Mention the words "Oliver Tiger" to men of a certain age and you'll probably see a far-away look in their eyes, with perhaps a smile and respectful nod. For these engines dominated many competitions over two decades - in tether car racing, then in SMAE Class A and FAI Team racing, followed by SMAE and FAI Combat. Such is their renown, that when Vintage Team Racing was rolled out (and new engines were no longer manufactured) competitors found it difficult to convince others to part with their treasured Oliver Tigers. Asking prices remain high, so various replicas or "clones" have been made to meet the demand. Resumed production by Tom Ridley of genuine Tigers, in association with "Young John" Oliver himself, appears to have still left an opening in this specialised market niche. Even in its heyday, one needed a Tiger specially "tuned" to gain a winning edge. Alberto Parra's 2.5cc T3 Tiger aims to conform to the technical specifications in Vintage Team Racing and Combat. He is aiming for performance similar to other modern "tuned Tigers" which with the benefit of advances in model engine know-how, is at levels appreciably above the norms of yesteryear. As if that was not challenging enough, Alberto has also revealed his new 3.2cc T4 engine specifically for use in BMFA Vintage Combat. Our T3 and T4 test engines come from the very first "proof of concept" batches. Performance and construction detail will likely differ slightly in response to feedback from testers. So keeping that in mind, here's our "sneak preview" report.
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