Rootes decided instead to contract the assembly work to Jensen at West Bromwich in England, and pay Shelby a royalty on every car produced.

Rootes also entered the Tiger in European rallies with some success, and for two years it was the American Hot Rod Association's national record holder over a quarter-mile drag strip.

Ian Garrad, impatient to establish whether the conversion was feasible, commissioned racing driver and fabricator Ken Miles to build another prototype as quickly as he could.

Miles was provided with a budget of $800, a Series II Alpine, a Ford V8 engine and a 2-speed automatic transmission, and in about a week he had a running V8 conversion, thus proving the concept.

[9] Shelby began work on his prototype, the white car as it came to be known, in April 1963,[10] and by the end of the month it was ready for trial runs around Los Angeles.

[22] Shortly before its public unveiling at the New York Motor Show in April 1964 the car was renamed from Thunderbolt to Tiger, inspired by Sunbeam's 1925 land-speed-record holder.

[23][c] Shelby had hoped to be given the contract to produce the Tiger in America, but Rootes was uneasy about the closeness of his relationship with Ford, so it was decided to build the car in England.

An additional factor in the decision was that Jensen's chief engineer Kevin Beattie and his assistant Mike Jones had previously worked for Rootes, and understood how the company operated.

[35] The Mark II Tiger, fitted with the larger Ford 289 cu in (4.7 L), was intended exclusively for export to America and was never marketed in the UK,[36] although six right-hand drive models were sold to the Metropolitan Police for use in traffic patrols and high-speed pursuits; four more went to the owners of important Rootes dealerships.

[38] Other differences between the versions included upgraded valve springs (the 260 had developed a reputation for self-destructing if pushed beyond 5000 rpm), an engine-oil cooler, an alternator instead of a dynamo, a larger single dry plate hydraulically operated clutch, wider ratio transmission, and some rear-axle modifications.

Apart from the addition of a Panhard rod to better locate the rear axle, and stiffer front springs to cope with the weight of the V8 engine, the Tiger's suspension and braking systems are identical to that of the standard Alpine.

[22] The fitting points for the Panhard rod interfered with the upright spare wheel in the boot, which was repositioned to lie horizontally beneath a false floor.

[22] In an effort to increase its marketability to American buyers the car was fitted with "Powered by Ford 260" badges on each front wing beneath the Tiger logo.

[32][40] By the time the Mark II car went into production Chrysler was firmly in charge of Rootes, and the "Powered by Ford" shields were replaced by "Sunbeam V-8" badges.

[56]Rootes had always been insufficiently capitalised, and losses resulting from a damaging thirteen-week strike at one of its subsidiaries, British & Light Steel Pressings, coupled with the expense of launching the Hillman Imp, meant that by 1964 the company was in serious financial difficulties.

In 1967 Minister of Technology Anthony Wedgewood Benn approached BMH and Leyland to see if they would buy out Chrysler and Rootes and keep the company British, but neither had the resources to do so.

[60] Manufacturing a car powered by a competitor's engine was unacceptable to the new owner,[61] but Chrysler's own 273 small-block V-8 was too large to fit under the Tiger's bonnet without major modifications.

[63] Chrysler added its pentastar logo to the car's badging, and in its marketing literature de-emphasised the Ford connection, simply describing the Tiger as having "an American V-8 power train".

Shelby's competition Tiger made an early appearance in the B Production Class of Pacific Coast Division SCCA races, which resulted in some "highly successful" publicity for the new car.

[73] But Shelby was becoming increasingly preoccupied with development work for Ford, and so the racing project was transferred to the Hollywood Sports Car dealership, whose driver Jim Adams achieved a third-place finish in the Pacific Coast Division in 1965.

[73] The Tiger was also raced on quarter-mile drag strips, and for two years was the American Hot Rod Association's national record holder in its class, reaching a speed of 108 mph (174 km/h) in 12.95 seconds.

[75] After finally having sorted out the engine overheating problem by fitting a forward-facing air scoop to the bonnet, Rootes entered three Tigers in the 1965 Alpine Rally, one of which crossed the finishing line as outright winner.

[80] Some of the scenes featured unusual modifications such as a retractable James Bond-style machine gun that could not have fitted under the Tiger's bonnet, so rebadged Alpine models were used instead.

[80] Don Adams, who played the protagonist Maxwell Smart, gained possession of the Tiger after the series ended and later gave it to his daughters; it is reportedly on display at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.