First Annual British Car Week 1997

We have posted the British Car Week listing on The Roadster Factory web site and I have bookmarked it on my own system at home so that I can watch the progress.

Although the week doesn't start for a few more months, I thought I would share my experiences to get the ball (tyres) rolling. I'm sure you won't mind an early experience........

Charles Runyan and I strongly believe in driving British sports cars as much and as often as possible. Charles logs 15,000+ miles on his TR5 every year and I do the same kind of mileage between my 1974 TR6 and my 1958 TR3. I take our TR6 on vacation every year, shipping clothes and beach chairs ahead via UPS, and Charles and I drive our cars all over the country for car shows - Florida, Texas, Arizona, California, etc. A properly maintained Triumph or MG is just as reliable as any car. And considerably more fun!

Alas, toward the end of November, the weather in Pennsylvania gets to the point where the cars have to go away for the winter. We keep our cars insured and ready to go for the first hint of spring, or for unseasonably mild weather.

We had such a week this past week. I was waiting in line at the car wash to give my CRX an annual hose down when I heard that the temperature that day was to be 64 degrees. I left the line and headed home to swap the Honda for the TR6. The weather was mild enough the rest of the week to drive the TR6 to work each day, a distance of 18 miles between Indiana, PA and Armagh.

Having driven the TR6 for a solid week in January does not mean that I won't have it out during British Car Week! You can count on me to drive the TR6 or one of the other British cars in the family every opportunity that comes along. With any kind of luck, we will continue to have mild winter weather here in western Pennsylvania.

Good luck with British Car Week.

Best Regards,

John Swauger

Sales Manager
The Roadster Factory

Your story reminds me of one opportunity not missed as a youth. During the late '60's, at the age of 17, I climbed into my freshly restored Bugeye one July morning and headed west (from Detroit). Later that day I was in Chicago,soon to be followed in the coming days by St. Louis, Tulsa, Oklahoma City,Tuscon, Pheonix, Albuquerque, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, just to name a few. I spent approximately six weeks traveling Route 66 and 70 that summer. Most of the time I camped out somewhere, sometimes snoozing by day and traveling by night. Everyday was an adventure. I'm not sure that my backside would tolerate that sort of adventure these days, but I'm sure glad I followed my dream then. I've had all the other excuses to keep me home since then. This summer will be the first year since 1980 that I'll have a complete and running Bugeye. This time I get to share it with my kids.

Gerard Chateauvieux

One of the benefits of driving these cars:

As I was driving the MGA home from work yesterday, I drove past an elderly gentleman wearing pajamas, using a walker and oxygen tank, walking out to the street to check his mailbox. The guy hears my car, looks up, and gives me a big smile and thumbs up!

Driving the A always brings a smile to my face, but it's icing on the cake when it does that for others.

Kevin Sullivan -- 1960 MGA
[email protected]
Khoral Research Inc.
www.khoral.com/staff/kevins/mgstuff
Albuquerque NM USA
1960 MGA
1957 Magnette ZB

This would be a perfect opportunity to relate the story of my first test drive in my 1974 MGB roadster....

A friend of a friend clued me into the location of this car. I had a '77 that needed some serious work to be functional again, and I was looking for parts. That's how I heard of the recently restored roadster sitting in the field. I thought parts car before I saw it.

The PO apparently had replaced the rusty panels, rockers, and floors, then sprayed the car black. He planned on getting it inspected and fully restored, but he didn't have the title, according to my friend's story. "You'll have a hard time getting a title for it, so don't get your hopes up." said my Dad. His words were all but forgotten as I rounded the bend of the small hillock and spied the forlorn little car sitting under an apple tree. He was shiny black, which was a nice contrast to his dull black top. The owner was not home, so I walked across the chilly morning frost to look at the '74 'B

As I got closer, I marveled at the originality of the car - all gauges in place, and the odometer reading only 72,000 miles! The car was freshly painted, and obviously not a parts car. I ducked my head into some stiff weeds to look at the underbody. The frame was showing some mild surface rust where the undercoat scraped off, but the floors were brand new metal! The car was safe to sit in, so I opened the driver's side door. It flung open with a terrible screech. "Misaligned hinges," I thought, as I sat down and shut the door with a crunch.

The clutch pedal had a nice pressure to it, but the brakes were flimsy - a leak, somewhere. The gas pedal was pleasantly springy, and the shifter moved without difficulty. The seats were faded and torn, original autumn leaf I presumed. Only the transmission tunnel was carpeted, and very poorly. All of the interior panels were gone also. I sat there, and without thinking, began to make 'vrooom, snick, vrooooooom' noises, as I pretended I was blowing down the highway, passing cars. Out of nowhere, a voice said "Wanna take 'er for a spin?" I looked up to see the owner grinning in the rolled-down window. We chatted about the car for some time, and he told me everything he knew about it.

He went through it's unlikely sale, the restoration, and all the new parts and panels. He'd like to sell it, he said, but he never got the title transfered, and he lost touch with the original owner. He also claimed that some 'gremlins' had overtaken the engine, causing it to seriously backfire. He thought it was the timing chain, I figured it needed new points.

He popped the hood to check the fluid levels, and my jaw dropped. The engine was complete and very original! When the owner went for an air compressor to pump the tires on the all-black rostyles, I pored over the engine. Each vacuum hose was there, perfect for 1974! He came back with an air compressor, a small battery, and two canisters. As he pumped up the tires, I filled the brake master cylinder - I was right, the rear driver's side wheel cylinder was leaking slightly. When we finished, he grabbed the keys, hooked up the battery, and urged me to shoot some starting fluid into the SU's. After a few weary cranks, the car fired up!

