Fellow Listers,
Several
threads,I know but in an attempt to kill several birds with one e-mail,here
goes: First,Diamonds are forever,Stag.Do not mock the sound of the venerable
Standard-Triumph 'small four',dating from 1957 at a diminutive 803cc,and
running right through to 1981 and 1493cc,it powered so many of our favorite
LBC's,giving pleasure over so many years to so many owners,in so many
cars,from the little Standard 8/10 aka Triumph 10 in USA,all the
Spitfires,the Heralds and the small Triumph Saloons,the Bond Equipes & many
specials and even the German built Amphicar,amongst many others.,Where would
we be without it.
Personally,I love the sounds it is capable of producing,(except the broken
sounds!).
In the October 95 issue of Thoroughbred & Classic Cars magazine,my Herald
1200,with bog-standard 1296cc 4 cylinder engine,took part in a back-to-back
feature comparing it with 4 other 'characterful convertibles' ie:59 Morris
Minor,63 Hillman Super Minx,72 Peugeot 304S & 68 Fiat Vignale Gamine (aka
'Noddy Car').
My Herald came a very creditable second in the road tests,just behind the
much more modern Peugeot,beating it outright around town and on hills,and
just one point behind it on the motorway(freeway) and one point behind in
country driving!
The owner of the Hillman said,"Wonderfully raucous engine-definitely the deep
throat of the group" So I suppose it is just as well that he didn't hear it
when I was running it with dual-twin choke Weber 40DCOE Carbs on a rare
8-port cylinder-head or later when I had a big SU Carb & Shorrock
Supercharger on standard 1200 engine,both with gas-flowed head & big-bore
exhaust systems!
(And no,I can't get any more 8-port 1200 heads or Superchargers,so please
don't ask!)
BTW,In Miami Vice,the TV series,Wasn't that 'Ferrari Testarossa' really a VW
Beetle engined kit car,over-dubbed with Ferrari engine sounds?
Odd Hedberg linked TVR and Volvo,so I thought I'd mention a couple of other
things about those two companies:
Frame
Painting of TVR's:As you may know,TVR's have a chassis/frame,and they
are/were protected by plastic-coating,and this is/was done for them,in
bulk,by a local (Blackpool)company that specialises in plastic-coating metal
garden furniture.But TVR were unable to get them to coat frames in the colour
of their choice,so next time you see a TVR,check to see if the yellow
'drastic-plastic trevor' has a blue-plastic coated frame,or perhaps a green
car with a red chassis etc!
Volvo's next,Did you know that Volvo's,for quiet some time now,have been the
'most British' production car available in Britain,with as much as 65%
British content!
So there! ps.What about that SAAB 99? with the Triumph Dolomite type engine?
Lastly,I must say something about the ill-fated GT6R project.
Back in April 89,I paid a visit up to Runcorn in Cheshire to a fellow who
used to work for Standard-Triumph in their competition dept.In his
farmyard,he had a one-piece grey polyester bodyshell which looked like a
GT6,but it was about six inches wider than normal.It had a windscreen fitted
and was just sitting,in an unfinished state on a rusty chassis/frame.It also
had steel wishbones all round,and very rusty four wheel discs/calipers
fitted. The drive arrangements cannot be made out in my photos.
The owner said it was the origianal GT6R project,abandoned by the factory and
thrown out the back of the competition dept,he told me that he & some of his
workmates 'liberated' the bodyshell,chassis and various other things from the
factory,as they regarded their destruction as heresy! Just how much of his
story you choose to believe is up to you,but suffice to say,he did have
possession,at that time,of a complete Le Mans Spitfire 'X' engine,Ultra-Rare
8-port Le Mans Spitfire cylinder-Head,Stanpart Alloy Inlet Manifolds &
original exhaust manifold/header etc!
He also had a french wife from Le Mans!
So there was some truth in his story,I'm sure. Unfortunately,all that stuff
has now gone,some stolen by gypsies for the alloy content,the fate of the
rest,I have been unable to determine! Shame,but 'there's nowt so strange as
folk!'
Leon
Triumph Sports Six Club International
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