Triumph

Date Acquired:

01 Mar 2007

Year:

1968

Cost:

Fuel consumption:

19 mpg

Odometer:

18,480

Servicing:

Annual Insurance:

£266

Other costs:

£3 lead additive

Pulling out of Oulton Park after watching the Aston Martin Owner's Club day, the traffic was understandably heavy. On getting to the end of the coach road the blue Frogeye in front flicks his left indicator on and darts off down the main road. Knowing a short-cut to bypass the traffic, I do the same. One right turn later sees us dumped straight into traditional '60s sports car territory - a bumpy back road....Brilliant!

On cue, a big puff of smoke from the exhaust signifies that Frogeye man has dropped a cog and gunned it. 'You're not getting away from me, sunshine!' and with that, my right foot sees the bulkhead. It was at this point that I realised his wife must have bought him a book entitled, 'How to tune your A-Series' as the way the little blue Sprite piled on speed signified considerably more than the 43 bhp they came with as standard! The way it cornered reasonably flat indicated that Mrs Frogeye had also sanctioned spending the kid's Christmas money on stiffer suspension. Game on!

Overtaking slower moving traffic was a joy as the classic double take from slow moving road users gave us the hint that they weren't expecting that on their routine Saturday drive to the farm shop! I did feel quite bad about it though, purely because although the TR isn't a big car, it looked like a big bad grizzly chasing a startled rabbit - that Frogeye was tiny!

 Over bumps and crests, round sweeping bends and tight corners, the Frogeye carried good speed and the TR was absolutely locked onto its curvy arse. To every input I made, the car reacted instantaneously. Through one section I was on the brakes and hit a slight depression, a shock went right through the structure and pulled the wheel in my hands. I didn't back off though and just planted my right foot on the throttle, the back sat down and the revs climbed towards the sweet spot... I grinned like a loon. Ultimately, we did indeed beat most of the traffic and all without breaking the limit. Unfortunately, it would appear the one thing we did break was the Frogeye. My brother rang me afterwards to ask if I'd seen the blue Sprite that had died on the way back...now I really did feel guilty. What a drive though!

Therein lies the beauty of classic cars. They can hold your attention on the act of driving just by feeding almost everything back to the driver - they have a certain character that most modern cars seem to be lacking. Hit a pothole and the car displays its disapproval by shimmying off your desired course, brake mid-corner and it punishes you for your lack of thought and clumsy input. Although wearing, it could never be described as 'dull'. It's a sensations thing.

This has led me to use the TR at every available opportunity, as I've started to crave that character more and more. I don't feel that it will give the car a 'tired' feel, as I don't abuse it as such. Unlike a TR5 race car I was looking at recently. 'Tired' would be polite. It had been a racer since the early 1970s, meaning over 30 years hammering round various racetracks in varying weather conditions, swapping paint and braking late. When I saw it, it was having a battle royal with an MGB V8, the big steel bonnet was peeling up at the edges and the nose was pointing skywards as the driver kept his foot in when lesser men would have lifted. Then it struck me, would the car prefer this life to being a garage queen? I think we all know the answer and with that, I'm off to put some miles on what my girlfriend now refers to as 'Popeye' on account of his bulging body...

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