could not get it to handle at all. The Tiger was yellow, and Ken hated it. Just some info, if you're still working on the Tiger. 

Posted
1 hour ago, lucky 130 said:

I know I'm late to the dance, but Ken Miles worked with Shelby to try and develop the "Tiger" into a racer but could not get it to handle at all. The Tiger was yellow, and Ken hated it. Just some info, if you're still working on the Tiger. 

Michael, never too late to join the party. I read some stories about the 2 Tiger prototypes but did not do a detailed search. Still working on the Tiger but with the big fender mods I did it will fall under a late sixties fictional club racer. The Cobra will be a bit more rooted in reality starting life as csx 2026 but as a privateer car later in it's racing carreer.

Posted

Beautiful work Pierre.  These two are going to turn into real beauties. I can attest to the handling on the Tiger. Most of the weight was at the front and they spun tires way too easily. And the brakes faded quickly...even in downtown traffic. 

Posted
18 hours ago, Rich Chernosky said:

Beautiful work Pierre.  These two are going to turn into real beauties. I can attest to the handling on the Tiger. Most of the weight was at the front and they spun tires way too easily. And the brakes faded quickly...even in downtown traffic. 

Then I must add brake cooling ducts to my Tiger!

Posted

So Rich is requesting that I add brake cooling ducts to the Tiger. What do I do? I make ducts for...the Cobra. Don't worry Rich, the Tiger will have them too!

First time I try this. Hollowed out Evergreen 4 mm tube for the inlet and the flex duct cobbled from sprue, thin wire wrapped around and covered up with plumber's tape. Added retainer straps made from 0.25 mm thin strips.

 

Tiger Cobra wip21.jpg

Tiger Cobra wip22.jpg

Tiger Cobra wip23.jpg

Tiger Cobra wip24.jpg

  • Like 2
Posted

Both car's chassis are done and painted. The last piece was cooling up exhaust pipes as the ones supplied in the kits were not useable. 

Now moving on to body painting.

 

Tiger Cobra wip26.jpg

Tiger Cobra wip27.jpg

  • Like 1
Posted

Nice work Pierre. I have one of the Sunny Cobras out to get worked on. And a Tiger kit stashed away waiting.

I grew up around and involved in SCCA road racing in SoCal, where Shelby had his business. I dtsarted working Tech Inspection in 1963. My dad got a ride around Riverside in 1962 in CSX 2001 when it was painted metallic yellow. In 1968 I was on the crew of a Tiger owned by Ron Dykes and garaged and prepped at my house. Originally built for racing by  Doane Spencer at Hollywood Sports Cars. Today it's one of the most celebrated of all Tigers. Picture below. Not my picture. My dad was Crew Chief. One of the other crew members was Jerry Titus' son Rick. We had some wins with it, even though at the start of the year SCCA changed some of the details of the allowed specs for Tigers from how Shelby Homologated it. 260 engine instead of 289. Small port heads. 2bbl carb. Narrower 13" diameter wheels with no knockoffs. So we had to take off the Halibrand kidney beans that were on it and switched to Chassis Engineering modular wheels (Rights to those were later bought by Cragar and they became Cragar Super Trick brand wheels which were really popular on AA/FDs and Funny Cars.) Yes the car was nose heavy and pushed pretty bad. Ron Dykes drove it well. But when he sold it to Whit Collins, Whit jumped out in the lead at Riverside and was running away from the pack, but couldn't handle the push like Ron and drove it straight on into the outside wall at Turn 6. But in its day before SCCA downgraded them, it had smoked more than its share of Corvettes and even some Cobras. No other Production car ever got downgraded like that by SCCA. But in my 1972 Edition of the PCS (Production Car Specifications rule book supposedly based on Homologation for each car), it refers to Rootes as Manufacturer (correct) and the car is listed as "Sunbeam Tiger 260" It had originally been listed as "Shelby Tiger" with a K Code 289, same as GT350s and Series 1 Cobras and Mustangs for A/Sedan/TransAm.

 

The Tiger kit lacks a cross member under the front that I need to do some research to duplicate for my model. The windscreen may be a bit of a challenge too. And I intend to duplicate the air outlet in the front fender.

Your Tiger and Cobra are quite cool. I like them both.

 

64-Sunbeam_Tiger_0048-DV-07_MH_03.jpg

  • Like 1
Posted
1 hour ago, DustyMojave said:

Nice work Pierre. I have one of the Sunny Cobras out to get worked on. And a Tiger kit stashed away waiting.

I grew up around and involved in SCCA road racing in SoCal, where Shelby had his business. I dtsarted working Tech Inspection in 1963. My dad got a ride around Riverside in 1962 in CSX 2001 when it was painted metallic yellow. In 1968 I was on the crew of a Tiger owned by Ron Dykes and garaged and prepped at my house. Originally built for racing by  Doane Spencer at Hollywood Sports Cars. Today it's one of the most celebrated of all Tigers. Picture below. Not my picture. My dad was Crew Chief. One of the other crew members was Jerry Titus' son Rick. We had some wins with it, even though at the start of the year SCCA changed some of the details of the allowed specs for Tigers from how Shelby Homologated it. 260 engine instead of 289. Small port heads. 2bbl carb. Narrower 13" diameter wheels with no knockoffs. So we had to take off the Halibrand kidney beans that were on it and switched to Chassis Engineering modular wheels (Rights to those were later bought by Cragar and they became Cragar Super Trick brand wheels which were really popular on AA/FDs and Funny Cars.) Yes the car was nose heavy and pushed pretty bad. Ron Dykes drove it well. But when he sold it to Whit Collins, Whit jumped out in the lead at Riverside and was running away from the pack, but couldn't handle the push like Ron and drove it straight on into the outside wall at Turn 6. But in its day before SCCA downgraded them, it had smoked more than its share of Corvettes and even some Cobras. No other Production car ever got downgraded like that by SCCA. But in my 1972 Edition of the PCS (Production Car Specifications rule book supposedly based on Homologation for each car), it refers to Rootes as Manufacturer (correct) and the car is listed as "Sunbeam Tiger 260" It had originally been listed as "Shelby Tiger" with a K Code 289, same as GT350s and Series 1 Cobras and Mustangs for A/Sedan/TransAm.

 

The Tiger kit lacks a cross member under the front that I need to do some research to duplicate for my model. The windscreen may be a bit of a challenge too. And I intend to duplicate the air outlet in the front fender.

Your Tiger and Cobra are quite cool. I like them both.

 

64-Sunbeam_Tiger_0048-DV-07_MH_03.jpg

Richard, thank you for sharing this fascinating piece of history. If I understand it right you are working on a Tiger model with will be based on a specific car you were deeply involved with, how wonderful. Can't say that about mine, I just did not have good data to go by so I just made it up and went with a fictional build.

You live in a wonderful part of a country which I had a chance to see multiple times on vehicle development rides. Davis Dam, Lake Mead, Death Valley Stove Pipe and of course Las Vegas for city traffic thermal testing. I loved it all so much.

Posted

Primer sanded with 2-4-6-8k cloths and color coats brush painted with Vallejo paints. I mixed up my best guess of a period style dark red for the Cobra and British Racing Green for the Tiger. 

Color came out smooth and I will give it a day or two before brushing on the clear.

 

Tiger Cobra wip28.jpg

Tiger Cobra wip29.jpg

  • Like 2

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