Originality: hubcaps

Hi guys:

If I interpreted TBON correctly, the MKIa trim rings were straight slotted whereas the crisscross pattern was used on earlier versions. At least that’s what I used on mine.

The tire rims are painted in a unique version of white– Old English White???– and the trim rings are held in place by the hub caps.

Allan, et al.

According to TBON, pg. 158, "The trim rings used for the Tiger were unique to the V8 equipped model, for all but a very few late B3920xxxxx vehicles. From this point on, the crisscross-cross pattern was dropped and all cars used the same slotted ring as the Alpine."

I guess you’d have to query Norm directly for a more precise estimate of vehicle VIN when the change-over occurred.

My Tiger is rather late in the MKIa run but since it did not come with the original wheels, I have no idea if it was sold with crisscross or slotted rings. As mentioned earlier, I opted for slotted when I bought replacements.

I saw an episode of get smart the other day.. he pulls up to his house in a MKI tiger, cross hatch wheel trims.. then later int he scene they show an aerial shot of the car as he checks to see if chaos agents are around.. the car is now a red SV alpine (hood bag, alpine centre consoule and shifter) then when he gets to the car its still the alpine, an ejector seat goes off andf he speeds away.. car sounds like an alpine and there is smoke coming out of the left exhaust only.. its a SV tarted up to look like a tiger. 🙂

Gene Winfield created the Get Smart car from an Alpine with all the trick features. Look for the book, The Legendary Custom Cars and Hot Rods of Gene Winfield. There are a few photos of the car with Don Adams checking out the spy stuff. The AMT Get Smart model is an Alpine based off of Gene Winfield’s creation.