On Sat, 27 Feb 1999, maineac wrote:
> ...I still
> remember trying to get head studs for my (then) 12 year old TR3 at a
> Triumph dealership, and being treated like some exotic insect / pest who
> may as well have asked for a chunk of moon rock.
Hmmm, I suppose then, as now, there was a wide variety of quality "at the
counter" as it were. Apparently we in upstate NY (Albany area) were
fortunate in having a couple of long-established Triumph dealers -- NOT
the kind who picked up the line for a year or two, then dropped it in
favor of Peugeot or whatever.
Specifically, we had one parts dept. manager in particular who was VERY,
VERY GOOD INDEED at procuring whatever was available. As an example, a
somewhat naive 19-year-old went to him one day to get the fuel pipe (with
fitting) from the gas tank to the first connection on my 1960 TR3A. I got
the factory part in about a week or so. (Guess I should have tried at
that point to order a new chassis frame for dad's '64 Herald 1200, huh?)
We also had a couple of very good independent suppliers of foreign car
parts in the area at the time (still do, actually, although I don't think
they do much Triumph business any more). They, too, were very good at
obtaining whatever was available, save for "dealer-only" items.
> It's easy to criticize
> now, but I can't imagine where the hobby would be without the "Big 3".
I couldn't agree more! It's likely that somewhere is one guy who had the
foresight (or supreme lack of judgment) to rescue the pile of NOS Dyna
Panhard and Simca Aronde spares from a dumpster in the early 1970s; all
you need to do is find that guy. We're rather more fortunate with cars
such as Triumph sports cars: 1. because they have remained popular; and
2. the "family" cars on which they were often so closely based also
remain somewhat popular and were produced in numbers sufficient enough to
yield a market for both used and new replacement parts. One wonders if
Open Rekord or Kadette (perhaps even GT) owners are as fortunate.
--Andy
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* Andrew Mace, President and *
* 10/Herald/Vitesse (Sports 6) Consultant *
* Vintage Triumph Register <www.vtr.org> *
* amace@unix2.nysed.gov *
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