In a message dated 12/14/2000 7:59:20 PM Eastern Standard Time,
fogbro1@home.com writes:
> '60 TR3 with 23k on the clock...white top
> and side curtains and one original Dunlop whitewall tire. The certificate
> says "black top" and "Michelin" tires...
>
> First thought was that Triumph didn't really have an accurate record of
what
> was built, but more probably this car was modified by the dealer prior to
> its sale, possibly at the request of the buyer.
>
> List comments? Any other discrepancies between the Heritage certificate and
> a car?
Discrepancies do occur. I've heard of several instances where numbers were
incorrectly recorded on the certificate, but I suspect it's clerical error on
the part of the person reading the original build records or typing the
certificate. But over the years I've also heard innumerable stories of
dealers swapping items on cars before first sale to win over a potential
customer. This could range from tire type or top color to entire interiors
and, in the early days of the TR2, repaints (Olive Yellow, Ice Blue and
Geranium just weren't that popular, I guess).
The certificates really only tell you (usually accurately) how the car was as
it left the assembly line. Forty years later, it's a puzzle to many of us as
to why someone would've preferred wide whitewalls over radial tires (Hi, FT!)
or the harder-to-keep-clean white top over black, but it was a different era!
--Andy Mace (I'll probably have "proper" wide whitewalls on the Herald
someday)
|