Well I may as well jump in too. In a little less than a month I'll be 59. My
first LBC experience was when my older brother in 1962 brought home a 1955
Austin Healey 100-4. It was well spent by the time he got it. I learned a lot
about mechanics working on that car. He later bought a 100-6 and then a 64 BRG
TR4. All the while I was driving my 1937 Chevy, which was way too much fun for
a high school kid in the 60's. Later during the college years it was a 55
Chevy and then a Corvair (spell check doesn't know about Corvairs). All of
those cars were lots of fun too. It was his TR4 that really got me hooked on
LBC's and I wanted a 4A when I graduated College.
Graduation was in June of 1969 but in March 1969 during a spring break back in
Pittsburgh where the folks lived I visited the local TR Dealer; A&L Motors for
those who might remember them. It was a snowy night and things were slow at
the Dealer so I pretty much had the place to myself. They had 2 used TR4A's
inside, one was BRG and the other Royal Blue. I really liked the Blue car more
than the BRG one but it had just been sold so I was out of luck and I was not
really able to buy either one at the time as I was still that poor college kid
with more desire than cash. The salesman however was like most good car
salesmen and decided that he needed to make a deal with me on the BRG TR4A. As
I recall it was a Hardtop too and may well have been a Surrey system which
didn't mean a thing to me then. He would sell me the car and take my Corvair
on trade and no payments till July after I had graduated. What a deal, I'd go
back for my last term with my dream car, what could be better than this!
There was ONE condition, my father had to co-sign the note. Well you all know
the end of the story, Dad said NO. Back I went to school with my Corvair. But
wait there is more, Dad said that he'd give me $500 at graduation as a down
payment to buy a car and a TR was OK with him if that's what I wanted, I just
needed to graduate first and have a job lined up. Fast forward to June, I had
the job, I did graduate, and bingo the $500 dollars was presented as my
graduation present.
So that Sunday my girlfriend (not my present wife thankfully) and I went
looking at TR4A's that were advertised in the local Sunday paper. The first
one that I went to see was Royal Blue, just like the one at A&L Motors that I
had liked so much. It turns out it was the same Royal Blue car that I liked so
much. I bought it on the spot. That owner had decided to go back to school and
needed the money. I still own that car today almost 36 years later.
I've thanked my father (he's gone now) many times since then for saying no
because I got the car I liked so much after all.
So that's my TR and Birthday story. Hope that I didn't bore you too much. I
certainly have enjoyed the hobby and people that I've met over the years just
because my Dad said No on cold March night in 1969.
Jerry Van Vlack
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