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Alan_Myers
Luke Skywalker
Offline
Hi all,
Spent a few hours gawking and drooling at the annual British Car Show in Palo Alto, Calif. last Sunday. Lot's of great cars!
In terms of Triumphs, there were some really great cars, but not in as large numbers as I recall in previous years. (Hey, we need to do something about that!)
There was an actual TR5 (not a TR250 conversion, I checked the chassis number... ISTR it was a LHD model, too). Very original and nice!
Also a Doretti, relativeely original and quite rare, although I've actually seen several others in shows over the years. (A little odd since there were fewer made than Italias, which I've never seen. OTOH, Italias being made in Italy and sold worldwide, while Doretti built and mostly sold here in Calif. might explain it.)
There was a "cute" black Mayflower that appeared very original inside and out, but was shod with a set of chrome American Racing Torque Thrust wheels that said "sleeper" to me! I didn't get a peek under the hood.
Not a lot of TR4/4A, maybe three or four total? None of them had hardtops. (There were at least twice the total number and several w/original hard tops last year.) Not a lot of TR2/3/3A either. Only one GT6 that I saw.
A few more TR6 and at least one TR8 were present. Not sure there were any Spits at all? No Roadsters showed up this year (two last year, if I recall correctly). One Stag attended.
What was there, was very nice Triumph steel. Just not as large a showing as in some previous years.
Among other marques, there were some very interesting cars.
There were almost as many Triumph-engined Morgans and TVRs, as there were Triumph-engined Triumphs.
Quite a showing of Morgan 3-wheelers, too.
You had to look closely at a white, unrestored/unmolested Sunbeam Alpine to notice the V8 260 badges on the sides. Turned out this was the one and only Shelby-built prototype for what became the Tiger. The car was fitted out here in Calif. and returned to Rootes Group in England for testing, eventually found its way back here. I agreed with the owner that - as the prototype - this is one car that probably should never be restored, should just be kept as it is except for general maintenance to keep it running. (Note: I've seen photos/videos of the very first Shelby AC Cobra, currently owned by Carroll himself I believe. That car is also being kept in strictly original condition, and showing a nice "patina" acquired over the years since it was built.)
An XK120 in full race trim was brought to the U.S. on the Queen Mary and driven to Calif., where it was set up to race and driven to 1st place by Phil Hill at Pebble Beach in the mid-50s. It was a class winner.
There were a bunch of XKEs all lined up. A few Jag sedans and earlier cars were there, too.
Other interesting old racers included a Riley and a Bentley, both from the 20s.
I saw only one Ginetta this year. Next to it was a Lola.
Not as many Exige this year, but a very nice variety of other Lotus (Loti?) were in attendance.
Austins, Minis and Morris seemed to be everywhere. A "Modified" class winning Morris van fitted with an Alfa-Romeo double overhead cam, 2 liter engine was said to be "scary fast".
A Bugeye won an award, a very original car and super clean restoration, being driven by the lady who bought it new. She actually took her driver's license test in it when she was 16 years old!
Another one-owner taking an award was a lovely Aston Martin, that's almost a daily driver. (This car took a 2nd in concours at Pebble Beach a few years ago.)
A number of British trucks were there, including a few military and an unusual English Ford van that took the "Arcane" award. The Land Rover folks had their own campsite and barbecue going.
There was an impeccably original restoration of a very short wheelbase Series Landy. Guaranteed to not go faster than 52 mph, but looked like it might climb a tree.
There was lot's more, including a variety of quirky cars and a few non-British marques.
One Reliant three-wheeler was getting a fresh coat of paint at the show, with a brush and a quart of fluorescent lime green! I hope it was water-based paint!
Speaking of 3-wheelers, ever see a Peel Trident "bubble top"? Incredibly small car that must be a nightmare to drive amongst "normal size" cars, let alone on the freeway with SUVs!. It's got two seats in there, but I can't imagine two adults actually shoe-horned inside.
A 1960 Toyota 2000GT was only the second one of those I've ever seen in. I think I noticed some styling/design clues from that car that somehow eventually found their way onto the Datsun 240Z/Fairlady. Hmmmm.
There were many more awards this year (maybe 12-16 instead of the 6 or so last year) and judging was a reasonably good "Spirit of the Marque" format with three judges, rather than a rigid concours points style or last year's "people's choice" format that was probably manipulated heavily by the clubs who attended. I liked that this meant fat-checkbook restorations didn't necessarily dominate the awards. There were more than the usual number of hands-on restorations, a few modifieds and some unrestored or mildly restored cars taking awards.
The closest a Triumph got to an award, though, was a Morgan fitted with a TR 4-cyl. engine. I was pleased to see that all the awards this year were to British-built cars (just one of which had an Italian engine).
Great show, overall. If you ever attend, be sure to check out the parking lot right across the way at Stanford Shopping Center. A lot of interesting cars get parked there, too! I noticed a nice, daily-driver MGB that could have been shown, a very neat Porsche Spyder replica and an early 60's Alfa Romeo.
Again, hope we get more Triumphs to this show next year! With a little luck, I'll up the number by one.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
(Wish I could upload all my photos from the show, unfortunately I'm a dinosaur still on a dial-up connection that the Slowsky's would love!)
