Why a Triumph?

[TriumphGT6]

I was wondering how you all ended up with Triumph cars. Here's my story:

I read the Bargain Corner in the local paper. I saw a 1973 Triumph GT6 MKIII and knew very little except that Triumph made good looking ultra tiny sports cars. The ad, which I still have, said that it had low miles and had been stored inside for the last 16 years, $450. My dad and I went out that night (May 14, 2004) and looked at it in the guys garage. I know you don't buy a car that late at night, but the guy wasn't jerking us around.

The car was original other than an OK paint job performed by the original owner (not the seller) with no damage repaired or existing. The car had the original engine, tranny and interior. The car had 52,000 miles and he had paperwork certifying that it was accurate.

The guy lived in a $400,000+ house and drove a newer Corvette as a daily driver, so it was evident he just wanted to be rid of it. The car didn't run, and every car I have ever purchased (total of 6) has not run at all at the time of sale. It took a good 2 months and the car was in good driveable condition. Luckily, there was very little rust as the bottom had been rustproofed as new and still looked new wherever the tar still was (pretty intact).

We thought about selling it to turn a quick profit, but the car grew on me, and it is a car that I don't plan to ever sell. I may be a college student but I do interior and paint work as a side job, so money is not a valid reason to sell any car.

Please Post Your Stories,
GT6

 

[ObiRichKanobi]

Because friends don't let friends buy MGs /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif

Ok...just kidding. Had a 69 or 70 Spit while I was transitioning out of high school (car was only 4 years old then), and loved it. Dollared me to death, but a blast to drive. So...the wife decided I needed a hobby other than sitting around playing computer games, so she "made" me buy the Spider.

True story!

 

[sammyb]

I just bought one because ObiRich had one!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Just kidding -- A guy in the neighborhood had a red TR6,which I always loved. And for some crazy reason, when I was young and before I got into cars, I always thought the TR7s looked cool.

I started getting back interested in cars when I got out of college, and I hung out a lot with one of my coworkers who would buy and sell cars. He kept telling me that Triumphs were indeed great cars to own. Looked at a few TR4s, but never bought. Found a TR-250 in the Houston Chronical Classifieds for $3500 in 1998. Went up, offered him $2800, drove the car 40 miles home. Have been an addict ever since.

 

[dklawson]

My GT6 (actually my wife's GT6) was purchased by her father in 1967 while he was working/studying in the U.K. He bought the car for export so it has LHD. It was the first car my wife drove on a regular basis after my father-in-law stopped racing the car in the mid-1970s. It sat for ten years rotting away under a tarp before we got it. I told my wife if we could get the engine to fire up I'd restore it for her. After a few days of fiddling and flushing out old fuel the car roared to life (much to the dismay of my neighbors) and blew out a rooster-tail of carbon, rust, and old exhaust fragments as I had neglected to notice there was no muffler.

Sadly, with two kids, this two seater sees little road time these days and is in need of some maintenance and perhaps that long postponed engine rebuild. However, it will take an act of God to separate that car from my wife. It's a much better highway cruiser than my Mini.

 

[CaptDon01]

When I was a kid, a friend had a TR3. I always wanted one!(classic lines!) Years ago, my brother-in-law bought a 62 red TR3B. Sadly he was killed in an accident 11 years ago and the car sat in the barn for years. When my sister-in-law decided to sell the house in the country and move into the city I asked for first right to buy the Triumph......and the rest is history. She's in fairly decent shape and runs. But the engine is a bit tired. I'm doing a rolling-restoration right now to keep her running and safe to drive, but I want to do a frame off restoration on her in a few years when I retire.

Don

 

[Guest]

I've been into muscle cars my entire life, primarily 1st gen Mustangs. When I was in high school I had this friend whose dad had an AH3000 and 2 matching twin TR6's. I remember looking at those TR6's and thinking that was the coolest little car I'd seen, it was so completely different than a Mustang or any other American iron I had seen or owned. Anyway, one day I'm over there and his dad is getting ready to take one of the 6's out and asks me if I want to go for a ride. Even though I liked the car I was skeptical since it wasn't American and didn't have a V8 (you know how kids are). Got in that thing and had a blast of a drive, his dad was sliding it around corners and really giving it a workout, I loved every minute. Since then I have been in love with the TR6, it had all the little details I always thought a proper British roadster should have, wood dash, Smiths gauges, cozy interior, leaky oil sump /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif. I vowed I would eventually own one.

