TR Action 228
Good news; Paul has had his TR4A painted in its original colour, Conifer Green, and hopes to have his restoration finished in time for our July meeting. Also, Chris, Paul’s brother, hopes to have his TR4A painted and completed a short while after. Chris (TR250) has also nearly completed his restoration of his Mimosa TR6. If it goes on like this, I shall have to ask the landlord of the Royal Oak to have his car park extended to accommodate all these additional TRs. Bad news: Andy (TR6) has broken his ankle, and is muttering on about fitting an auto gearbox to his car, as he is suffering withdrawal symptoms.
A potential new member, Nigel, rang me recently saying he was very interested in buying a TR6 and was wanting to know the ups and downs of having a nearly forty years old sports car. I immediately invited him over and pointed out some of the pitfalls, particularly the rust and corrosion that these cars are prone to. Nigel also attended our May meeting at the Royal Oak. At our June meeting we had the pleasure of welcoming two more new members. Firstly, Kevin who has a very low mileage TR6 in Jasmine. Kevin is looking at fitting an electric fan and our members were only too willing to offer him loads of advice on this subject. Secondly, we had Brian who was accompanied by his wife June; they also have a TR6. Brian is making enquiries about a trip to Le Mans. It is always heart-warming to have new members on board and they always receive a typical White Rose welcome.
On 15th June, some of our members, myself included, will have partaken in the annual Clowne School Heritage Fifth Classic Tour of the Peak Rally, to raise funds for the school’s computer studies. This rally is organised by Tony Parkes and has an entry of over seventy cars, including fifteen TRs. It is a superb day out, including a lunch stop at Chatsworth House. It is very laid back and a barrel of laughs, particularly when you have a navigtor called Stuart (TR6) who has never used or even heard of a Tulip road map.
Our next event is a trip to Clumber Park on our July meeting night, from our headquarters at the Royal Oak. We shall meet up at 7.30pm and sample the delights of cream teas or a few pints (probably the latter) having driven around Robin Hood country and made a dash back to our headquarters for the last pint.
Bruce (immaculate blue TR3A) has kindly added to our members’ cars section in our very own White Rose group web site. If anyone else wishes to contribute, let me have a short letter with a picture of your car, and I will do the rest.
Finally, on behalf of our members, I would like to wish Chris Cunnington well in his new position of Chairman and welcome to our new General Manager, Allen Forster.
TR Action 227
Our meetings at the Royal Oak, Ulley, improve with every month; the camaraderie needs to be experienced to be believed, and with an expected improvement in the weather, who knows what will happen next? The downside is that, despite my name dropping and hints etc, still no members queue up to buy me a pint.
In early March we had our first trip out in TRs, to Daryl Uprichard at Racetorations. Fifteen members came out, and it was extremely successful. Daryl knows his TRs and we were very impressed with the standard of work carried out by his company. What particularly turned our members on was the TR6 Talisman that Daryl had especially built and extreme modified for a customer. What bhp does a standard TR6 produce – 150? Well, Daryl commented that this car was capable of reaching above twice the national speed limit. Phew. We were also pleased to find that we could visit any part of the workshop without any restrictions and ask any questions of both Daryl and his workforce.
Early April we took a trip out to Steve Hall at TR Enterprises; Steve also let us have free rein to visit every part of his workshop. Steve is well known for his exploits in classic car rallying and we were very impressed with his latest project, a full blown TR8 rally car, and he had his rally prepared TR4 lurking in the wings. There was also a high spec TR250 along with an exceedingly nice Doretti in his workshop. Steve related a story on the powder blue rally prepared TR4 in his workshop that had suffered an exploding gearbox whilst being driven; it had let go in a big way with the overdrive separating itself at high speed and finishing up in the cockpit of the car. Incredible that neither driver nor passenger was seriously injured. The remnants of the gearbox need to be seen to be believed.
John (TR7) and his wife accompanied us on this trip and later in the pub his wife informed me that she was a mental nurse. I couldn’t resist saying that she was in good company, then.
Both Paul and Chris are working overtime to complete the restorations of their TR4As in readiness for the long hot summer (we hope). Andy (TR6) has fitted new throttle bodies and completed the interior trim and is back on the road. Chris (TR250) is currently fitting a surrey to his car. My TR5 body shell has finally arrived back resplendent in Signal red and I have already started to fit the shiny bits. With a little luck and a fair wind I hope to have it on the road very soon.
At the April meeting I handed out a newsletter to members and have also posted this on the website. Do have a look and if you have any suggestions or items you would like to see on our web pages, please make contact; my contact details are in WOHFTB.
TR Action 226
Our February meeting enjoyed another bumper turnout. Ken (TR6) even turned up in his car, although it was freezing, and he does not own a hood for his car. There were mutterings that he was losing it, but I think Ken is putting us all to shame.
My yearly visit to Stoneleigh in the company of Andy (TR6) was most enjoyable. Attendance at the show was up by a large margin, and a lot of old acquaintances were renewed. I met Johannes Siomos, one of our German overseas members whom I had saw at Malvern 2007 - he was one of the few TR5 owners who managed to get there, despite the floods. I just mentioned offhandedly that I was looking for an original gearlever knob for my TR5. Immediately Johannes said he had one, and after an exchange of addresses the gearlever knob arrived within a few short days. The camaraderie that exists between TR owners is amazing, and I am most grateful to Johannes for his extremely kind gesture. In the meantime, I once again spent another small fortune on spares to complete the restoration of my TR5.
Andy also taught me how to get to grips with my new SatNav, so that for the first time I did not get lost, and managed to arrive home a lot earlier than usual.
A couple of members have suggested that our previously cancelled meetings at the Mayflower in Austerfield on the third Tuesday of the month be restarted. I am all for it, so if sufficient interest is shown I will have a word with the licensee at the Mayflower. Please let me know your thoughts asap.
Paul (TR4A & TR2) floated what I think is a great idea – that we place a spare parts wish list on our White Rose web pages. If any of our members make contact with me with details, I will have their wish list/parts for exchange placed on our web pages.
Stuart, our events co-ordinator, has been busy and has posted a long list of events such as car shows/rallies/days out/various runs on our White Rose web site. If any of these grab you, contact myself or Stuart and we will gather more information on them.
By the time you read this, we will have had our first two events in 2008: a trip to Racetorations and a trip to TR Enterprises, on which I will report more fully next time.
Also by then, I will have visited HQ for our yearly group leaders’ seminar. Any relevant points raised I will communicate with yourselves at the April meeting.
I have located a TR4A that is reputedly the second off the production line. This car has good bodywork but the engine has a broken crank, and the interior is not good. It has an A type overdrive. If anyone has an interest, please contact me. I have no financial interest/involvement as it was reported to me by the garage repainting my TR5.
