TR6 TR6 - the perfect conversation starter

[ichthos]

Hi Everyone,

I just finished a cross country trip from WA to Ohio and then down to MO and back home in my daily driver TR6. I admit it was exhausing and a little crazy perhaps, but what the heck - no guts no glory (or too foolish to know any better). The reason for my trip was to visit with my son. Jacob got married after the Marines and settled in OH, so I also hauled a trailer to deliver all of his things to Ohio and continued on to MO for vacation.

I was disappointed I didn't see one LBC on my trip, but was suprised at all the conversations started up by perfect strangers when I would stop, and they saw my car. For instance, one lady at a gas station in North Dakota rushed up to me and told me how she had a car like mine when she met her husband - she said they had to sell their TR6 and she really missed it. Another guy in Wyoming walked up to me at midnight in a Wyoming rest stop and shared with me how his brother brought back a TR6 from England when he was in the Air Force in the 70' - he apparently still has the car. Still another TR6 owner saw me in South Dakota, walked up to me as I pulled into the parking lot, and congratulated me on the cross country trip. We could have talked together for hours, but wife non verbals let me know I was pushing it. There were many other examples, but it was kind of a neat side light I had not counted on.

Anyone else gone on trips across the US and had similar experiences?

 

[Andrew Mace]

Yes. My NY to Minnesota and back trip in the Herald in 2002 was much like that. I won't even go into the "thumbs up" gestures from passengers in every conceivable type of car -- from Hyundai to Cadillac and pretty much everything else. I also encountered many "What is it?" casual conversations, as well as a surprising number of "I used to have one of those"...and even one older gentleman who approached me in a motel parking lot early one morning and fondly recollected how he and many people he knew back in England had learned to drive on a Herald (they were very popular driving school cars back then)!

 

[TexasKnucklehead]

I drove my 74 TR6 from Houston to my home town in Pennsylvania a few years ago. I also did not see a single LBC en route, but had several conversations about them with complete strangers. It was a great trip.

Driving across Houston, I am often stopped or followed into a gas station to share experiences. My favorite "thumbs up" happened a few weeks back, when driving in heavy morning traffic on the beltway, at a speed a bit higher than the posted limit. I had the top town and was cruizing. A cop parked on the left shoulder (apparently riunning radar/speed trap) gave me a single rotation of his roof-top lights and a quick toot of his sireen. He waved as I slowed to the limit.

Some complete strangers show their appreciation better than others.

 

[TR6oldtimer]

Yes, when I last drove my TR6 across town, I had a similar conversation with the tow truck driver who brought us home...

 

[TRDejaVu]

I always smile when I park next to a modern "cool" car, yet people ignore that to come and talk to me about the really cool car.

 

[Brosky]

Ray, please stop scaring the children.................

 

[swift6]

I always smile when I park next to a modern "cool" car, yet people ignore that to come and talk to me about the really cool car.

There is a Ferrari owner from New Mexico that is still smarting from when I parked next to him at the Old Faithful parking lot in Yellowstone. There was a small group of people checking out my TR6 and ignoring his Ferrari.