Rich (and others)
I quite agree. British cars, especially sports cars, were designed and
built to be driven. It may not be what Spitfire owners want to hear,
but Spits were built as basically disposable cars. (no flames, I own
several Spits and love them.) No one expected people to keep them for
20 or 30 years. I had breakfast with Ken Richardson at the VTR National
in Albany a few years ago and he made the comment "If we thought you
chaps were going to keep them this long, we'd have built them better."
He was joking, of course, but there's a bit of truth in it. Ken's
statement reflects Triumph's philosophy in building the cars. They were
meant to be driven and enjoyed, not preserved in museums. To promote that
idea, Richardson donated to VTR the Durand Trophy, which Triumph won at
LeMans, to be given to the TR3 owner who best exemplifies the spirit of
Triumph cars. The winner is selected each year at the VTR National by
Ken and his son Paul. The trophy goes to the owner who participates most
successfully in a number of events, autocross, rallye, tour and show. The
car need not win in all or even any of these events, but the owner must
make a serious effort in all. It is only for TR3s but the philosophy is
common throughout the Triumph line. I'm sure that MG and the others had
similar feelings about their cars.
My 58 TR3A is nearing completion and I fully intend to drive it. A lot.
And if I chose to add some modifications to make the car easier or more
fun to drive, well, that's nothing that the factory didn't do themselves!
If that keeps me out of the Concours, so be it. I have more fun with my car.
The only exception is that we do put them up for the winter as we get
tons of snow here in the northeast and Triumphs tend to be less than
ideal winter cars. Also, when the snow arrives so do all the worst
driving practices you've ever seen. When the first flake of snow flutters
to earth, people around here seem to forget everything they ever knew
about driving. When summer comes, I want to drive my lbc, not fix the
minivan damage.
My $0.02 worth.
Rik
***************************************************************
Rik Schlierer "Keep a good thought"
RGS03@HEALTH.STATE.NY.US (B. MILLER)
NYS DEPT OF HEALTH, ALBANY NY
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