FWIW, Steven I agree with you wholeheartedly. My
first car at the age of 17 in 1978 was a TR6. It was
a 1971 model, in that beautiful @#$% brown color :-)
Were it not for that car, right then at that time in
my life, I might not be the raving Triumphiliac I am
right now as I enter my 41st year.
I drove the living tar out of that car. My '6 taught
me what the laws of physics meant in the real
world--and that there were consequences when you broke
them. I drove that car hard. I broke it, I fixed it,
I broke it again. I drove it 365 days a year (in the
Northeast US!), rain, snow whatever. I even ran tire
chains on her in the winter.
I sold her two years later looking and running no
worse than the day I bought her, save for a little oil
burning from the now almost 100K mile engine. I hope
her next owner got as much from her as I did.
Owning a TR at that age instilled me with a lifelong
love and appreciation for British iron. It taught me
there was an abstract concept called Motoring In
Sporting Style, as opposed to just plain driving. It
taught me about cameraderie among british car owners,
which extended beyond the Triumph marque. It taught
me basic automobile mechanics and maintenance. (It
taught me basic economics too--that diff I toasted
nearly KILLED me financially in '79)
I shudder to think of what might have come of me had
my first car been something my family would have
actually approved of, like a nice Ford Granada...
Egad!
I know that some TRs in younger hands will not
survive, and I can accept that. Heck, many in older
hands meet an untimely end as well, I'm afraid. The
rarer cars and restored examples are getting pricey
and out of reach of the younger buyer. They will
likely be safe from our "unwashed" youth. The rougher
TR series and the Spitfires are still fairly
affordable however. I say let them go to the young!
I'd not dissuade any interested youngster from making
the commitment to own one. As a matter of fact I'd
encourage young drivers to own cars like ours,
machines capable of teaching
such a profound curriculum as our little cars can,
with one proviso: We all ought to do our part to
EDUCATE them about the trials of ownership. Owning a
TR is NOT like owning a Civic, or any other modern car
for that matter. If you can convince them they are
buying a _companion_ rather than a _device_, then
you've done your job!
I've seen a few Spits lately with young 20-something
drivers. NONE of them have coffee-can exhast tips,
huge plastic spoilers or are rolling billboards for
speed products.
It's the young enthusiasts of today--and THEIR kids--
that will be loving and maintaining these cars long
after we've departed.
Fred Marks
--- Steven Newell <steven@cravetechnology.com> wrote:
> Kirk Yonker suggested an age discount for VTR
> conventions to encourage
> 21 y.o. and younger participation in VTR, and Kai
> provided a long reply
> asking us to actively *discourage* younger owners.
>
> While Kai comes with a finer pedigree than me (as I
> have only Chevettes
> and other small hatchbacks in my blood) <g> I have
> to respectfully
> disagree.
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