Triumph or other memories

[Simon TR4a]

Prompted by looking back at the end of the year, as well as forward to next year, share some of your Triumph memories. (I admit to stealing the idea for this thread from a racing board where there was a huge response.)

I'll start things off...

1) Offering a ride in my TR4 to a friends wife, with my wife driving, so I could ride in his TR3a. "He lets you drive???" In 40 years he had owned the car she had never driven it!
2) Driving back to Toronto from Watkins Glen with my son in 1998, through the winding country roads of Pennsylvania and New York.
3)Seeing the speedo show 110mph up the back straight at Mosport (race track) on a lapping day last June.
Over to you guys!
Simon, WOFTAM Racing.

 

[Eric]

Warm September day, sun low in the sky so the dry, brown hills were glowing golden and the lakes were sparkling. Sweet running GT6 with loud exhaust howling down a swooping, diving, twisting road with no traffic. Sweet. Then, getting dusted by a well driven F150 on the steeper uphill bits.

 

[aeronca65t]

OK, it's not a Triumph, but my Spridget street car/racer has a 1500 Spitfire engine. Here are some 2004 memories:

*1. Practice-driving the Spridget on the '03 Hershey Vintage Hillclimb course following a real, genuine Aston Martin DBR1 roadster. I felt like I'd hit the BIG TIME! Picture of DBR1 (car 92) plus my #11 Spridget, here: https://community.webshots.com/album/51258911xCuUJH

*2. Driving to Shannonville, Ontario for a club race (from NJ). I had the Spridget squeezed into the back of my Chevy StepVan. I was wondering how the border-crossing guards would react to the race car in the van (seen at this link): https://www.ccm.edu/engtech/sprite_512.jpg
Canadian Border Guard: License, registration and insurance cards, please.
Me: Here you go, Ma'am.
Canadian Border Guard: Do you have any potatoes in your truck?
Me: No Ma'am, just this vintage race car (pointing over my shoulder).
Canadian Border Guard: Well OK, as long as you don't have any potatoes, go ahead.
(Potatoes???????)

*3 Lots of people wave at the Spridget because of the racing numbers and so forth: but while driving it on Rt 78 (NJ) to a TVR car show, I got passed by a gang of fellows towing an SCCA ProRally Nissan. They practically jumped out of their van to wave at me! That kind of enthusiam is memorable!

*4. The sickening feeling I had at Watkins Glen while spinning backwards towards the Armco barrier, exiting a 4th gear turn (I fixed the car and managed to run our Summit Point event later in '04)-Link to WG crash here: https://www.ccm.edu/engtech/wreck.jpg

 

[philman]

driving west on I40 outside of bakersfield, ca at about 85 mph and being passed by a state owned f150 pickup in a corner!? He probably still had snow tires on.

 

[KLUTZ]

Great post Simon!

2003 Had a lot of great memories for me with my TR7, some great some not so great.

Firstly... I became the owner of my first LBC, (Never before gave them a thought), for what I still think was a great deal. $800.00, it sitting in a barn for 10 years, getting it home, changing plugs, putting in some gas, and away she ran.

Secondly... The day I picked it up from my mechanic with the BRAKES finally done properly,(seems the 4 speed shoes I was sold didn't fit my 5 speed drums)& driving home with my son, and still getting looks even though the body was kind of rough. (The car, me too)

Thirdly... When I picked it up from the body shop on a beautiful summer day, with it looking like a million bucks, to me anyway. Driving it to work the first day to show it off, getting it up to 140 Kmph on the highway the first time. So sweet, it was a daily driver for the summer.

Then.... The oil pressure switch blowing out on the highway... and the smashed piston that was the result. We won't talk about that.

A new block and head installed began a new adventure... putting it all back together, with NO IDEA what I was doing. Well... with the help of so many people on this site, it was a success, but alas... the summer was over at this point.

But: two of the most satisfying things of my first year with this car are meeting so many great people on this site, and a visit a couple weeks ago from a gentleman who is the owner of a beautiful TR4a. He came over to see my 7 and gave it a THUMBS UP. That made me feel great.
Thanks Simon, that meant a lot, and I hope we can get together more... I guess that means I need to join the T.T.C.!!!!!

Hope 2004 is even better.

Paul

 

[bryan h]

Kissing my eventually-to-be wife, who wasn't even my girlfriend at the time, on a desolate,(we thought) country road, in my 75 MGB. The warm, sunny day turned not so fine when a delivery truck backed out of a hidden drive and into the front end, missing that protective rubber bumper and crumpling the bonnet. Funny, back then we laughed and drove away! I drove that B with a crumpled nose the rest of the time I owned it.

