Recently, I was interested in a '69 Triumph that I saw listed for sale in
Oklahoma. I was having a very difficult time in trying to find someone to
inspect the car via long distance for me. an inspection was vital because
the seller was asking top dollar for what appeared to be a very nice
restoration. I sent an e-mail to the Green Country Triumphs Club, in Broken
Arrow, Oklahoma asking for assistance, when two other attempts to get
someone out to look at the car failed.
To my humble amazement, the President of the club, Sam Clark, offered to go
and personally inspect the car for me, along with an additional club member
who was more familiar with the particular year/model in question. They
insisted that their service be free, and within a few days, performed a very
comprehensive inspection and reported their findings to me.
Not only did the owner learn that his engine has nice, even compression
(yes, they even performed a compression check!), Sam and John were able to
point out details that simply cannot be conveyed via digital photos on the
Internet. Based upon their feedback, more research into the market value of
the vehicle and weighing my own comfort factor, I made the owner what I
considered to be a very reasonable offer, which was rejected. In the end, I
believe that the seller had a very strong emotional attachment to the car,
which was certainly understandable given all the work that he had put into
it. In any event, the deal collapsed with $750 separating us. No harm, no
foul. I moved on and ended up finding a different Triumph that's closer to
what I was looking for to begin with at less than half the cost of the
Oklahoma car. All things being equal, I'm very glad that I waited. Things
turned out for the best.
The real point of my post though, is to publically thank Sam Clark, his wife
Carol and club member John (whose last name I never did learn) for going out
of their way to assist a fellow Triumph enthusiast, expecting absolutely
nothing in return. I'm sending their club a $50 donation this week anyway,
as a small token of my esteem. What these folks did for me was worth a lot
more than $50, so I wanted to also convey my story here as a way to
publically recognize their efforts. The fact that these good folks went out
of their way to assist a complete stranger to them speaks volumes of their
character, goodwill and spirit.
Best wishes,
Jeff in San Diego
'67 RHD Spitfire Mk3
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