jonmac wrote:
> I'll risk a few flames because I've got my facts wrong. AFAIK, there
> are only two left. One of them is pictured in a recent Triumph book -
> I think by Robson - but I can't remember its title. The other is in
> private ownership in the UK and was on display at Gaydon for the 75th
> Anniversary last May. I drooled over it - even though, IMHO the owner
> ought to be shot for keeping such a rare classic in such a mediocre
> state. Bodywork wasn't brilliant and oil leaks everywhere.
John, I disagree with the recommendation of shotting Triumph owners ;-)>
but that's another story...
>However,
> its background. Yes a straight 8 (size I can't remember.)
> I think I'm right in saying the car was constructed under the
> supervision (maybe even the design of Donald Healey) and three were
> made, though I think there were six chassis finished and five engines
> in total. In one of these cars, Healey had a race with a train to a
> level crossing (in France?) - and lost, so that saw off his car.
As an aside, as I recall Donald telling the story (at a VTR meet in the
Pocono Mountains), he thought the supercharger bearing was going bad so
he slowed down. The noise he heard turned out to be the train whistle!
Had he not slowed down, the train would have destroyed much more than
just the _front_ of the car. British automobile history would have been
significantly altered.
Keith Edwards
Suffolk, VA
kedwards@norfolk.infi.net
http://members.tripod.com/~Keith_Edwards/
2 TR3Bs
2 TR4As
1 Austin-Healey 100
1 Austin Princess Vanden Plas (For Sale!)
a few fractional TRs, Healeys, and Hondas laying about...
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