Carl wrote:
> If Joe "I want a TR3 but" Customer came into the
>showroom, what would happen?
>Now, the BIG question for the Judges. How closely in true concours
>judging are color combinations scrutinized? How many points would be
>deducted if it is not to "standard"?
>From my experience, the parts catalogs list change points for various
components as if there was really some discipline at the factory. Tain't
so! My cars both have components that the catalog guys would have you
believe were discontinued thousands of cars before. In spite of engineering
changes, Triumphs were built from various parts bins, and I think that the
parts department would either find a crate of something after the date of an
E.C., or maybe a backorder finally came in for something that was affected
by an E.C. (I'll bet the catalog guys can relate to that one!). Anyway,
this just demonstrates how difficult it must be for a concours judge to rule
on matters of originality. I think that many concours' are won on that
basis of good "lawyering" more than by careful research and patient
restoration. (ducking for cover now...)
Add to that the desire of a salesman to grab a commission, and I think that
trying to pinpoint the exact interior color of any Triumph built in the
'60s would be pretty hard. I'll give the same advice that Carl has probably
been swamped with: don't let the judges determine which color your interior
is! You're the one who is financing this restoration, and you're the one
who will be living with and driving the car between concours'. Think about
it -- that's a lot of time with you as the only "judge" as contrasted to the
10 - 15 minutes that your car will be scrutinized by a concours judge.
Don't get me wrong -- I admire originality and the extra effort that it
takes to do an authentic restoration. But it seems that we can drive
ourselves nuts trying to restore to a factory standard that wasn't in
existence when the cars were built.
All that being said, I'm curious about the use of contrasting piping on
TR3s. I really like the way the piping looks when it is contrasting. Was
it ever possible to "custom order" piping that wasn't offered in the
dealer's book of options? A combination such as red upholstery with black
piping? And if that was possible, has anyone tried to get a replacement set
from one of the "Big 3" with a custom combination?
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