by Mike Mooney
Who was that masked man? We, Pedro Posadas (’67 Tiger MkII) and I, had just finished a thirteen-hour trip from the Big Apple in our Tigers and settled down in the Motel (great location) on 16th in Indianapolis. Hell, I didn’t even see any Indians there.
I parked my tacky Tiger in front of Room 141 with “The Beautiful One” next to it. I think that the only reason he brought me along was to make him look good. All week long it seemed to stick its tongue out at mine because it was so pretty. God, I can’t stand it. I mean… the mechanicals in my ’65 were more than perfect and ran like a well-timed Swiss watch.
But Pedro’s had to have a triple by-pass somewhere near Akron, OH, in one of those out-of-the-way gaseous stations. Yeah! The fuel pump took a trip south, but luckily, we had two (2) spare ones in my boot.
You know–when you travel with a Tiger, you have to keep just about a spare car behind for repairs.
Picture this scene. Pedro had never known another Tiger owner until I popped in one day as he parked his “cat” in front of an auto parts store and I yelled at him to join us. Now he thinks that Tiger people are some of the greatest folks in the hemisphere.
As the Alpines/Tigers started to drift in, we started to appreciate all of the reasons we joined TE/AE. Indy started to really look good.
With nary an eyewink, up pops this cat in his pajamas. Let me reiterate. This was a real tall cat in his a11-together. He popped in here and popped out there and gave everybody a fun time. I even got a picture with him at the Speedway!
We perused our way through the swap meet and parts swap. All of those things that we “have to get” for our particular ‘Beam over the past few months were there for sale. No excuse now, guys ‘n gals. We gotta keep those Rooters rollin’.
Thursday passed without a hitch with this “Tiger” fellow moving about without anyone taking credit. Friday was great with the Concours and that great drive about at the Speedway. Lordy! Some of us even reached into the triple numbers on the of speedo at the brickyard!
If there was ever a true “Tiger Rush” this was it. I mean, here we were parked in front of these racing “pits” with all of the famed names with our particular prize-winners) and enjoying more than we should have for only one weekend. If I had my druthers, I wouldn’t want to have been any place else at that time.
Saturday, I had to keep the ball rolling (literally) with the golf tournament preliminaries, and t was unable to get to go on some of the tours that I signed up for …. Such is the price of glory, I guess.
Hitting the Tiger balls around the course was fun but tedious; and we all had a great time trying to make par. That night we all found out what the TE/AE fraternity was all about. The dinner, etc. was great and kept everyone on the edge of their particular seats wondering who was going to win what.
Even though we had experienced great cloudiness weather for the first three days of the United, Sunday had a mind of its own. As we headed out of the Speedway parking lot, the clouds started to gather and with the Chrysler parking lot in view, so did the rain show.
Load up the car (no rain tires aboard) and put up the ragtop for the trip home via Louisville, KY.
Pedro had some friends (and some great college memories) in that town, and two days later we headed North reluctantly. During the first two hours of our trip, we felt the scourge of the KY Troopers. Yucchhh!!!
No problem–homeward bound and 14 hours traveling. While you’re reading this, I’ll be enjoying a month in Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Italy) and returning for a winter in the Bahamas with the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA).
My thanks to all of the TE/AE members who helped to make the United X a great success and especially to Barry Schonberger and crew. I’11 be looking forward to the next “Bash” wherever it might happen to fall. Tigers forever!!