 

[Cain]

2003 brought many LBC memories for me:

1. Going to the local LBC mechanic occasionally and test driving the cars he had on his lot for sale by local owners.

2. Seeing the puke yellow/primer '71 TR6 sitting among the weeds.

3. Test driving the '71 up and down the road in front of the LBC shop.

4. Getting approval from the wife to purchase the car.

5. Driving the car home with no muffler, no brakes, four different tires, and smoke coughing out of the hood.

6. Pulling the engine and sending it off to the LBC shop for rebuild.

7. Trying to get home fast enough each day to intercept the credit card bill so that my wife didn't see how much the rebuild cost.

8. Seeing the look on my wife's face when she saw the credit card bill. (I didn't quite make it home in time.)

9. Putting the newly rebuilt engine back in the car.

10. Taking my first drive in my first LBC with the top off and 42 degrees F - priceless.

 

[KLUTZ]

Originally posted by Cain:
"2003 brought many LBC memories for me:


7. Trying to get home fast enough each day to intercept the credit card bill so that my wife didn't see how much the rebuild cost.

8. Seeing the look on my wife's face when she saw the credit card bill. (I didn't quite make it home in time.)"

So Right Cain

BUT......Somehow it is different if it is for LADIES SHOES!!!!!! isn't it?

 

[JMC]

My british car memory is the drive home in Sept. 2003 of my completely restored 58 Austin Healey BN-6. Weather prediction was partly cloudy. Ran into three downpours in the 60 mile drive home. Rain dripping on my leg and me swearing at the weather man. I had forgotten how large 16 wheelers looked from the cockpit of a British roadster and how much water they threw up. I was in Heaven to have my Healey despite the weather. It was awesome!!!!!!!!

 

[ObiRichKanobi]

Ahh...the looking back at the last year:

1. I got back into an LBC in April at the insistance of my wife, who insisted that I needed a hobby other than playing with the computer. This was my first experience with LBCs since I sold my 1969 Spitfire back in 1975 (thought I would have learned a lesson there somewhere

)

2. After about 2 months of blissful ownership, the Spider decided that it needed some serious TLC. The gas tank was rotted, and the rust and debris clogged up the fuel pump and filter (electric as it's F/I). After troubleshooting (and nearly stranding me a couple times), finally figured out that not only that, but the coil was shorting out. Anyway, after a rather serious, unplanned outlay of cash, it seems we've gotten the mechanics pretty much straightened out.

3. The best time tho was in late September when the wife and I took a full day drive thru the Utah mountains to "see the fall colors." The picture in my signature block is from that trip. Car drove flawlwssly, and it was a great time.

 

[Bob Claffie]

Remembering my very original '76 Spitfire from about a dozen years ago. Beautiful car with a worthless Stromberg carb. Driving at night was an experience since everytime the accelerator was released a large ball of flame shot out of the exhaust. Never backfired or damaged the muffler but was a great show when driving in the "back country". Possibly had something to do with 15/18 MPG? Bob

 

[Langelo DeMysterioso]

Hanging out in bar, drove there alone to meet my mates. One asks for a ride home, No problem, Second asks for a ride home, we'll squeeze him in. At the end of the night he shows up with barfly, she needs ride to his house. Open moonroof,Girl sits on console with head out of moonroof, mate 1 sits in passenger seat with mate 2 sitting in his lap. Drove to mate 2s house to find the police there because someone had tried to break in. Four people step out of 2 passenger car!

 

[gjh2007]

LBC memories of 2003: wife saying we should think about buying another convertible for our 25th anniv; who am I to argue! Start looking for TR4 or 250 (which we had while dating) After 2 mos found a 250 for reas. money only 4 miles from my old home town. Remember the 6 hr ride down with my 10 yr old son & the $2000 cash burning a hole in my pocket. I pulled up in front of the guys house with a trailer on the back of my '88 Range Rover & he knew the hook was set! Anyhow I had spoken to the guy 3-4 times and had already told him if car was 80% of what he said I would come & buy it.

Sitting in a TR250 for the first time since 1985! Didn't seem to remember them being that small. My son saying in disbelief "you had a cool car like this once!" The sound of that snarly 6 cylinder & the amount of tourque it produced and how fast you felt like you were going.

Driving back to New England & pulling down the drive way to find my bride had cleaned & swept out the garage for me to park the car in. I'm lucky alright!

Oh did I mention we just took delivery of a $5000 Ethan Allen Bedroom set! What's fair is fair!

 

[tony barnhill]

Hey, Gary...theAutoist's basic rule for a successful marriage: "She can't say 'no' to you if you never say 'no' to her!" Its worked for me for 33 years - &, I presently own 15 MG's and a Mercedes 380SL!

 

[cyclingtr6]

Needing a new diversion. Getting wife to agree, most likely to keep me out of the house. Finding a TR6 that needs work and taking the plunge. Found fun and frustration all wrapped up in to one package. Now fighting to find the time to work on restoring it.