I would post to your forum, but not many of the FOT seem top go there. I
doubt that side curtains and cutaway doors are feasible, but a great stylist
could suggest it effectively. Low, simple, relatively cheap, not
overpowered, great handling, and as good a fit to the memory of a TR3 as the
new mini is to the old one? I would buy one immediately. In fact I'd place
my deposit this afternoon. It will save me from building my own semi-modern
TR3 from the remains of my NASCAR TR3 (which is my Plan Du Jour for what I
should do with the poor thing).
I sure wouldn't wait a year. Fifty thousand TR3 fans will die this year. Two
percent of them would have bought their grandkid a TR3C to go to college
with--just for the secondhand pleasure of a properly spent youth.
As for the people in your forum that think the TR6 or 4 is a better
candidate for retro modeling, and any such vehicle should have a V8 dropped
in, words fail me.
Bill
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-fot@Autox.Team.Net [mailto:owner-fot@Autox.Team.Net] On Behalf
Of GRMTim@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2005 5:44 PM
To: fot@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Possibility of rebirth of Triumph?
I had the chance to have dinner with Tom Purvis, president of BMW a couple
of nights ago.
As some may know, he hails from Rover and is quite the British car
enthusiast. I mentioned that I race a TR3 and he admitted a special fondness
for that car. He quickly reminded me that BMW owns the rights to the Triumph
name and hinted that there had been some discussion about bringing the
Triumph name back from the dead. I suggested a retro TR3 looking car based
on the BMW Z-4 with the 2.0 liter four cylinder BMW uses in Europe, since
the original TR3 had a 2.0 liter four cylinder.
Without putting to many words in his mouth he seemed genuinely interested in
this idea and wanted to talk about it further. I told him a year from now,
once the enormity of the new retro Mustangbs success was obvious, would be
a good time to discuss this whole idea some more.
What do you guys think? Would you buy it? What should it cost? Should it be
called the TR1 since the name was never really used or the TR9? Tom
mentioned the enormity of setting up the MINI dealer network and building a
new brand image. What if BMW started a sort of BMC or British Leyland
division again and lumped Triumph in with MINI?
Let's get some dialog going on this and I will get back with Tom Purvis. As
it will be easier to get him to our message board, than to get him to join
FOT and a message board is easier to keep organized than a million emails, I
have started a thread on our message board:
http://www.grmotorsports.com/board/viewtopic.php?p=71447#71447
Please go here and post your ideas. if you participate in any other Triumph
boards, groups sites etc, please also see if you can get them to post their
ideas on this thread. I for one would love a new TR3 looking car with BMW
performance and build quality. This guy seemed genuinely interested. Heck
who knows, maybe we can change the automotive world with our little club of
Triumph wackos! Thanks.
Tim Suddard/Classic Motorsports magazine
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