Bob Kramer (rgk@flash.net) wrote:
<snip>
>Charles is seeking to be recognized as the one guy who will
>carry on, build the right quality parts and wants to receive recognition for
>his efforts. I'm sure glad he does it.
<snip>
Like Bob, when I bought my TR-3A, BL was still selling Triumphs. However,
even they didn't care about the "old cars" and I remember having to special
order parts from the dealer and then getting "superceded" parts that just
weren't right; even they didn't care. Then Charles Runyon and TRF appeared;
Charles cared about supplying the right parts and about the quality of
those parts that he supplied. At that time, he seemed to be the only one
who cared, and I'm not really convinced that that has changed even today.
Yes, Moss carries lots of Triumph parts now, but I still remember the
old days when they cared much more about their MG and Healey customers
than us "Triumph guys". I can still "hear" the sneer over the telephone
that I used to get from the Moss sales reps when I told them that I
wanted to get parts for my TR-3A. (As an aside, I first learned of Moss
while restoring an MG-TD for a friend and got completely different
treatment from those same sales reps when requesting MG parts). That
attitude began to change when Moss bought 'Start Your Engines' and
"acquired" Eric Wilhelm who is a great "Triumph guy", however. I won't
even bother starting on about my feelings about Vicky Brit!
TRF has sponsored our race car for quite a few years now, and I'm
proud to wear their colors because of Charles' attitude about Triumphs.
He was there for us, back when he was the only one who was there for
us. Over the years, I've gotten to know him a bit; while I would
not say that he's a great friend and a good buddy, he does know me and
recognizes me whenever we cross paths at meets and I like him. Frankly,
I enjoyed his little spiel; what's wrong with writing a little piece
to let "us, his customers" know what's on his mind and a little bit
about who he is? At least he's human!
I guess I'll stop rambling on now,
John Lye
'59 TR-3A, '62 TR-4, '70 GT-6+
email: rjl6n@virginia.edu
homepage: http://avery.med.virginia.edu/~rjl6n/homepage.htm
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