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this was really a cool ride

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6

69tr

Jedi Trainee
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The executive secretary of our local Chamber of Commerce asked me if they could use my TR6 to carry the grand marshall of our Christmas parade. Being the vain person that I am, I said sure.

The parade was to start at 6:30 last night. I started snowing at about 3:00. I called her at 4:30 and asked if the parade was still on. Of course she said it was.

I did not want to try to get the top down in the really cold weather, so I heated up my garage and got the top down and the tonneau cover on. I had to drive the car about 3 miles to the parade with the top down. When I passed a bank that displayed the temp. It was 18 degrees. (dumb,dumb,dumb)

Well, I got to the staging area and waited. The parade director came over and told me that the roads were so bad that the grand marshall could not get there. I decided to put the car in line with my buddies in the VFW. I invited them to ride with me but there were no takers. (bunch of wimps)

I did get a lot of chuckles and comments questioning my intellegence. Plus a few "nice car" comments.

I guess an LBC owner will go through about any thing to show off his car. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif
 
Sounds like the one time you would be happy that your little baby would overheat in a parade. I quit doing parades for the overheating problem. That, and the last time I did one the homecoming queen got upset that the exhaust made her dress all smelly.
 
Almost burned my clutch out on the Roadster and someone shot it with a BB gun. Never again. Wayne
 
What's this, a smelly Drama Queen and a BB. That's all we got for Triumphs in Parades? I guess the other 2000 of you are too smart to enter your prize in a dumb parade.
 
My local club used to participate in the CSU Homecoming parade. We would partner with a charitable organization that would help senior citizens get around town called "SAINT" (Seniors Alternatives IN Transportation). Many of us carried seniors with us on the parade route. We had twenty cars one year. The organizers began complaining about the size of our 'float'. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif The crowds seemed to enjoy our presence quite a lot though.

I drove my TR6 in it a few times and it was really hard on the clutch. I won't even attempt it with the Triple ZS's and GP3 cam. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
I did a local parade years ago, for my town's 175th anniversary, with my Mayflower. That was fun; oddly, the car did NOT overheat (but then I did coast down one long hill)!

About five years ago, my mom (2nd. Lieutenant, WAVES, WWII) was named Grand Marshal for the local town's Memorial Day parade. Unfortunately, I didn't have a working Triumph convertible, so she, I, and my two children all rode with another veteran driving a nice Chevelle Malibu convertible. (Guess we might have just fit in a Stag, but I don't own one. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif)
 
Hmmmm?

I've never driven any of my Brit-cars in a parade.
But we *do* actually have a dedicated Parade Buggy.

~CLICK HERE~ to see it.
 
I think I learned my lesson. I told my bride that I would not be driving it in the parade again because it is so hard on the clutch.
 
I gave up the parade gigs several years ago. People want to sit on your car in the worst spots and get testy when you tell them no. Plus the wear and tear mentioned above isn't worth it.

I saw a beauty queen put a set of spike heels through the rear seat cushion upholstery of a fully restored 58 T-Bird about 10 years ago. I thought that the owner was going to have a nervous breakdown and she didn't have a clue as to what she had done. I really don't think that she cared either.

The only other wish that I will grant is for driving kids from the hospital on the outing days in the summer. I'll drive them anywhere that they want to go
 
Sounds like typical Colorado drop head weather, that is ... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif
 
If your daughter is elected Homecoming Queen, you get to be in two parades in a row !! Fortuanely, that is in September, when Michigan still has top-down weather.

Christmas time sees tons of salt on the road. No one in their right mind drives any prized possession on these roads after 11/01
 
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