New Member, But Old Triumph Owner

[JCL TR4]

Thanks for the add to the BCF. I happened on it as I was searching for some parts or information on my Triumph TR4. The forum looks to have a lot of information in one location.

I own a 1963 TR4 which our family has owned since 1965. The car was bought in Tulsa Oklahoma in 1963 with all of the competition equipment available at that time, including a trailer. The first owner raced the car locally in Oklahoma, Kansas and other states for a couple of years and then must have traded it in on another car. My brother, who is 10 years older than I am bought the car and became the second owner. John was a young college student and drove the car in Tulsa for a year or so before he turned 21 and then started racing the car in the SCCA up until 1973. He sold the car to a kid local kid who let is sit unused for awhile I bought the car back and started my racing in 1975.

I raced the car in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Colorado and Texas up until about 1987. That's about the time that my wife and I started our family and the SCCA was doing everything in their power to get rid of the old British race cars from their races. They did allow us more track width and a few upgrades over those years, but it was clear they didn't really want the old race cars, but wanted the newer Datsuns, Fiats, Porsches etc. I decided to quit racing then, and the car sat under a tarp for about a decade. I also worked for two racing companies as a mechanic and a fabricator for a time. I worked as a machinist and a welder at another job in the early 80's. I finished college and quit getting dirty at work.

In 1998, I started rebuilding the car for racing, but didn't want to go back to pre-72 specs so I kept the car with the 80's flares and track width. I ran some autocrosses and some Porsche Club events in South Texas, where I was living, until my son was old enough to drive the car. Philip started running it with the Corinthian Vintage Racing Group in Texas for several years, winning a DP championship at one point. He was running at Eagle's Canyon one cold day in December and had a brake line fail, resulting in a heavy crash at about 100 mph. He was fine, but devastated that he tore the car up.

The car has been sitting in my shop for about 5 years. I retired a couple of years ago, and Philip has been running a Radical SR3 here at Hallett for the last two years, winning a championship in 2022. I finally took the car in and had the frame straightened and am now in the process of resurrecting the car, again. It is actually kind of nice to have the time to do it more thoroughly than I ever had in the past since we were always headed to the next race.

I also rebuilt a 1965 Spitfire that was raced in the Pacific Northwest during the early 70's. It is complete, but I haven't had a chance to take it to the track. It was a basket case I bought a few years ago. It is a nice little car with the 1147cc engine.

I'll attach a photo or two, if I can.

I am looking forward to being a member here.

Thanks,
Jim Lee
Sand Springs, OK

 

[AngliaGT]

Welcome!

 

[JPSmit]

welcome indeed and what a great family history! Please keep us posted

 

[PAUL161]

Welcome Jim happy to see you here! Love to see how the work on the TR is coming along. PJ

 

[Jerry]

I think you can buy all the body parts on a TR4 except the hood, so you can get that car back on the track. Great story.

 

[JCL TR4]

I think you can buy all the body parts on a TR4 except the hood, so you can get that car back on the track. Great story.

I have almost everything I need. I found a great source up in Kansas City where I got a front end, hood, door and fenders.
I did have to buy a new upper and lower valence.

I have the LF inner fender ready to weld on but it is about an inch and a half lower in the front. I may have to take the car back to the frame shop so he can tweak the body itself. The frame is great. I rebuilt all of the front suspension already, with mostly new parts.

Once I get the body situated it will be ready for paint. Could be awhile on that though depending on the body tweak.

 

[JHaydon]

Welcome and thanks for sharing that awesome story! Are you at liberty to name the racing companies where you worked? Do you still do any fabricating or machining?

 

[JCL TR4]

Welcome and thanks for sharing that awesome story! Are you at liberty to name the racing companies where you worked? Do you still do any fabricating or machining?

JHaydon, I worked for Timmons Chassis Products in Wichita Kansas right after graduating college, and before I got a job as a Chemist. Timmons Chassis Products built tube-frame GT cars, mostly for SCCA. He had at least a couple of national champion cars. I was a fabricator, mounting seats, dashes, bodies etc. I remember cutting the rear suspension from Morris Clements Championship winning Z car, right after the runnofs. I thought that was interesting that he wanted to upgrade the rear suspension after just winning the championship.

I left them for an opportunity in St. Petersburg with a company called Tampa Bay Motor Sports. They maintained a bunch of Sports 2000 cars for their owner/drivers. I was a mechanic for them in St. Pete, and traveled to Road Atlanta with them. They had acquired the rights to build March Sports 2000 chassis in the US and I was going to help with the tooling etc. I wasn't impressed with the operation, and didn't like the horrible humidity of St. Petersburg so I came back to Oklahoma and went into the oil and gas business.

I have owned and built quite a few race cars, along with upgrading street cars for track days. I still do some fabricating and welding, but I am not as competent as I used to be. I don't have any machining equipment but really enjoyed that profession before I finished college. I am having fun putting the TR4 back together.

 

[Basil]

Happy to have you here, Jim! That's quite a story and history! Thanks for sharing!