Fast forward 15 years. I had sold my latest Mustang project (1971 Mach 1) and found a pristine 68 Galaxy XL fastback coupe for a song. I wasn't what I wanted but was so cheap and in such good condition I couldn't walk away. Right after I bought the Ford I started seeing a little blue TR6 parked in this driveway on my way to work every morning, which got me to thinking about when I was 18 and riding in my friends dad's car. Figured I could make a few bucks off the Galaxie, maybe enough to find and buy a decent TR6. Did some minor work to the Ford that spring and sold it for a few grand. I then found my car about a half hour from my house, my father and I went and checked it out after reading an ad in the local paper. It ran but needed lots of work. Didn't matter, it was in mostly solid condition, I had money in my pocket and I was in love again. Went back the next day and drove it home.

 

[drooartz]

My first word was "car" (what a son, eh... not mom or dad but "car"). Always been fascinated by cars. All throughout school I was a big Ford Mustang fan. An old family friend had a MG TD, nicely restored, that I liked as well. Never had any money or a garage for a car.

Fast forward to the present time. Recently married, understanding spouse, nice garage. I figured it was time to try my hand at the old car thing. Started saving and researching Mustangs. Also remembered my liking of little British cars, so looked into them as well. Actually drove a Mustang. After maybe 20 years of wanting, it was a real letdown. Bummer. Drove an AH Bugeye, and was hooked on the LBC thing.

Made my short list of options (early Spitfire, TR4, MGB, Bugeye) and started looking to buy. My TR4 came up at a price I could justify, and the deal was done. So I guess I could have wound up an MG guy, the TR4 deal just worked out first.

-Drew

(5 weeks into a welding class so my TR4 can have floors again--what, you mean a TR4 didn't come with plywood floors?)

 

[Basil]

Several years ago I began the restoration of my 67 Jag EType. With the Jag all torn apart, I missed the fun of driving a British sportscar, so I started looking around. I was living in TRoy IL at the time (in the Air Force stationed at Scott AFB). I found an ad for a Spitfire in St Charles, MO just across the river so I went out and looked at it. The car was low miles and in excellent condition. The price was right so I bought it and have owned it ever since! I did put a new engine it it and a tranny with overdrive.

Basil

 

[wifegonnakillme]

Well, it was by accident...

When i was a kid I loved the Jag E-type, went for a ride in my friend's dad's 61.5 and was in love with the car -realizing i would probably never be able to afford (or rather justify the expense) I started watching MGAs, same kind of lines and feel of the Jag...about a year ago I got serious and started looking for an "a" - the more i looked the more i started hearing stories of how difficult it can be to make these cars look right again after a restoration and i was having trouble finding a car that fit...so one day (the day after my wife wnet on a trip and forbade me to buy a car for another year) i was poking around on ebay and found what looked to be a fairly solid '59TR3A with a new interior - not running, but fairly complete - I threw in a bid thinking, well, never get this for that...and won - thinking oh crap she's going to kill me, oh crap how am i going to get it here to Ottawa, I was the proud owner of my first triumph...note i say first since i think it is going to be lonely in the future and should have a partner...yes, am hooked and I haven't even driven it yet..

By way of an update - since August when I bought it, she now has new brakes, hydrolics, 50lb pressure at idle, starts easier than the volvo and is in the body shop for paint - will probably go with Salvador blue - oh, and my wife has for the first time raised briefly in conversation the car without saying anything negative...progress

Cheers,
Kerry /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/canpatriot.GIF

 

[waltesefalcon]

I bought my 79 Spitfire, because I was looking for a car that got better gas mileage than my 52 pick-up and would be fun to drive.

 

[jsneddon]

I guess I didn't have a choice NOT to own a british car. My dad bought a MGTD as his first car in 1956 and has had about 5 more LBC's since then. His dad liked it so much that he bought one sometime around 1962. So my earliest memories of cars include riding around in Grandpa's TD and the light blue TR4 that dad had at the time. Coming from sturdy Scottish stock (OK - we're all tightwads) doing all of the maintenance and repair ourselves was the only option.

When I turned 16 I took the TD to the DMV and took my drivers test in it. It was the middle of June and about 100 degrees outside. The testing officer told me to go outside and start the car (hoping I'd get the AC fired up) and he'd be out in 5 minutes. The look on his face when he saw me sitting there with the top down was priceless. He almost jumped out of the car when his back hit the roasting upholstery and the test lasted less than 3 minutes. One trip around the block and he was done.

