This article is reproduced from STOC club magazine Cats Whiskers No 68.

The first ‘Tiger Authentication’ certificates to be issued in Europe were signed off during the Tiger at Forty celebrations. This was possible because STOC was fortunate to count among our international members and guests three gentlemen who are authorised ‘TAC Inspectors’.

The ‘TAC’ team was comprised of Norman Miller - Book of Norman fame and registrar of The International Registry of Sunbeam Tigers; Peter Thomson from Sydney Australia –one of the main men behind the New South Wales Sunbeam Owners' Club and a chap who has been around Tigers for over 35 years; and Ken Jacobs, a fellow Sydney Tiger enthusiasts who received his TAC credentials in March of 2000.

TAC was originated by and is sponsored by the Sunbeam Tigers Owners Association (STOA) in California but for reasons of policy and practicality the TAC inspection programme is not formally available to the European Tiger community and thus is not a service STOC offers to members. Nevertheless, during an evening of considerable wine tasting at the Arrow Mill and conversation that went on into the small hours, several members were able to persuade Norman, Peter and Ken to inspect their Tigers.

This article is not the place to go into the details of the US TAC programme but its aims can be briefly summarised as follows: TAC inspects for Authenticity - a Tiger unibody as produced on the Jensen assembly line.
TAC does not inspect for Originality: In other words: wing flares, bonnet scoops, highly modified engines, custom interiors, etc. have no bearing on the TAC procedure. Several highly modified Tigers have been awarded TAC certificates. Many Tigers have also been repaired using surplus Alpine body parts (such as wings, front and/or rear clips, floor panels etc.) or by using replacement body parts made by proprietary manufacturers. None of these repairs need have any bearing on authenticity as long as original manufactures “telltales” are unaffected and can still be identified.