Triumph

Hold this spot on your calendars! Details of Triumphest 2017 will be coming soon … Triumphests provide us the thrill and memory of driving our cars to a destination just like the “old days”. When we get to the Triumphest we will enjoy the many events, the ‘Funcours’ car judging,Autocross timed racing, Funkhana and the awards banquet. As well as the great opportunity to meet with old friends, see what others have done with their cars, talk first-hand with the ‘Roadster Factory’ and ‘Moss Motors’ our major parts suppliers and schmooze with all the people in the west-coast Triumph world.

Painesville is located just outside of the Ohio Wine Country along the wild and scenic Grand River in the eastern part of Lake County. Painesville is nestled 30 miles east of the center of Cleveland where you will find the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Great Lakes Science Center, the second largest theater district in the country, and a myriad of museums and cultural sites. Lake County is a few miles west of Ashtabula County with its 18 picturesque covered bridges. In Lake County, Lake Erie East’s Coastal Getaway, you can explore an abundance of shopping, play a round of golf, taste the wines, visit microbreweries – distilleries, inspect the 3,500 acres of display gardens at the Holden Arboretum or do absolutely nothing at all but sit on the coast and enjoy the sights and sounds of Lake […]

The 14th Annual Kastner Cup will be hosted by Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) as a part of the David Love Memorial Races, April 1-3, 2016 at Sonoma Raceway. All Triumph-powered racecars with a current racing log book are eligible. The Kastner Cup race honors the legendary, R.W. “Kas” Kastner, a championship winning driver and team manager who led the U.S. Triumph racing program to countless victories through the 60’s and 70’s. Kas himself will present the cup to the racer he selects to receive this coveted award. Sonoma wine country is filled with activities, great food, and unrivaled natural beauty. If you are a Triumph owner or British car fanatic, don’t miss this event! The CSRG David Love Memorial Races is a very popular and well-attended event. Typically more than 175 race cars participate, divided into eight run groups […]

All Triumph-powered race cars with a current racing log book are invited to the 14th Annual Kastner Cup, hosted by Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) as part of the David Love Memorial Races April 1-3, 2016 at Sonoma Raceway. The event typically draws more than 175 race cars that are divided into eight-run groups ranging from production sports cars to Can-Am racers. About the Kastner Cup The Kastner Cup race honors the legendary R.W. “Kas” Kastner, a championship winning driver and team manager who led the U.S. Triumph racing program to numerous victories through the 1960’s and 1970’s. Kas will select the racer to receive this coveted award and present the cup. The Cup is awarded to one Triumph Competitor each year. First awarded at Mosport Canada in 2003 and then each year after at a different track around the USA. It […]

Hosted by Triumph Sports Car Club of San Diego at the Hilton Del Mar Hotel on the coast adjacent to Del Mar Fair Grounds and Race Track with Traditional and New Events. Autocross and Funcours with social events and ‘great drives’ to some of San Diego’s 90+ Micro-Breweries or Temecula Valley Wine Country.  A coastal drive will highlight the scenic beauty of San Diego with opportunities for optional tours of USS MIDWAY Aircraft Carrier Museum and cocktail or dinner cruises aboard Hornblower Yachts.  We hope you will join us for three or four fun-filled days of Triumphs and Camaraderie – Don’t forget to hone your dart throwing skills too, or join us for terrific tech sessions!

Billed as the largest British car gathering west of the Mississippi, the Portland All-British Field Meet regularly draws well over 800 cars for the weekend long event. This year the meet will be held Friday, August 29 through Sunday, August 31, 2014. The weekend kicks off with the Friday Welcome Party, followed by the Saturday car show, which includes a BBQ, a slalom competition, People’s Choice balloting, a Funkhana, a huge photo concours, a Best in Show designation and a Land Rover Adventure Ride sponsored  by the Pacific Coast Rover Club. Sunday’s activities include a Rallye, a swap meet and an off road excursion for registered Land Rovers. In conjunction with the event, SOVREN will be holding the Columbia River Classic vintage races. SOVREN, the Society Of Vintage Racing ENthusiasts, is a Seattle based non-profit racing organization with members throughout Washington, Oregon, […]

A milestone in the UK’s illustrious sports car history is being sold by a Sussex classic cars specialist. The fully restored Triumph Spitfire was the first to come off the production line at its factory in Coventry. Lewes-based Sussex Sports Cars is marketing it online on behalf of its owner, a Swiss financial consultant. The firm’s Gerry Wadman said the owner, who restored the vehicle using Triumph parts, is asking £45,000 for the hand-built two-seater. The car was assembled at the Standard-Triumph Canley plant in Coventry in 1962 – the very first in a marque that was to help transform the ailing firm’s fortunes. Boasting chassis number FC1, it generated interest at that year’s Motor Show in Earls Court, as a rival to the Austin Healy Sprite and MG Midget. Its original retail price of £641 meant that unusually, it was a quality […]

You may think of the French as producing the most strikingly streamlined cars of the 1930s, in lyric teardrop bodies hammered out with doses of Italian style and German science. But in his book “Art Deco and British Car Design: The Airline Cars of the 1930s“, Barrie Down reminds us that streamline design was the rage among car buffs everywhere in the ’30s, even in upright, country-house, Evelyn Waugh Britain. Mr. Down reminds us that at the same time streamline cars were going on the market, ocean liners and trains were being streamlined, the better to compete with the nascent airline industry. His book also reminds us that the automobile industry of the time in Britain had yet to embrace mass production. Cars were sold to the few, and the sellers were coachbuilders as much as chassis or engine makers. […]

