Heritage Certificate

[Rob_T]

I recently acquired a 63 TR4 that came with a Heritage Certificate. On the certificate, item #9 destination (dealer) it says " Standard Triumph Motor Company Inc., New York, USA, for L/Cdr. G.E. Stahl (ex-Works car)".
While the car was nice, I don't see anything special about it. Am I misunderstanding the term "ex-Works"

Cheers,

Rob

 

[DougF]

A good place to ask would be on Kas Kastner's forum. Somebody else could probably give you the exact site or you can search it.
I'm sure someone can help you here too.

 

[Brosky]

Could have been a "factory demo" or car used for a sales rep or promotional vehicle for parades?

 

[TR4nut]

Rob-

Is there a story behind that picture? That looked like a very sweet TR before the front and back adjustment..

Randy

p.s. also, the question on the "works car" might be a good one for the TR Register group in the UK, they can be very helpful.

 

[Rob_T]

Randy,
I'll check out the TR Register site.
A friend of mine, who owns a British repair shop, bought the car from one of his customers, who had recently finished the restoration. My friend's son, who is a mechanic, and another mechanic took the car out the next day, for a shake down run. They were at a stop light behind another car, when a pickup truck failed to notice the light or the TR4. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.
Only one body panel, driver's front, escaped complete damage. Most of the interior survived unscathed, as well as the drive train. The radiator was history. It has new wire wheels and hard and soft tops, new wood dash and Moto-Lita steering wheel.
Long story short, I was able to pick the car up for salvage costs. It will become a good donor for my TR4 project.
Here are a few more pics, if you're interested. It is really surprising that no one was seriously hurt.

Cheers,

Rob

 

[RomanH]

What a shame! That looked like one very sharp car!
That is amazing that no one was hurt! How fortunate.
The driver of the pick up should at least be flogged for killing such a beautiful car. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/mad.gif

 

[Andrew Mace]

I suspect that "ex-Works" could refer to any car that was retained by Standard-Triumph for any reason, whether for competition (unlikely, although that's where one often sees the phrase applied), show, demonstrator, press fleet or "executive" use. Given that it's LH steering, it might have been a demonstrator used at the London showroom for prospective buyers who planned to take advantage of the "Personal Export Delivery" scheme?

On further thought, "ex-Works" might also refer to any car that was purchased via the Personal Export Delivery scheme?

Meanwhile, looking at the pictures, I am intrigued (but not surprised, given other crashed Triumphs I've seen) at how well the cockpit area seems to have survived intact! That speaks very well for the (perhaps unintended) safety of these cars, seeing as modern cars are carefully designed with front and rear "crumple zones" for the sole purpose of protecting the passenger area!

 

[TR4nut]

Rob-

Wow, best thing is that no one was hurt. This is a very sad example of what can happen to our cars - but it looks like you have one excellent parts car.

Randy

 

[AngliaGT]

What a shame!

- Doug