About a year later I'd saved up some money and started looking for my first car. A guy that dad worked with was talking one day and it turned out that he had a TR3 that had been sitting in his barn for 10 years. He was a body-shop teacher at a vocational school and they had done the body work as a class project but mechanical stuff was not his forte. One Bosch VW coil and some spark plugs later and it was up and running. $2400 changed hands and it was mine!

I drove it for 2 years as my only source of transportation without a top or sidecurtains and finally decided it was time to get something practical. I bought a "reliable" GM box but I kept the TR3.

College, work, marriage, kids all got in the way but I've hung onto it. I've dragged it all over the country in uhaul trailers. Finally after 15 years my very forgiving wife got tired of looking at it sit and surprised me with a new set of tires and a battery and I'm back in business. It still looks good from 5 feet away and it runs like a champ. My 6 year old son asked me the other day if when he turns 16 if I'll let him drive it. You'd better believe it!

 

[Andrew Mace]

I'll keep it very short, since some of you might have heard this from me before.

My dad's 1950 Dodge Wayfarer convertible (which would be nice to have today!) was about done for in fall 1958; he bought a brand-new 1959 Triumph 10 sedan to replace it. That was traded five years later on another new car, a 1964 Triumph Herald 1200 convertible. I learned to drive on (and how to fix) that Herald, got a Herald of my own after getting my license in fall 1969, and I've never been without a Triumph since!

 

[donbmw]

I had always wanted to restore a car. My uncle had a TR3 that he got from a nephew on his wife side of the family. He got it back in 1972 put it in his garage and used it as a shelf for 14 years. I had move to Ohio for a year. When I moved back to Louisiana I told him if he ever cleaned out the garage that i would like to have the car. About a year later he called and said to come get it. So after 5 yrs anda few dollars I had it back on the road. For the last 7yrs we have had alot of fun going every where. I drove it back to Ohio the first year so everyone their could see it.

Don

 

[michalotti_tr]

When I was a wee little lad, I stayed at my grandparents house in my uncle's room - which had wallpaper with pictures of Austin-Healeys, MGAs and TR3s all over it. Later, when I was about 12 my father bought a used Sunbeam Alpine to tinker with - I spent many an hour sitting behind the wheel of that car pretending to drive. Finally, I went looking for a LBC of my own and found a beautiful '76 Spitfire. Been in love with Triumphs ever since (though I did own a '65 MGB for awhile - DON'T ASK!)

The final straw that doomed me to LBC ownership? My middle name is Lucas /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif

 

[gsalt57tr3]

Last November my father passed away and I needed a break. One of those breaks from what you've been doing for so long you can't remember why your doing it. We were in the market for another car and I was thinking hybrid, but people were telling me that the technology wasn't there yet, yada yada yada.

For some reason during Christmas vacation the idea of a little British car popped into my mind, either a TR3 or an MGA. My father in law rebuilds Model As and told me I should join a club before I decide what to buy, in order to get the benefit of their knowledge.

I found the local club on the internet, they had a newsletter posted with an article written by a guy I went to high school with. I called him and attended the next meeting.

I got talking with a guy who was a mechanic, who had a TR3 in the shop. He invited me to come look at it. Looking at that car, he showed me all the things to look for on a car I wouldn't want. This car had been purchased for a dollar.

His opinion was that if you want a 1950s LBC driving experience, you could get it with either an MGA or a TR3, but if you put the cars next to each other in a parking lot, people are going to looking at the TR3.

Within a few weeks, one of the club members decided to sell a TR3 driver. I got a good price, paid some more to get it in shape. Paid some more.

Love the car. I don't know if I would have loved an MGA any less. I guess the MG Triumph thing is like the Ford Chevy thing, and I was exposed to a Triumph driver first.

Be aware, however, this disease is progressive, as I now own a 1953 Standard Vanguard too.

 

[martx-5]

My Triumph story starts back in '65. My first car was a '57 Buick Roadmonster. I had my share of troubles with it, including an engine redo, and just wanted to get rid of it. I really wanted a new car. A friend and I went down to the local foreign car place that had all kinds of neat little sports cars. About the only car there that looked affordable was the Spitfire. I told my father about the car, and he mentioned that he was going to be picking up his new Saab at another dealer that week and that they had a nifty used TR4 on the lot. More car...less money. Well, I wanted new. He pleaded with me to at least go look at it. I agreed to do that. I took the Buick up there, saw it on the first row. I was bright red with a white racing stripe. I didn't even stop. I turned around, went back home and said to my father, "OK, let's get it! Will they take the Buick in trade?"

