[Fot] Impressions of Group 44 and Bob Tullius

[Bobby Whitehead]

I felt compelled to write about my impressions of the Mitty this year in Atlanta.
My friend Gary Fuqua suggested we go last year at one of the CVAR events. We shortly considered bringing our race cars, but the Mitty is a big event and we felt for first timers we should not be drivers, only spectators. That's not to say Fuqua didn't drive his 1979 MGB 1600 miles from Bransom to Atlanta and back. Only a minor stop at the airport so he could pick me up, pop the hood, re-attach the leads on the thermostat and Nascar Tape my suitcase to the luggage rack and drive 58 miles in Atlanta traffic to our Holiday Inn... sweeet...
Thursday night, all the Group 44 cars were lined up by the event arena for the Grassroots 25th evening. We were to witness the story telling of Bob Tillius and his history from him and his dignitaries. Group 44, 40th Anniversary weekend. 
I was impassioned by Bob and his overall complacency he had with the cars. He raced them all and raced them well. To me, it seemed they were merely tools he used to get where he really wanted to be, flying. 
We as fellow enthusiasts adore and love our cars for the heritage these cars represent. We're emotionally involved with our cars because of the legacy of a driver and owner like Bob Tullius who was less in love with the cars, but more determined to use them as tools to get where he really wanted to be... flying. 
It is because of his determination and hard nosed work ethic, that he made these cars do what he wanted them to do. On several cases, particularly with the Group 44 GT6 which I was around for several hours, he commented , these weren't really good cars to race. They had their weaknesses, especially with on the tail of the XKE V12, the XKS, and the GTP car...  THEY were vastly improved cars over the Triumphs. But, he made the Triumphs work for him, and that is what is truly special for us as enthusiasts.
Bob Tullius created our passion for Triumphs way before most of us knew what Triumphs really were. Isn't that what is great though? 
If it weren't the likes of Tullius, and others obviously, making these cars do what they really weren't designed to do, and being successful at it... isn't that where some of our true love has come from for the Triumphs? 
Even though we may not have known it all along, it's a great story, and it only intensifies my love for the cars. 

Triumph .... seems kind of prophetical doesn't it?

Bobby Whitehead
CVAR Triumph GT6+