Hagerty, those fine purveyors of classic car insurance, have put together their list of the top ten British cars that you should buy now – before their values go up even higher. While they are all fantastic, of course, I am not sure I totally agree with the ones they include, nor especially the ones Hagerty left off. Much like the earlier mentioned contest for the “Best British Sport Car”, this is a fun list to fight over more than anything. I don’t know of anyone who would actually use this as their shopping list. And if there were someone with that kind of money, they probably already have that list in their head anyway. So, what do you think of the list? What would you put on that isn’t listed, or take off that is here? 1968-2006 Morgan Plus […]

Over thirty rare, unusual and beautiful sports and racing cars manufactured in England will be on display at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Pennsylvania from February 20th through March 14th, 2010. Titled the “Best of Britain,” the show is comprised of cars from individual collectors in the mid-Atlantic states and is intended to illustrate why the adjective “British” is inseparable from the term “sports car.” Cars in the show include a 1935 Triumph Gloria Southern Cross that was once part of the Henry Ford Museum, a 1960 MGA Twin Cam Coupe that raced at Sebring, and a 1966 Aston Martin DB6, one of the most potent sports cars of its era. The poster car, a 1933 Squire is the first of only seven ever built, and is considered by many to be among the most beautiful British sports cars […]

I just realized that I never published any story on the front page of JustBritish about my current projects. There are links to them over there on the right, but you may never have scanned down. Anyway, I am currently restoring a 1973 MG Midget and behind that waits a 1962 Triumph TR4. Both are pretty far gone and will take a good bit of work, although I personally believe they are not as bad as they look. My wife seems to differ with that opinion – as is normal. My goal, whatever that is worth, is to have the Midget on the road before year’s end. It may not be perfect, but I would like to be able to drive it. After that, I need to start the slower and more expensive work on the TR4. The general hope […]

Each year, five big West Coast Triumph clubs get together to hold a major event they call Triumphest. And every year, the Vintage Triumph Register holds its national meet, called the North American Triumph Challenge. This year, the two events will join together in San Luis Obispo, California, for one giant weekend of Triumph fun, from September 30 through October 4. Called Triumphest 2009, the event has all the makings of the largest gathering ever of Triumphs in North America. The event has everything you would expect, and some things you might not. Of course there’s a concours, with every variety of sporting Triumph, as well as an autocross, a funkhana, tech sessions, a time-speed-distance rally and a rally that’s just for fun. There’s also a Le Mans start contest, a “walking rally” through lovely San Luis Obispo, dinner cruises […]

I admit to being more susceptible to Triumph restoration stories these days, but this one is especially nice. What a beautiful TR3 Dennis Morrison has. The story in the Wakefield Wicked Local starts out this way… Dennis Morrison of Wakefield developed a passion for British Triumph sports cars in high school, and they have been a part of his life ever since. While working at Metcalf & Eddy in Wakefield as the chief financial officer, a co-worker helped make his retirement dream come true. He was given a 1960 Triumph TR3A two years ago that was garaged for about 25 years in Concord. The beat-up car that endured New England winters in a garage that was partially opened became a first place winner last week at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline. Read the complete story in “Victory for […]

An interesting article from The Yuma Sun …. Stan Gourley is a man who obviously loves cars, particularly his 1970 Triumph TR6. The car sits in his garage, partially restored. “You know,” Gourley said, looking at his jasmine yellow car, “it’s really sad to think that in 20 or 30 years this TR-6 would probably be a Chevrolet Camaro or a Pontiac GTO or an Oldsmobile 442.” Gourley, a man who knows British sports cars, explains that he thinks what happened to the British Leyland Co. back in the ’70s and what is occurring to General Motors now is too similar to be ignored. “They were a giant company that dominated the market for British cars in the ’60s and ’70s, but then they had real labor problems, the government nationalized the companies, then guaranteed billions of dollars in bailout […]

Just noticed on Craigslist this morning that there is a 1974 Triumph Spitfire being offered for a good price. I know nothing about this car and have no interest in its sale, so please use the contact info in the ad! The ad says the car is in Charleston, SC, but I have no idea where that phone number goes…. This car is a great fixxer upper. Needs paint and body work has 95% of the parts this is a steal at 800.00 If interested call 1-423-277-9273. Needs some mechanic work. Basically needs to be put together.

The opening round of the Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship has attracted a sensational 83-car field to the Bulldog Historic Rally (Saturday 28 March). Three former British champions and four former British historic champions are all in the entry for the event that tackles 50 miles of prime Welsh forest roads in just four special stages. It promises to be a fabulous start to the 2009 season. Category 1 Category one is for the oldest cars, from the pre ’68 era, and they run first on the road with a short gap before the rest of the historic field. Top of the tree is the Porsche 911 of former champions Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride, but they can expect a stern challenge from the similar car of team mates Stuart Rolt/Richard Pomfret, making a rare but welcome BHRC appearance. Lining up […]

The Chicago Sun-Times Auto section recently published an interesting article on the beloved Triumph Spitfire. The Spitfire is a great care that seems to be fading farther and farther from view. The Sun-Times article begins, “The plucky Triumph Spitfire sports car was cheap, fun and wore a body from Italian master stylist Giovanni Michelotti. It met growing demand for smaller, lower-priced sports cars from those who couldn’t afford larger, costlier ones, such as the Austin-Healey or even the Triumph TR4. It arrived in 1962 and lasted with updates through 1980 — an especially long run.” “The Spitfire got its name from a famous World War II British fighter plane. It initially cost less than $2,200 mostly because it was derived from the small Triumph Herald family car. It was developed shortly before England’s financially troubled Standard-Triumph was bought by England’s […]

Ok, I know things have been going up in price and that Triumphs have really been undervalued for a very long time, but $44,000 for a TR-4A really is a lot of money. This one was beautiful though, with surrey top and everything. Check out the full story here at Autoweek, and please let me know what you think!