So maybe that's how my TR4 got a locking steering column with (apparently)
German (definitely not French) writing on the ignition switch!
Anyone else out there has seen a TR4 with a locking steering column (key and
ignition up under the dash)?
It's probably time to get my own BHMIT certificate.....
Christian
63 TR4
54 TR2
-----Original Message-----
From: ArthurK101@aol.com [mailto:ArthurK101@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, November 19, 1999 3:59 PM
To: iron_horse819@yahoo.com; triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: Personal Export Info (was Re: Looking at a '69 Spitfire)
In a message dated 19-Nov-99 14:04:46 Eastern Standard Time,
iron_horse819@yahoo.com writes:
> For what it's worth, My TR4A was also purchased in the UK and later
brought
> to
> the US ... and it has left-hand drive. If I recall correctly, Jonmac
stated
> that you could purchase a 'Personal Export' vehicle with the
specifications
> for
> where you were going to be taking it to (correct me if I'm wrong!) and
this
> would account for this apparent discrepency ...
>
OK, I'll jump in here. I ordered my TR4 from the Triumph distributor in NYC
in February of '64. I ordered it with US specs. and the color/factory
options which I wanted. I ordered it with a UK delivery option.
I went the UK in June of '64, called the London number which I had been
given
and the next morning they picked me up at the hotel in a Triumph sedan.
When
I arrived at the pickup point (Jonmac has described the place), my car was
rolled out and presented to me with some fanfare. It had the build label on
the windshield with my name and all the options that I had ordered checked
off. Cool.
I was then given a demo, at the display floor, of all the controls etc. They
then gave me the keys; I signed the registration (the car was registered in
the UK and had Coventry plates, which I still have) and the consignment
documents for the car. I thanked them, got in and drove out the gate.
I then proceeded to turn right -- right into oncoming traffic. So I
immediately learned where reverse was as I backed off the roadway and
unclenched my white knuckled hands from the steering column. :-).
My BMIHT certificate says under "Destination"
"Personal Export Delivery to:
A.M. Kelly USA"
Any US service member or businessman living in Europe at the time could also
have done the same thing by ordering from a dealer where he lived. Then the
car could have been driven as long as he/she was in Europe. Upon return to
the states it was no problem to ship the car. It cost me about $200 from
Bremerhaven to NY.
Don't forget that TR's were also available in European countries for their
citizens. Those cars would also have had LHD and their specs, although
somewhat different were not really that different from US specs at that
time.
(e.g. Lights and a few other things -- BTW my headlamps, for some strange
reason, were European. I found that out the first time I went to a US
dealer
for warranty work.) Those European cars could have been shipped by their
original owners or could have been sold used to an American who then shipped
it.
Enough. But I do love this story. It is the first car I ever owned.
Cheers.
Art Kelly '64 TR4 CT 33118L (original owner/ 3rd owner - but that's another
story)
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