Bob Danielson wrote:
>The second article was about a LOL, as in Little Old Lady, from South Africa
>who bought a AH 3000 MK1 in 1961 and 44 years later it's still her daily
>driver!!! And the article literally means Daily Driver! She's put over
>155,000 miles on this totally un-restored AH. The only work mentioned was an
>engine overall 3 years ago, 2 re-paints (the last one 12 years ago), and the
>interior re-upholstered enough years ago that it's showing
>patina......again. It's never been in an accident. The pictures showed no
>rust and even no door dings. Every time she brings it into town, people
>leave notes asking to buy it. Talk about an original classic. Any Triumph
>owners on the List with anything as un-restored original as this?
>
I'm not a little old lady, but my TR4 has a decent patina going. :) I
only applied about half of that, as the car probably had 40K miles on it
in 2000 when I bought it and has 80K miles now. One respray in the
mid-80's plus the front corner after my Ford Explorer run-in a couple
years ago. It gets the daily driver treatment and has an original
interior except for patina-ized recovered front seats. But it's list of
repairs is a little longer: engine overhaul in 2000, rear axle last
year, gearbox a couple weeks ago. (Kudos to gearbox master Ed Woods,
overdrive rocks!) No plans to restore the car unless I inadvertently
stop all the leaks and it starts to rust.
Of course my classic Volvo has a little more patina with 170K or so. But
when new-Volvo owners ask, I tell them I'm not sure since the speedo has
been rolled -- maybe it's 570K miles? ;) I was out with the boys in the
TR4 this weekend and chatted up a P1800 owner. His car was unrestored,
owned since the mid-70's, a bit more patina than either of mine.
Maybe I'll forget about a new interior and try to get a car mag to write
me up as is?
Steven Newell
Littleton, CO
'62 TR4 etc.
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