• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

General TR Just saw this. RIP Charles.

Share this page

This is huge and very sad news to us all.
 
Sad sad day he was one of the best for our passion with LBC's I'll miss him.
 
Stunned and saddened. Rest In Peace Charles.
 
The Triumph world will miss Charles. Hopefully his passion for Triumphs will live on through the work and dedication he has given us over the years.
 
Very sad news. One hopes that his sons will carry on with the same passion and service to the Triumph & MG family.
Paul McBride
 
It is very sad to hear this news. He will be missed.
 
At times like this one often hears about someone referred to as a "Giant".
In my opinion.... Charles was a giant for our hobby.
Some of the items he had made in small runs very likely were not profitable....
but so good for the hobby.
I was fortunate enough to enjoy several nice conversations with him on
the West Coast at the Triumphest events. He treated me extremely fair
with the parts I got there. He did not have to go the extra mile but he did.

Hopefully there was a plan left in place for the business to continue.

Gil. NoCal
 
A PO had bought all his resto parts from TRF so naturally I continued when I bought the car 23 years ago. TRF was always my first line of defense and I had many phone conversations with TRF through the years. RIP Charles.
 
I have a nice note from Charles back when I restored my TR4a in the late 80s. Hard to believe so many years have passed since. He published a reprint of the TR250 parts manual back then offered it for free. Fast forward twenty years, and I still had the book and got my TR250 to go with it. The stuff that dreams are made of indeed.

It was a business, but a lot of things he did seemed like more a labor of love, like the free TR250 book. RIP Charles.
 
Absolutely shocking news to read on Christmas Eve. TRF has always been my go-to source for LBC parts.
I also enjoyed his weekly email missives, and truly felt for him with the passing of his son last year.

I met him at Triumphest a couple of times over the past fifteen years and always thought him a gentleman.

God speed, Charles, and my condolences to your family and colleagues.
 
Godspeed

words fail me. Sad beyond comprehension. 72 years young. Giant in the LBC world. Compassionate. Curious, well read intellectual.

“[FONT=&quot]If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants”

Isaac Newton, copies from others. [/FONT]
 
Wow shocked, saddened and stunned! In 1986 I needed a part for my TR3. Never ordered from TRF before or heard of them. I remember talking to someone from the rebuild shop and they sent me the part with out having to pay for it up front. They told me to send it back if it wasn't right. Trust like that, it can only come from the top (Charles) this speaks highly of him and of his organization. I was hooked after that and a TRF customer for life.

I can't tell you how much fun I have with my cars because of Charles. He came up with innovative ways to use our cars. Summer Party. Racing, mountain tours, tech sessions and I even got to meet 2 retired Lucas engineers that he had flow in from England and one of the developers of the Sabrina motor. Even got to watch one come apart and back together. It doesn't get any better then that! Who can forget valve cover racing on Killin RD in front of The Roadster Factory. The countless friends I've made at Summer Party, the knowledge I gained from the tech sessions, all this because of Charles.

His love for LBCs and particularly Triumphs set him apart from other parts suppliers who just want to take our money and give us substandard parts. Charles was trusted and spent his time and fortune to invest to make sure we had better parts that lasted and as stated above, gave up profits to be competitive with his superior products. Well done Charles! We will all miss you.
 
Huge loss to the LBC community ... I hope that Albert and John-Paul can carry on the business with the same passion and honesty that their father was noted for. RIP Charles.
 
TRF with Charles in control was a unique specialty company that dealt with the clique we call British devotees. I greatly admired Charles for staying true to his initial vision and not expanding to other brands to service. We should not worry for the future of TRF because his sons and the long serving staff will be guided by the legacy that Charles established. Every major decision will be prefaced by "what would Charles do?".

Yes it has been a tremendous loss for all of us but I am convinced that TRF will be eventually even stronger.

Lou Metelko
Auburn, Indiana
 
Unlike a lot of members of the forum I never had the privilege of meeting Charles but The Roadster Factory has always been my first go to for parts.

Charles was a visionary and entrepreneur who started to collected NOS parts and drawings from Triumph sources years ago which enabled him to produce parts that were as close to the original as possible. Without his foresight and work a lot of our cars would not be as good or original as they are.

Will also miss his weekly news letter. Always looked forward to reading it.

RIP Charles.

David


GilsTR said:
At times like this one often hears about someone referred to as a "Giant".
In my opinion.... Charles was a giant for our hobby.
Some of the items he had made in small runs very likely were not profitable....
but so good for the hobby.
I was fortunate enough to enjoy several nice conversations with him on
the West Coast at the Triumphest events. He treated me extremely fair
with the parts I got there. He did not have to go the extra mile but he did.

Hopefully there was a plan left in place for the business to continue.

Gil. NoCal
Click to expand...
 
Back
Top