• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

TR5/TR250 67 triumph viteese sport 6 now only $1,250

Share this page

Darn! The price keeps dropping, but the geographic distance between the car and me hasn't changed; it's still the better part of 3000 miles. Meanwhile, I don't know how it suddenly got to be a '67 or one of 652. More likely, it's a '63 but possibly first titled as late as 1964 or even 1965, and it's one of 679 (yeah, I know...picky, picky).
 
I wonder if one of those Sammio bodies would fit on that setup? (sorry, just playing with Andy!) :devilgrin:
 
TR4nut said:
I wonder if one of those Sammio bodies would fit on that setup? (sorry, just playing with Andy!) :devilgrin:
Click to expand...
:cry:

Actually, it might, although I don't know how well a Triumph six would fit under the Sammio bonnet? But yes, it would be a shame to lose a Sports 6 that looks pretty solid and very restorable!
 
Gawd, the nose on those things reminds me of a Mark II Lincoln. Anyway, I am always suspect of a vehicle of that vintage (or anywhere close) that claims to be a "California Car" but has current plates.
If it was a California Car from new, it would have black plates on it.
Great gas mileage and performance....but it's on a car trailer with a mandatory citation for missing taillight lense.
 
TOC said:
If it was a California Car from new, it would have black plates on it.
Click to expand...

There are lots of ways that it could have lived its life in CA, and ended up getting new plates.
 
Darrell_Walker said:
There are lots of ways that it could have lived its life in CA, and ended up getting new plates.
Click to expand...
:iagree:

I almost didn't get to keep the black plates for my TR3. Fortunately, the previous owner's aunt found an old registration slip in the back of a drawer, <span style="font-weight: bold">AND </span>the DMV believed my tap-dancing about why the VIN on the old registration didn't match the VIN on the new paperwork. (The old registration had the engine number instead of the commission number.)

DSCF0013.jpg
 
True, but if it had been in regular service, or had a title and old registration/plates, one wonders, especially with the national "black plate" affectation.
 
I think we can agree that it has not remained registered in CA for 44 years. But just for example, my TR3 was stored in CA (just a few miles from my house) for nearly 30 years. I'd still call it a "CA car", even though it did have some significant rust (likely from being driven near the beach).

And the laws have changed relatively recently, I believe there was a time when you would not be allowed to keep the black plates if the old registration had lapsed. That plate is several years old at least, judging by the leading digit. (CA plates are not necessarily issued in sequence, but they are made in sequence. The current leading digit is '6', so those plates were made some 50 million plates ago. The leading digit was '1' in 1980.)

Modern plates use reflective paint, which makes them easier for the CHP to read at night; but the black plates did not.
 
+1 with the above, in fact in some ways a CA Blue plate is the better test since they'll only allow you to keep it if it has been continually registered or you and PROVE that it was assigned to the car originally. Ask me how I know that...
 
That's why I have the registration and plates in storage for my 50 Ford.
 
I purchased my 66 TR4A in California in 81, and it had black plates. I was allowed to keep them. But a year later the car was stolen and later recovered, but the thief had removed the rear plate and installed a commercial plate (some plot to fool the police?). Even though I still had the front plate, I had to get new blue plates. Up until the time I moved out of California, my 66 didn't qualify for the YOM program (it now does, but I don't live there anymore).
 
TR4nut said:
I wonder if one of those Sammio bodies would fit on that setup? (sorry, just playing with Andy!) :devilgrin:
Click to expand...

According to the web sit:

AVAILABLE NOW - THE NEW BONNET FOR THE SAMMIO SPYDER
This bonnet allows the builder to use the larger Vitesse engines or other alternatives....fits existing bodies and can still be used with the stock Herald configuration. This bonnet uses standard 7'' style round headlights as opposed to the VW/Porsche units used with the original bonnet.
 
Hmm, now that would be interesting. Put a 2.0 GT6 motor into the Vitesse (Sports 6) chassis and the lightweight Sammio body. Now I really wish I had room for it...

In spite of their scarcity, no one seems very interested in Sports 6. I took a serious beating on the project I bought and later sold ... just the parts I had accumulated were probably worth the sales price (including two D-type overdrives). It was in much worse cosmetic condition than this one, though.
 
TR3driver said:
In spite of their scarcity, no one seems very interested in Sports 6.
Click to expand...
True to some degree, but a: it's a matter of numbers then and now, and b: like Heralds in the US, interest has been increasing steadily over the years.

Frankly, the original 679 Sports 6 convertibles brought to the US didn't sell easily, in large part because folks could buy a Valiant, Falcon or Corvair convertible for almost the same money. Amazingly, though, almost 50 years later, over 10% of the cars are known to have survived; not too bad a percentage. They haven't yet gotten to the point where projects bring crazy money, but excellent drivers and other restored cars ARE bringing some crazy money at times! Much the same thing has been happening with Heralds. (Not to brag, but I like to think that all my decades of standing up for these cars is beginning to pay off! :laugh: )

BTW, you don't absolutely need a Sports 6/Vitesse chassis to make a six-cylinder Sammio. You can start with the later Herald chassis and get the other bits you need from a derelict GT6 much more easily than you're likely to from a derelict Sports 6 (simply because there are a lot more derelict GT6s around)!
 
Sorry Andy, look what I've started! If it were me, I would seriously try to save the Sports 6 as is - they are too rare a beast in the US, especially LHD..
 
Come to think of it, I'm surprised this one isn't attracting the attention of the VTR national attendee from last year.. that rollover car married with this one would be a nice proposition.
 
TR4nut said:
Come to think of it, I'm surprised this one isn't attracting the attention of the VTR national attendee from last year.. that rollover car married with this one would be a nice proposition.
Click to expand...
Last I knew, Cecil was well on his way "back" with his car, which is actually one of the very earliest Vitesse 6 convertibles in existence (body #9). I don't know whether he was able to find Herald bits (which are essentially the same for what he'd have needed) or if another mutual friend was able to provide him bits from a Sports 6 that, sadly, was way beyond any hope of redemption. Either way, that Vitesse 6 convertible WILL be back, I hope, and this Craigslist car hopefully can survive on its own as yet another to add to my list!
 
Back
Top