Spent a few hours gawking and drooling at the annual British Car Show in Palo Alto, Calif. last Sunday. Lot's of great cars!
In terms of Triumphs, there were some really great cars, but not in as large numbers as I recall in previous years. (Hey, we need to do something about that!)
There was an actual TR5 (not a TR250 conversion, I checked the chassis number... ISTR it was a LHD model, too). Very original and nice!
Also a Doretti, relativeely original and quite rare, although I've actually seen several others in shows over the years. (A little odd since there were fewer made than Italias, which I've never seen. OTOH, Italias being made in Italy and sold worldwide, while Doretti built and mostly sold here in Calif. might explain it.)
There was a "cute" black Mayflower that appeared very original inside and out, but was shod with a set of chrome American Racing Torque Thrust wheels that said "sleeper" to me! I didn't get a peek under the hood.
Not a lot of TR4/4A, maybe three or four total? None of them had hardtops. (There were at least twice the total number and several w/original hard tops last year.) Not a lot of TR2/3/3A either. Only one GT6 that I saw.
A few more TR6 and at least one TR8 were present. Not sure there were any Spits at all? No Roadsters showed up this year (two last year, if I recall correctly). One Stag attended.
What was there, was very nice Triumph steel. Just not as large a showing as in some previous years.
Among other marques, there were some very interesting cars.
There were almost as many Triumph-engined Morgans and TVRs, as there were Triumph-engined Triumphs.
Quite a showing of Morgan 3-wheelers, too.
You had to look closely at a white, unrestored/unmolested Sunbeam Alpine to notice the V8 260 badges on the sides. Turned out this was the one and only Shelby-built prototype for what became the Tiger. The car was fitted out here in Calif. and returned to Rootes Group in England for testing, eventually found its way back here. I agreed with the owner that - as the prototype - this is one car that probably should never be restored, should just be kept as it is except for general maintenance to keep it running. (Note: I've seen photos/videos of the very first Shelby AC Cobra, currently owned by Carroll himself I believe. That car is also being kept in strictly original condition, and showing a nice "patina" acquired over the years since it was built.)
An XK120 in full race trim was brought to the U.S. on the Queen Mary and driven to Calif., where it was set up to race and driven to 1st place by Phil Hill at Pebble Beach in the mid-50s. It was a class winner.
There were a bunch of XKEs all lined up. A few Jag sedans and earlier cars were there, too.
Other interesting old racers included a Riley and a Bentley, both from the 20s.
I saw only one Ginetta this year. Next to it was a Lola.
Not as many Exige this year, but a very nice variety of other Lotus (Loti?) were in attendance.
Austins, Minis and Morris seemed to be everywhere. A "Modified" class winning Morris van fitted with an Alfa-Romeo double overhead cam, 2 liter engine was said to be "scary fast".
A Bugeye won an award, a very original car and super clean restoration, being driven by the lady who bought it new. She actually took her driver's license test in it when she was 16 years old!
Another one-owner taking an award was a lovely Aston Martin, that's almost a daily driver. (This car took a 2nd in concours at Pebble Beach a few years ago.)
A number of British trucks were there, including a few military and an unusual English Ford van that took the "Arcane" award. The Land Rover folks had their own campsite and barbecue going.
There was an impeccably original restoration of a very short wheelbase Series Landy. Guaranteed to not go faster than 52 mph, but looked like it might climb a tree.
There was lot's more, including a variety of quirky cars and a few non-British marques.
One Reliant three-wheeler was getting a fresh coat of paint at the show, with a brush and a quart of fluorescent lime green! I hope it was water-based paint!
Speaking of 3-wheelers, ever see a Peel Trident "bubble top"? Incredibly small car that must be a nightmare to drive amongst "normal size" cars, let alone on the freeway with SUVs!. It's got two seats in there, but I can't imagine two adults actually shoe-horned inside.
A 1960 Toyota 2000GT was only the second one of those I've ever seen in. I think I noticed some styling/design clues from that car that somehow eventually found their way onto the Datsun 240Z/Fairlady. Hmmmm.
There were many more awards this year (maybe 12-16 instead of the 6 or so last year) and judging was a reasonably good "Spirit of the Marque" format with three judges, rather than a rigid concours points style or last year's "people's choice" format that was probably manipulated heavily by the clubs who attended. I liked that this meant fat-checkbook restorations didn't necessarily dominate the awards. There were more than the usual number of hands-on restorations, a few modifieds and some unrestored or mildly restored cars taking awards.
The closest a Triumph got to an award, though, was a Morgan fitted with a TR 4-cyl. engine. I was pleased to see that all the awards this year were to British-built cars (just one of which had an Italian engine).
Great show, overall. If you ever attend, be sure to check out the parking lot right across the way at Stanford Shopping Center. A lot of interesting cars get parked there, too! I noticed a nice, daily-driver MGB that could have been shown, a very neat Porsche Spyder replica and an early 60's Alfa Romeo.
Again, hope we get more Triumphs to this show next year! With a little luck, I'll up the number by one.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
(Wish I could upload all my photos from the show, unfortunately I'm a dinosaur still on a dial-up connection that the Slowsky's would love!)
