another couple of questions from a fellow asking for help
mike jackson
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Triumph Search
Date: Sun, 16 May 2004 10:53:32 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Lee <texwebs@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: webs@gvtc.com
To: Mike Jackson <grandwazoo@earthlink.net>
Mike,
thanks for your efforts. I appreciate it.
If you have not put the message out, can I ask you to
put two more questions in it?
1. My brother's TR4 was previously owned by myself,
having purchased it in Tulsa off a used car lot as
early as the fall of 1964. The previous owner was a
race car driver from Tulsa, Bill Clair. The car ran
the very early Ponca City Grand Prix race(s) and other
races in the Midwest.
While Bill Clair owned the car, he loaded the car to
Vick Campbell, also from Tulsa, who drove it a couple
of times. Vick was impressed and then went and bought
the very fast, successful TR4 of Johnny Goans from
Kansas City who was in the league of the likes of Bob
Tulius at the time.
What I'm trying to run down are the origins of this
car which seem to be significant given some of the
details I do know.
When I bought the car the Oklahoma registration/title
had an original manufacturers' "sale" price on it that
was something like 2-3 times the "normal" title price
of a standard street TR4. (A tag office employee
looked it up for me).
I don't remember the figures exactly but I believe the
cost was down as something in the area of $3,000.00+
while the std TR4 was $1,500.00 less. In Oklahoma the
"cost" or the "price" on the registration/title was
only a percentage of the actual cost. I have no idea
exactly how much. Something like 1/2 maybe? That's a
long time ago.
All I remember was that the car's tag cost was going
to be in the league of a Cadilac or something and, as
a college student, I couldn't afford it. I asked Vick
Campbell what the deal was with the figure on the
title and he said that it was because the car was
bought as "a factory race car and, among other things,
came with a trailer".
We've been trying to run down where this "factory"
race car came from. Kastner says it is not one of his
for two reasons. All his cars were originally white
and had a different roll bar than mine.
My car was originally light (baby) blue but was
painted a dark Navy Blue and was run that way at Ponca
City.
We've been told that no "factory race cars" came from
UK but were, rather, all built here in states by the
likes of Kas Kastner and Tulius and maybe one or two
other outfits (I heard there was someone in deep south
building them).
Anyone have any ideas about this?
2. When I talked to Vick Campbell he helped me with
the name of one of the driver's in a photo I took on
February 14, 1965, at Green Valley showing him and two
other TR4s on their cool down lap after a race.
One of the drivers, of the white car, was Burt Jones,
the other driver Vick could not remember but knew it
was the car John Archer, out of Houston, was the
mechanic on. Later, Vick drove a Pontiac for Archer in
the Trans Am series. But Vick does not know the name
of the driver. Anyone know?
This may be way more than you want to deal with and I
understand. But thought I'd put these out there for
you.
Thanks very much.
I'm attaching a photo of the three TR4s, Vick's car in
his garage, and myself in my recently purchased car in
1964/65 in the configuration which I drove it on the
street for a year or so, daily, even through a winter
as my only transportation. I did manage to eventually
buy an FIA windshield (plastic) and top which didn't
fit well do to the rake of the FIA windshield. Then I
finally took the car off the street and started racing it.
John Lee
Comfort.
=====
Vintage SCCA race photos from the 60s and 70s, including that funny Mini
car: http://lonestarwebs.com/Gallery.html
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