Here are my thoughts on the great story on High Performance Motors in the latest Tiger Tales:
I have been a big fan of the late Lew Spencer since the late ‘80s, when Dan W. first told me about him and the Shelby Tiger. So before my Sunbeam memories fade completely away, here are some notes:
Lew Spencer made his name as the West Coast Morgan dealer and racer. In addition, according to the late auto historian, Art Evans, Spencer had a Rootes dealership, where he raced and promoted Sunbeam Alpines. Lew’s dealership (shop?) was in West LA, just off Sepulveda Boulevard. My grandfather had a business a block away, and my late father recalls a guy zooming around the neighborhood in British sport cars (Lew).
I was told by Lew himself (LA Shelby Club meeting mid-90s) that he sold Rootes cars, not just Tigers, at the short-lived, High Performance Motors.
Lew wasn’t the only person to race Alpines (#45), and continued on to race Shelby cars. The great Ken Miles (#50), Gerry Titus (#63), Jim Adams, Davy Jordan, and Peter Harper.
Lew was part of the 1962 Rootes factory team that raced in the 12 Hours of Sebring. Although he was teamed up with Miles (#42) at some point, more than likely a practice, Lew got in my Sebring Alpine (#43). When I spoke to Lew by phone in the late 1990s, he told me that the only thing he recalled was that the British drivers Proctor and Harper were significantly faster than the U.S. – based drivers.
The late Dave Herding, CAT founding member, and possibly first Tiger Tales editor, told me that he bought his (black?) ’65 Tiger new from Lew Spencer at High Performance Motors. At the time, he asked Lew to have LAT Stewart Warner tachometer installed. After old age caught up with Dave, he sold his Tiger (then bought a new Corvette). He asked me to stop by his home to pick up some spare parts he wanted to get rid of. The LAT tach was among these parts. He had removed it from his Tiger at some point. The “Lew Spencer/Dave Herding tach” now sits in my ’66 Mark 1A Tiger.
Lastly, I think our own Buck at the Beach used to race sail boats against Lew here in the South Bay. I could totally be wrong about this—like I said my memories are fading. Thanks for letting me ramble.
Steven Alcala
I have been a big fan of the late Lew Spencer since the late ‘80s, when Dan W. first told me about him and the Shelby Tiger. So before my Sunbeam memories fade completely away, here are some notes:
Lew Spencer made his name as the West Coast Morgan dealer and racer. In addition, according to the late auto historian, Art Evans, Spencer had a Rootes dealership, where he raced and promoted Sunbeam Alpines. Lew’s dealership (shop?) was in West LA, just off Sepulveda Boulevard. My grandfather had a business a block away, and my late father recalls a guy zooming around the neighborhood in British sport cars (Lew).
I was told by Lew himself (LA Shelby Club meeting mid-90s) that he sold Rootes cars, not just Tigers, at the short-lived, High Performance Motors.
Lew wasn’t the only person to race Alpines (#45), and continued on to race Shelby cars. The great Ken Miles (#50), Gerry Titus (#63), Jim Adams, Davy Jordan, and Peter Harper.
Lew was part of the 1962 Rootes factory team that raced in the 12 Hours of Sebring. Although he was teamed up with Miles (#42) at some point, more than likely a practice, Lew got in my Sebring Alpine (#43). When I spoke to Lew by phone in the late 1990s, he told me that the only thing he recalled was that the British drivers Proctor and Harper were significantly faster than the U.S. – based drivers.
The late Dave Herding, CAT founding member, and possibly first Tiger Tales editor, told me that he bought his (black?) ’65 Tiger new from Lew Spencer at High Performance Motors. At the time, he asked Lew to have LAT Stewart Warner tachometer installed. After old age caught up with Dave, he sold his Tiger (then bought a new Corvette). He asked me to stop by his home to pick up some spare parts he wanted to get rid of. The LAT tach was among these parts. He had removed it from his Tiger at some point. The “Lew Spencer/Dave Herding tach” now sits in my ’66 Mark 1A Tiger.
Lastly, I think our own Buck at the Beach used to race sail boats against Lew here in the South Bay. I could totally be wrong about this—like I said my memories are fading. Thanks for letting me ramble.
Steven Alcala
