The Timeless Tiger

by Tyler and Andy Osborn

The term “Holy Grail” is surely subjective depending on what revs your engine. If you happen to be an aficionado of the classic and storied Sunbeam Tiger like I am, then we might agree this car hits the redline.

It is 1967 in Portland Oregon, and John is looking for a car that’s more fun than practical. Enter the Sunbeam Tiger. He found two in town, at different dealers. He looked both over carefully, made his decision, and signed the deal on the Forest Green one with white and black stripes, LAT 70 alloy wheels, LAT 5 Traction Master bars, concave lens Cibie headlights, and a Motorola radio. The dealer prepped it for delivery. Less than 24 hours later, on a Wednesday morning, John fills the tiny trunk with supplies necessary for a long vacation, helps his wife into the passenger seat, points it south and heads for Acapulco Mexico! Thus begins the story of this rare find Tiger.

After the trip, John is drafted and sent off to Vietnam. The car is carefully tucked away. You may be thinking you know what the next line in this story is, with so many of our brave soldiers not making it home, but fortunately that is not how this story goes. John comes home after serving his country proudly for over a year, pulls the car from its nest and takes to the road. Soon after, at a trip to the grocery store, he walks out only to see an elderly lady backing into the passenger side of his pride and joy. Not good. Fortunately, the damage was minor and quickly repaired.

As life goes sometimes, a year or so later John was not feeling quite right and went in for a checkup. It was then that he was diagnosed with cancer. Being a dutiful husband, he concluded that his wife may need a house more than a Tiger if things were to not end well. He sold the car and bought the house. This was 1970.

The second owner, also in the Portland area, enjoyed the car until 1973 when the clutch finally went out at 45,000 miles. He started to pull the transmission, but gave up and moved on to other activities.

Jump ahead 48 years to 2021. I am looking for Sunbeam GT Coupe parts and met up with a fellow who had just what I needed. In our discussion he mentioned he had a very rare 1965 Alpine 260 he purchased when stationed in Germany. It was a very cool car, but it was not for sale. When chatting with him a year or so later, he said he still was too attached to his Alpine, but maybe his brother would sell his Tiger. I was intrigued to say the least. Unnoticed by me and buried only about 30 feet away from where I stood was the silhouette of a familiar shape. It was tucked under a storage shelf, behind a utility trailer and under a lot of blankets. After peeling away the layers, that classic Forest Green color, the white stripes, one-year side trim and eggcrate grille of a MK2 Tiger revealed themselves. Tucked in the passenger window were dozens of insurance cards. One for every year it had been in storage. On the rear package shelf was a fully stuffed, olive drab duffel bag. Time capsule, for sure.

It took another year or so to close the deal, but in 2023 this Holy Grail Tiger was being loaded onto a trailer making its way to a new life in Washington State.

Since that day, every mechanical system in the car has been refurbished, but nothing has been cosmetically restored. The car is original right down to the spark plug wires, water pump, clutch, and exhaust system. We know the car has not been altered because we were fortunate enough to track down John who is now in his 80s and still living in Portland. His wife brought him to our shop to be reunited with his old car. He told us, of all the classic and sports cars he owned over his life, this one was his favorite.

At his visit, John brought photos of the car when new and repair receipts from his Mexico trip when the Lucas fuel pump died. He then looked under the car, he said “Yep, those are the glass pack mufflers I had installed because the car was just a bit too quiet.”

The car is now with its new owner and as of this writing has several hundred more miles on the clock. It will be shown next season in the Preservation Class at some local concours, going on tours and enjoyed at local events. Wearing its history, all dings, scratches, and glass-pack mufflers will be in place. We may even put the original spark plugs back in.

When we were cleaning out the car, a particularly pleasant smell seemed to be emanating from the console storage compartment. Pulling out the various bits of the usual stuff, fuses, Kleenex packages, and more insurance cards, the smell became stronger. Buried deep back in the rear of the compartment, to our surprise, was a bar of Irish Spring soap still in the box. A clever air freshener that was fulfilling its purpose after 50 years! Makes me wonder what kind of chemical concoction is in there. None of the change that was in the ashtray is more recent than 1973. We left the coins and the soap where they were. Some things just do not need to be messed with.

Rule Garage is a full-service specialty vehicle restoration and repair shop in Washington State. Founded in 2018 by the father and son team of Andy and Tyler Osborn. We build and maintain classic and specialty vehicles for owners who love to drive! We have some incredible projects in the pipeline.

Check in with us on Facebook or Instagram @rulegarage, or on our website rulegarage.com.