The racket was terrible! The idle was high, and there was a serious miss. Black carbon smoke blew out the tailpipe. We let the car run for a few minutes, and he suggested a spin down the old farm road. It was a large private road, so neither of us were worried about police or traffic. I voiced my concern over the brakes, but he said, and I quote, "Ahhh, they all leak a little."

We hopped in, myself in the driver's seat and the PO riding shotgun. I found that to stop with any degree of skill, I needed to pump the brake. After the first turn, I knew I would own the car. The terrible backfire increased, so I kept the speed to a minimum. Cruising down the large hill past his farm was a pure thrill! The top was down, and the icy December air blew on the back of my neck, ensuring some stiffness tomorrow! I looked at the speedo, which read about 50 mph, so I started to pump the brakes. The car slowed until I heard a 'sploosh' emanate from the rear wheel well, at which point the brake pedal hit the floor, and my undies got soaked. "The rear wheel cylinder just blew" the genius told me, as I pondered the road we were on. Frozen dirt, two lanes, trees to both sides. There was no bailing out on this one. I started to downshift into second when the engine let loose a terrible belch from under it's bonnet. I assumed that backfiring through the carbs was the main reason the air cleaners were off. Time and space were running out, as I would come to a main road in a few moments, and I had no desire to push my luck with traffic. I put the car into second, despite it's nasty protests, and warned my co-pilot to hang on. I gripped the handbrake as hard as I could, locking one back wheel. The other would have locked, had it not been for decades-old DOT-3 splattered all over the drum. The car did two full spins in the middle of the road before sliding to a stop.

I was still alive, as was my co-pilot. The car had slid nose-first off the hardpacked road, and was halfway into the high weeded border that fronted the woods. Still running, the car launched a few bronx cheers at our stop. The trip back up to his house was silent, save the exhaust. We inched up the hill, not wanting to press our luck again. As I shut the car off, one final backfire hit our ears. There it sat, smoking, stinking, dripping, and scratched.

The owner slipped wordlessly into his house and returned moments later with two beers. He sat on his porch and wiped the sweat from his forehead. I sat next to him and, after tasting his beer, spoke to him. "$400 cash enough?" "Sold" he said wearily. "Sold."

Michael S. Lishego
St. Andrews Presbyterian College
Elementary Education Major,
English Minor, Class of 1999
R.A. of Winston-Salem Hall

I bought the Robin (1977 Reliant Robin 850, lhd) last year in late August. Rather than begin the restoration immediately and lose valuable driving time, I decided to just do the required tuneup and drive it until cold weather set in.

I drove the Robin to a local car show in September, with no intention of entering the event. I parked and went to view the array of vintage Detroit iron. Twenty minutes later i returned to find a crowd of people around the car. The wife and a few others pleaded with me to enter the car in the "special interest" class. So I did. I didn't win anything, but I spent the next 4 hours answering questions from the crowds that gathered around the car. I had more people around my LBC than most of the other entries combined!

That is why I drive an LBC.

[email protected]

I pulled into a Sears parking lot early one morning. As I was getting out of my car a sweet little gray haired lady (75 if a day ) was getting into her Buick,. Walking by her she caled to me and asked" Excuse me, what brand of auto is that ?" "A Morgan" I replied "Was it made in England ?" she asked Shocked that she would know it as a LBC I answered 'yes'. "I thought so", she said " you have that same SH*T EATING GRIN my husband always had whenever he drove his MG."

Bob Nogueira

Just picked up your thread about the need for stories during BCW. Don't know if you've seen them already but I've written 14 (so far) called 'Life at Triumph' which you are more than welcome to link into if you wish. You'll find the site at http://www.toolbox.ndirect.co.uk/stories More are in the process of being written so this is a site for bookmarking by readers after BCW is finished.

Regards,

John Macartney

Back in 1965, owned since new '63 TR3B. Drove 45 miles from my home in N.Y. to N. J. to visit family. Returning back to Dads house in N.J. Saturday nite, linkage from acellerator pedal to SU carbs broke. Limped to Dads house only going 5-10mph. Next day (Sunday) had to get back to N.Y. to go to work. Of course no repair shops open on Sunday. Yankee ingenuity prevailed as I spotted a clothline tree that had the small diameter vinyl coated rope. The line I threaded under the windscreen rubber moulding & thru the bonnet slits you see from inside the TR3B. Then after raising the hood, line was attached to the carb linkage. Put bonnet (hood) down started TR & pulled on rope which became my acellerator. Tied rope around wrist & shifted left handed but was able to get back to N.Y. 45 miles North on Palisades Pkwy. Used rope to get to work in AM where welder repaired broken linkage.

Still own LBC's 1- 63TR3B (Not same one as in above) 1- TR3A show car & 1- 81TR8 Fi DHC which I also show at the annual VTR Conventions. These Triumphs are still fun to drive & more dependable than most people think. Both the wife & I have driven the TR3's for 20 years as daily drivers. And the TR8 has made 3 long trips to the VTR Shows putting over 20,000 miles on it since 1995. Keep these TR's on the road!!

Ron & Michele Bonelli
Las Vegas,Nv.
TR [email protected]

Just stumbled across your site from the TRF site.

I just purchased a 74 TR6 from Vince and Chris Longo in Pittsburgh. It's a little rough in the body, but I was assured a strong runner. Well, I took this car cross country the long way back to Seattle without a hiccup (OK, a flat tyre, but c'mon this does happen to all cars).

I documented the trip at http://home1.gte.net/klym/jk_ride_home.html

Enjoy... I can't wait for the summer sun!

John Klym
Seattle, WA
[email protected]