Another nominee for the "Friends of Triumph -- Amici Triumphi" list:
Clark Nicholls of Lee, Massachusetts.
Clark and I have been friends for a long, long time now, having met back
in the 1970s through various motorsports activities and clubs in Eastern
New York and Western Massachusetts. He's had his '74 Spitfire since 1976,
restored a 1968 MkIII Spitfire 1972, sold 1976 after purchasing the '74
unit and he also still has his dad's '71 Stag.
Clark has been very active over the years as a more than casually
interested spectator and as a worker and competitor at all kinds of races
and other motorsports events. I know he's been involved with all sorts of
reputable and disreputable racers of Triumphs at all levels! :-) Clark is
well acquainted with the likes of Mike Cook (ex-Triumph and Jaguar PR guy,
etc.), Mike Barrett (ex-Triumph Competitions Dept. here in the States) and
Mike Dale (now US President Jaguar), not to mention the "infamous" Ted
Schumacher (Ted: that is Clark's choice of word, not mine!)
He and a friend once ran "The Garage" in Pittsfield, MA -- a home for
lonely, unwanted Triumph parts and a haven for those needing work done on
still-whole Triumphs of various kinds. It was also home to Parsimonious
Racing's 1964 GP Spitfire. Quoting Clark: "We even did some warranty work
for BL there."
I owe a good portion of the near-capacity load of used spares in my barn
to the fact that Clark offered them to me when they closed up shop and had
to vacate their building a number of years ago. Also, no small amount of
advice and more than a few bits of his former parts collection have helped
keep the Hardly Boys RaceSpit 4 on four wheels and running and looking
well. (THANKS, CLARK!)
Among other more current endeavors, Clark has navigated three years
running now for Frank Filangeri in a 1962 E-type Jaguar in the New England
1000 mile road rallye. Again to quote Clark: "1st in class, tied for 2nd
overall (to car navigated by Tom Grimshaw, Buffum's pro rally navigator)
by 2 points in 1996, total 3 points (2 points Checkpoint crew watch error!
Oh Well...). 1st in class, tied for 1st overall with total 2 points in
1997. 1st in class, 2nd overall with 1 point in 1998."
So there you have it. I tried to talk him into coming to Hudson, WI,
for the VTR National Meet. We'll see....
--Andy
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Andrew Mace, President and *
* 10/Herald/Vitesse (Sports 6) Consultant *
* Vintage Triumph Register *
* amace@unix2.nysed.gov *
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