That car got me through college and a couple of years in the army. I've been hooked on TR's ever since, and, except for a few years while my kids were young, there's always been either a 6, 4, or 3 around here. Currently I'm in the process of a frame off resto on a '59 TR3A./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thirsty.gif

 

[billspit]

I'm amazed at the number of responses that are about TR3s and how easily they were acquired. When I was a youngster I had an uncle in Michigan that raced a TR3 so I was aware of what they were. In 1972 when I was a freshman at Clemson U., there was a sports car club that had some pretty wild looking characters in it. Remember this was near the end of Vietnam and some of these guys were vets. One in particular had a TR3 that he autocrossed. It had no floor boards, but ran good. He went to to a junk yard and got four bald Michelin X tires and raced the car as such. He would spin out a lot, but had fun. I decided then that I would end up with one of these cars. ABout five years later after I had gottne ammried and was in grad school my wife and I bought one for $1250. I drove the car for a while and it was the reason I learned to work on cars. I couldn't afford to pay someone to work on this thing as much as it needed. Funny thing is it just wouldn't die no matter what stupid things I did to it. I finally diassembled it and had to move for a new job. It mostly sat for the next four years and I decided I was going to finish it. Just as I was arraigning to have sandblasting done and floor boards installed, I got laid off. First thing I did was load up the car while I still had use of the company truck and trailer and towed it back to SC and put it in storage. Six months of job searching finally paid off, but I advertised the car for sale. I had two guys almost fighting over the car and had a third on the phone when I got home that would have bought it sight unseen. I sold the car because we had two small children and my wife wasn't working and wasn't planning on going back to work at that time. (My previous job that I had lost paid well.) I didn't want to have to move the car again and my meager salary wasn't going to fund a restoration. The day I pushed the car onto the trailer I got home and my wife said she would go back to work if she could buy a new bedroom suite. I was so mad at her I'm not sure I have ever gotten over it. Shortly thereafter I started looking for another TR3 and was amazed at what they were selling for. I couldn't find many and couldn't afford what I could find. SO in 1989 I happened across the 64 Spitfire that I now have and the rest is history. $8000 later it still isn't completely finished and likely won't be for a while.

Sorry this turned out so long but thnaks for listenring, Its been good therapy. I still hope for a barn find like you guys have tlaked about. I know of one here in Spartanburg, but the owner thinks it's gold plated.

 

[racing girl]

It came with the package when I met my husband to be... truth be told, it was the car I noticed first! He's owned it for 22 years.

RG /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/england.gif

 

[TR4]

A freind asked me if I would be interested in a TR4 he had. Turned out it was in excellent condition and he simply wanted to get rid of it. I gladly helped him out and have since become quite passionate about all the TR models. I prefer the 3 but my 4 gives me a lot of pleasure and something to do on Saturdays while the wife works. She has Fridays off.

 

[Brosky]

My wife got hers (ours now) when she was a junior in college. We still have the window sticker and paperwork from the deal. It's never been run in the winter snow and pretty much has stayed garaged since the mid 80's. It was repainted in 1985 due to the faded Mimosa paint from sitting outside in the sun all through the summers.

I was never much interested in the car until two years ago when the carbs were leaking and the garage was full of fumes. I took them off and sent them to TRF for new shafts and bushings and have been picking away at updating it ever since.

I'm planning on taking in in to another body shop next month to have the under hood areas color coated as well as the door jambs and trunk jamb to match the old paint to the new. The original shop did a great job on the exterior but did no detail work to jambs, etc.

Next will be the gages for cleaning and new body glass all around will be done with the paint work. Top was redone in 1987 and is like new since the car is covered inside all winter. Front shocks, new sway bar links and bushing were just completed last month. With only 54,000 miles, it has a lot of life left and since I just had a new clutch and O/D installed this summer, driving it has become a lot more fun.

Every body shop that I've taken it to for estimates has offered me a lot of money for the car after they look underneath at the frame and inside all of the normal trouble areas, but we're not planning on selling anytime soon.

Paul