BMIHT Factory Record

[CinneaghTR]

I received my BMIHT Factory Record for my TR4A the other day and have had fun comparing the original details with the current details. The car originally came with red interior, disc wheels, and Goodyear whitewall tires. It now has black interior, chrome Dunlop wires, and Michelin XZX tires. It was also red at some point, but the recent PO changed it back to the original white.

Anyway, two questions:

1. Anybody else out there with a Triumph delivered to the Standard Triumph Motor Company Inc. in Jacksonville? I assume that is Florida and that was the actual name of the dealership, but I am ready to be enlightened.

2. Does anyone have any information about the S.S. Tetela, which transported the car from Navyard Wharf, Harwich, in England?

Cool stuff. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[vettedog72]

During 1965 I was stationed in Jacksonville while going to the Navy AE "A" school and saw thousands of the Sunbeam Tigers that had come in to the USA for distribution. Sure wish I had pictures and sure wish I had seen as many Triumphs on the docks; but, I never saw any Triumphs.

 

[Flinkly]

https://www.merchant-navy.net/Pictures/tetela.html

 

[vettedog72]

What a load of pictures!!! Never saw so many pic's of the fleet. The GT appears to have fallen into good hands. Closest I ever came to the QE was in LA when I actually had dinner there. Have a friend that has had more than 8 crossings in the QE2. I wish I knew how to get pictures from my digital camera to this group; but then they would never compare with your collection.

Now shoot some more British cars!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Andrew Mace]

I don't have anything (handy) in between, but I do have both 1960 and 1970 vintage US Dealer lists. In 1960, there were two dealers in Jacksonville: Air Base Motors and Downtown Oldsmobile Co. In 1970, it was The Car Store.

But I suspect the "Jacksonville" reference is to a regional distributor. Again, for Florida in 1960 that was Jarrard Motors Triumph Sales of Pensacola, and in 1970 it was Leyland Motor Sales, Inc. of New Orleans.

 

[Guest]

[ QUOTE ]
I wish I knew how to get pictures from my digital camera to this group; but then they would never compare with your collection.



[/ QUOTE ]

Don, if your camera is a fairly recent model, you should have (or can buy) a USB connection cable. The moment you plug it in, Windows will automatically upload (all stuff you already know). Now, the stuff you need is go to photobucket.com and register on their free service. You can upload one of your pics to their site, it gives each one a specific address and when you hit the image button on your posting page, you type in that picture address. Voila!, we get to see your stuff.


Bill

 

[jerrybny]

As a word of caution make sure you save a copy of any pictures you put on a public site if you really treasure them. More than 1 web photo company has gone kaput. And when they go belly up your pics are lost forever if you haven't saved a copy. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[CinneaghTR]

Thanks, Andy. That is the exact type of information I am trying to find. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

It appears to me that the build record does not specify a specific dealer, other than that there was a Standard Triumph dealer in Jacksonville regardless of whether or not that dealer was Air Base Motors or the Oldsmobile dealer or someone in between.

Also, I am making the assumption that the transport would have off-loaded in New Orleans and the cars would have been shipped by truck or rail to the respective distributors and then the dealers within the region.

I'll keep digging. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I have four other factory records spanning the period 1964 to 1980 to request so they may be good for comparison as well. Those are pretty much local cars from where I grew up (central NC) so my knowledge of the area may help me figure out some of the general transport details.

 

[CinneaghTR]

Thanks for the photo reference, Flinkly (how's the GT6 project going? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ).

This also proved to be a helpful site. Scroll down and there is a capsule history of S.S. Tetela.

https://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/eldersfyffes.html#ef

 

[Geo Hahn]

[ QUOTE ]
...It now has... Michelin XZX tires...

[/ QUOTE ]

Not what you were asking about, but...

You might want to check the date on those tires (if they weren't installed on your 'watch').

There will be a string of characters that begins with DOT and ends with a 4-digit date code. The code is the week and year of manufacturer in wwyy format.

I think Coker makes repros of these so they may be fairly new but as I recall Michelin ceased production of XZXs in our size 5 or 6 years ago. There is not universal agreement on how old is too old but thought I should mention it in case they are very old.

Great that your build record included the name of the transport, that info's not on either of my build records.

 

[CinneaghTR]

Thanks for your comments, Geo. I appreciate your taking the time to say that. It is nice to feel that folks are out there looking out for you. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'll doublecheck the XZXs, especially that code. According to the PO, they were put on about 10 years ago and the total mileage on the tires is about 1500 miles (long story). They look good with deep treads and no cracking.

I was cleaning them the other day and noticed they were marked "tubeless" right where the tire hits the rim on the front. Is that a recent development that would help date the tire?

Regarding the ship listing, I work with old records a lot at my job and would love to take a look at the original factory records at Gaydon to see what is and is not there. The fact that the factory record details are not consistent from car to car is intriguing to me.

 

[milemarker60]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the photo reference, Flinkly (how's the GT6 project going? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ).

This also proved to be a helpful site. Scroll down and there is a capsule history of S.S. Tetela.

https://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/eldersfyffes.html#ef

[/ QUOTE ]

Interesting compilation of data. I am very surprised that not may ships make it much past 20 years of service before being scrapped.

 

[Geo Hahn]

[ QUOTE ]
I'll doublecheck the XZXs, especially that code. According to the PO, they were put on about 10 years ago...

[/ QUOTE ]

If they are that old the code for the year may be a single digit (e.g. 266 could be 26th week of 96). I don't have any tires old enough to see for sure what the codes looked like before 2000.

The tires may look real nice but... as I said there is not universal agreement on how old is too old -- but I don't think many folks would consider 10-year-old tires to be a good idea.

When I got my TR4 first thing I did was trash the nearly-new tires. It's a nuisance and an expense one could do without, but I drive too far and too fast to be wondering if the tires are okay as I'm runing down the road.

 

[macino62]

how long did it take for you to get your certificate? i ordered mine last week (it took me close to 10 years to finally purchase it, haha)

 

[CinneaghTR]

Give it a month or two. They'll send you an e-mail to say you are in the queue, you'll credit card will get charged, and you'll see it within a week after that.

Be sure to share the results. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[CinneaghTR]

Thanks, Geo. Maybe a set of Kumhos from Tire Rack are in my future. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[GeorgiaTriumph]

A buddy of mine got his and it say Jax on it too.

 

[macino62]

Well, I got it today! Took just over 3 weeks!! My car:

Was built in May 1962, Dispacted on May 31, 1962. It came across the pond (Royal Edward Dock) on the vessel "Bristol City." It arrived in Baltimore to the following specs:

Spa White
Red Interior (leather)
Hood (Black)

From the factory, it had:

Heater, Tonneau cover, Wire wheels, and sunvisors



Oh man, how cool is this!!???!?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grouphug.gif

 

[macino62]

And as a side note.....

I researched into the Bristol City, (from the ships list earlier in the thread). In 1970, the Bristol City was sold to Panama, and renamed the Agelos Gabriel. Here is a picture of the boat that my car came over on.....

https://www.photoship.co.uk/JAlbum/Old%20Ship%20Picture%20Gallery/A/slides/Agelos%20Gabriel.html

 

[CinneaghTR]

Cool!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif