Supercharged Tiger

[Tomaselli]

Picture taken 1989.



Now that looks like one he'll of a modification, a charger peaking through the bonnet.

Anybody know any history on thr car/owner. I wonder if that's where BigBob got his inspiration from

[Tomaselli]

Was catching up with Brian Postle the other day and he was telling me that the owner still has this car. GWY ***C is owned by George Hornsby and bought the car in 1968. How fab is that. With an engineering background he has modified his personal Tiger over the many years, with the latest being a 5 speed box. So he must still be using it!! Mods include, supercharger, rear disc brakes and coil over springs on the rear.

Drag raced the car in the 70's and toured the continent (Europe) and has so far covered 200k miles in the Tiger - how cool!!

Some more photos below, and you'll see that the heater box has been removed , with square stainless steel headers coming up over the wheel arch to drop down into the side pipes, fitted where the outer sills once were. Bearing in mind he has done nearly 200k Brian believes its still on the original crank which has only ever had a polish, engine is a 260. He also never uses head gaskets, instead running with thin copper wire around water ways and cylinders. Have I said that is so cool??

We need to see this Tiger for the Harrogate National meet.

[Tom_HRO260]

Strewth! - as some from down south may be inclined to exclaim... Bonkers even!
Looks like a little 4-71 huffer atop - these were popular on straight six engines here back in the '80's ( see here for an example http://s57.photobucket.com/user/whypsi/ ... 1.jpg.html) - with 6-71's generally used on V8's. The 6-71 was a longer unit and a common carb set up was to have a couple of 660 Holley carbs mounted east west, though there were plenty of variations. The GM style blower was all the go before more compact blowers and turbos took hold, but for mine, nothing quite makes more of a statement than one of these poking out through the bonnet - and especially out of a Tiger!

You'd have to have a long night available to wax lyrical over this car. I just had to Google square tube headers - I've seen them on a couple of motorbikes but never on a car. They're a work of art and I'd love to hear how they perform.

I do like a few of the period styling cues as well. The dash mounter mirror is pretty cool, I'm guessing with all of that kit sticking up in front of you, having the mirror mounted in its conventional spot would close down forward vision even more. Interested in the mounting/support posts along the base of the screen on the inside as well. And I think those flutes behind the front wheel arches in photo 2 actually work well, although the overall side view in same view is a bit banana'd to my eye - reverse sill flex perhaps?! And speaking of the sills - do those pipes have a diverter for a bit of added "loud button" effect? Nice.

It's a great post Tomaselli - thanks for hunting down and posting. And kudos to Mt Hornsby for going where few Tiger owners fear to tread! (Can't you just hear all the nose pickers screaming - "There's no JAL or VIN tag!!! - It can't be a Tiger...."

Cheers, Tom

[Tomaselli]

Thanks Tom for the reply, but fellow STOC lifetime member Brian Postle was good enough to provide scanned digital copies of the original film pics.

Mr Hornsby still owns this Tiger, hopefully we might just see it again in the summer - *fingers crossed*

I liked your pic of a charger, it would work with RHD

[Brad1380]

[quote="Tom_HRO260" I just had to Google square tube headers - I've seen them on a couple of motorbikes but never on a car. They're a work of art and I'd love to hear how they perform.

Cheers, Tom[/quote]

Well weird, but the more you read about them the more interesting it gets....

[Tomaselli]

Must admit Brad, have never come across square exhaust pipes - you do learn something new every day

[Brad1380]

They may work but to my eye they look strange & i'm not sure i like them.

[V Mad]

The rectangular headers remind me of the waveguides I used to work on in my days as an engineer. We used to wind them into coils for radar applications.