TeriAnn,
As I was reading your great message about the choice between a "driver" and
"show" car, I kept saying to myself "you can do both!" And of course you
can! It just takes some original paint for touch up to hide the rock chips,
a lot of hard work when it is time to go to a concours or a little less work
for a club show! I enjoyed showing my "Concours winning" TR3 a lot and of
course I drove it a lot. From the SF bay area to VTR at Portland, OR;
Triumphest at San Diego, CA; All Triumph Drive-In at Vancouver, BC, All
British Car Show at Davis, CA; and from Scottsdale, AZ; Triumphest at
Laughlin, NV and at Lake Tahoe, CA; plus a ton of local events both in CA
and AZ.
As some of may know I recently sold my TR3 and now I am "restoring" a TR250.
Not a "restored as original" like the TR3 was, but with many modern
upgrades; i.e..; Dan Master's wire harness, tubular shocks, custom beige
vinyl/leather interior, non-stock exterior paint color (late Lexus Midnight
Blue?), Minilite wheels, stereo/CD, etc. etc. My plan for the 250 is to make
it a very reliable and comfortable driver. It should still turn heads and
with my compulsiveness still unabated, it should be a striking car and a
winner in all but a full Concours!
Regards and wish me luck,
Jim Bauder
'58 TR3 (Sold and now just a memory!)
'68 TR250 (Almost ready for paint!)
Scottsdale, AZ
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-triumphs@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-triumphs@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of TeriAnn Wakeman
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 8:13 AM
To: Triumph TR3A
Subject: Re: TR3A Body Queries
>>Don't really know what I'm getting at here but I guess that I would be
reluctant to do
>>that again as being compared to those perfectly restored cars
> It upsets me too,
The first thing you need to do is decide the purpose of the vehicle. Is
it to be a show car or a daily driver?
> For that reason (and the fact I've never finished it), I'm very
> reluctant to show my car. I generally park it on the street and enjoy
> looking at all the perfectly restored cars anyway.
...I enjoy the show cars but I enjoy the daily drivers
more. I know there are a few individuals who can build a show car, put
lots of miles on it and still somehow manage to maintain it to look like
a show car (Hi Jim) but those people seem to be few and far between.
What saddens me as someone who loves to drive her TR3 is the change of
club focus I've seen from driving events to show events. I'm not trying
to judge other's preferences, just a personal sense of loss of a group
activity I enjoyed.
>I think many people (myself included) come across as being
> critical when that really isn't the intention.
I often do that too when I come across a 3 rebuilt for field meets and I
dislike that tendency in myself. I just somehow feel compelled to judge
a "show" 3 against what I remember of the TRA concourse book.
>not that there's anything
> actually wrong with having it that way if you want to.
I full agree. If you decide to build a TR that would get a gold at a
club funcourse don't let people like me phase you. Its my problem, not
yours nor your cars.
TeriAnn
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