• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

How Far?

Share this page

I have only had my car a short time, but I have gone about 75 miles or so at once. It is not whether or not I am going to break down that makes me nervous. It is getting stuck in a rain shower or thunderstorm. I have a soft top, but it is not exactly "easy" to put on and even with the side screens on, it does not seem real water tight.

I can tell you that this same Triumph made the journey from Omaha, NE to L.A.,CA in 1970 when we moved to L.A. I was 3 years old, and the family drove across country, my dad driving, my mom in the passenger seat and me and our dog in the back "seat". Can you imagine that today?
 
I could not even imagine being a kid and having to sit in the back for even 1 hour.......YIPES!
 
Back when I was in the military, I was stationed at Ft. Bliss in El Paso, TX. I used to take 3-day passes and drive home to Little Rock to see my wife in my '76 Spitfire. 2000 mi round-trip and the only problem I ever had was the alternator went out once (and that only became a problem once it got dark).

Then when I bought my wife her Stag, I drove it home from the seller's house in Knoxville back to Little Rock - no problems at all!
 
KODANJA,

The only problem I had in all that time was when I was on my way back to NY. I was going through the Texas panhandle and about 6 miles outside of Amarillo the car went totally dead. To make a long story short, it turned out to be a broken set of points. On a Sunday in Amarillo I found a parts store that had the correct points. I installed them and I was on the road once again.
 
On a whim, I took a four day weekend once and visited my dad when he was living in Moran Wyoming which is on the south side of Yellowstone park. Threw some clothes in a duffel bag. An extra court of oil in the boot and hit the road. Straight there and back would have been 900 miles. My total mileage for that weekend was closer to 2k though.

Spent a lot of time driving through Yellowstone and the Tetons. If you think Buffalo look big from your family truckster, you should see them from the driver seat of a Triumph. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazyeyes.gif

On the way home, I came down the west edge of Wyoming through the 'Flaming Gorge' area and across the northern part of Colorado past Dinosaur National Monument, Craig, Steamboat Springs etc... The day I drove home I experienced sun, wind, fog and rain through Wyoming. Then I drove into Colorado and had sun until Cameron Pass at the top of the Poudre Canyon (about an hour from home). Cameron pass, 10,276 feet, had three inches of snow and near white out conditions. It was late fall though so the varied weather wasn't really a suprise.

The TR6 didn't miss a beat. Didn't even have to open the extra bottle of oil. That was with the stock engine and about 130,000 miles on the odometer.

Very worthwhile trip.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]

Very worthwhile trip.


[/ QUOTE ]

That's the kind of trip I dream about doing in my '6. My problems is my second car (VW Westfalia) is also an ideal car for such trips. Makes it hard to choose!
When I bought my '71 in September of '02 I drove it from from Vancouver, B.C. to San Jose, CA, about 1200 miles I think. Pretty brave since I'd never had any experience with these cars. Car performed virually flawlessly- temp got a little high over one mountain pass, but it never happened again (stuck thermostat?). I also discovered that some of the suspension rubber was past its prime, but mechanically the car ran like a swiss watch. I have driven many round trips in the 300-400 mile range without worries. The only problems I've had there are just the usual trouble of starting a hot engine after stopping (many threads here have addressed this issue). Thus far I consider it a great, reliable car for long drives.
 
Back in '65, I got my first LBC. A '63 TR4. I drove it regularly back and forth between Long Island an Northeastern Univ. in Boston. When I got in the Army in '67, I drove it from NY to Ft Gordon GA and back. That car never missed a beat. Unfortunatly, I totaled it out. My next LBC was a '69 TR6 I bought new, and when I got out of the Army in early 1970, I drove it home from Ft. Sill, OK back to New York. Never missed a beat. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
Drove my TR2 (that's right, 2 )from Fort Polk, LA, to Baja and back, no tools. Lots of tequila. That would have been in 1970. Vietnam was raging and we were waiting to go. Never did. Fort Polk was worse.

Ran out of drinking money at a bar in the French Quarter at the end of the 1969 spring semester. All we had was our VDub convertible, no top, no key. A Mexican law student offered us $10 to "rent" the car for the summer to go back to Mexico City. We bit. He actually returned it in the fall. They don't make em like they used to.

Bill
 
[ QUOTE ]
What was the furthest you every drove your LBC?
(Any Troubles?)

[/ QUOTE ]

I drove my TR4 1,200 miles the first time I ever sat in it... from the Tampa Bay, Florida area back to Russellville, Arkansas.

The farthest I've ever driven it it since then is about 300 miles. I plan to drive it about 350 miles to the 2006 VTR National Convention in a few weeks.
 
Wow, you guys have put miles on the car. The best I've got to claim are the trips to Triumphest when it is in SoCal. Yearly we drive Phoenix to Flagstaff- about five hundred miles when finished. T.T.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Back in 1973 I drove my '71 TR6 from NY to CA, stayed in LA for about 2 months, and then drove back to NY. About 6,000 miles in all. Ahhh.. youth.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think The Musicman has it,,,,,,,,,,,, so far...

WoW you have all done alot of traveling in your LBC's /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/savewave.gif
I'm real happy to hear ya reminisce ... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/patriot.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/england.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/patriot.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif
 
Back
Top