In previous emails back and forth to John Macartney in the UK, he and I
thought, given his absence from the upcoming VTR convention (despite
attempts to get him to Breckenridge this summer, that is likely not to
be), that a videotape of interesting Triumph historical, current events
and pertinent narrative might be of interest to Triumph people in the
U.S. and elsewhere.
Most recently, John has completed most of the first part of that tape,
and is going to send it to me, when complete, for a review and a little
editing, as a sort of teaser to be available for viewing during the
upcoming VTR.
The original plan was to have the completed tape available for sale (not
much, if any, profit involved--the costs were intended to offset
production and outside editing costs) by the time the VTR was underway.
However, this is not likely, since the recent hoof-and-mouth disease
outbreak in Great Britain has caused the postponement of a number of
events which were originally scheduled to be included on that videotape.
To date, John has footage of the original factory site in Coventry, of
the Memorial dedicated on the site in last year or so, and will include
a bit of time at the Banner Lane site (meant to give some suggestion of
the looks of the original factory, which is now torn down), and some
considerable history on the factories. Included in this "short subject"
will be the location where Ken Richardson and Sir John Black had the
crash in a Swallow Doretti, which accident was used as
the excuse to oust Black from the company in 1954. I depend upon John to
provide _interesting_ narration regarding all these scenes. <smile>
The complete videotape will not be finished for a month or two after the
upcoming VTR convention, due to the delays imposed on travel by the
British government, but the final version will include footage of this
year's Standard-Triumph marque day, in late May, at the BMIHT museum in
Gaydon (a big event for many British Triumph clubs, and an opportunity
to see enthusiasts across the pond in action) and through-the-windshield
footage of John's Seven Cathedrals Run, now rescheduled for September,
with John at the wheel of his now-refurbished 2500PI sedan, "Canley
Girl."
John and I both thought this a good idea to promote better relations and
understanding amongst Triumph enthusiasts around the world, and where
better places to begin than with the U.S. and the U.K.? The U.S. was the
single largest consumer of Triumph cars, and the U.K., of course, the
major producer. Perhaps John will address a curious point in that
equation--that Standard-Triumph club members in the U.K. number far in
excess of those in the U.S., despite the fact that almost 90% of the
cars were delivered to the U.S.
With the kind permission of the organizers of this year's convention,
hopefully we'll have the "teaser" tape available for viewing in their
hospitality room, and if not, I'll make arrangements for it to be viewed
in my room at the facilities.
We are still working on a direct link to John during the upcoming
convention, for those interested in talking to him directly and asking
questions of him, and most recently, it looks as if we'll try to do a
through-the-internet live-camera link, since that is the least expensive
means (and will live with the video lag due to minimal bandwidth). Once
we get that sorted out, we can determine a time best-suited for all who
intend to attend the VTR convention and for John.
Any questions, please respond privately.
Cheers, all.
--
Michael D. Porter
Roswell, NM (yes, _that_ Roswell)
[mailto:mporter@zianet.com]
`70 GT6+ (being refurbished, slowly)
`72 GT6 Mk. III (organ donor)
`72 GT6 Mk. III (daily driver)
`64 TR4 (awaiting intensive care)
`80 TR7 (3.8 liter Buick-powered)
`86 Nissan 300ZX (the minimal-maintenance road car)
`68 VW Type II Camper (Lancia twin-cam powered, but feeling its age....)
Remember: Math and alcohol do not mix... do not drink and derive.
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