A question we might all have to consider.
My response follows
-----Original Message-----
From: triumphs-bounces@autox.team.net [mailto:triumphs-bounces@autox.team.net]
On Behalf Of John Macartney
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 2:54 PM
To: Triumph List
Subject: [TR] What cost to give up your Triumph? (Rhetorical?)
I guess this might seem a stupid question to ask of people in a part of the
world where fuel is so cheap - but is it safe to assume it will always be so?
Earlier this week, I had a long talk with an old friend I've known for more
than 40 years who has been the besotted owner for at least 30 of those years
of a 1930 Speed Six Bentley. Okay, that in itself is a car from the collector
stratosphere - but I was both amazed and shocked to learn he now has the car
up for sale. By his own admission, it's not that he has tired of it, come to
be less interested in it - or even that he can't afford to run it. Dave is the
first to admit that he has plenty of money and he could easily keep and run
the Bentley to his dying day. Knowing him as well as I do, I asked him why the
time had come for he and the car to part company?
His answer didn't
exactly surprise me.
"I've reached a point where I feel it's not only a very selfish whim to
continue to drive it and enjoy it but that I am finding it difficult to
reconcile the cost of filling the tank for a weekend of pleasure.
I'm extremely lucky to be able to afford to fill the tank on that beast, but
its the principle of paying such an horrendous amount of money for what is to
all intents and purposes an indulgent pursuit that benefits no-one. Simply,
the cost of pouring fuel into what seems a bottomless tank gives very little
"return" in terms of money per mile on fuel used. And at 12 mpig if I'm lucky,
that works out at 45 pence (70 cents) a mile. That figure is just plain
ludicrous, so Its time to let someone else enjoy the privilege. It'll break
my heart to see it go - but the time has come."
And that conversation reminded
me of other vehicle enthusiasts I know in similar situations. There are
Triumph and MG owners who are saying"it's been fun but we're not playing this
game any more because of fuel cost" Then there are others of whom several have
shared ownerships in specific vehicles. There's the group of six lawyers who
all have equal shares in a Routemaster Double deck London bus, another group
who lavish care and love on some superb heavy duty trucks - and the steam
engine fraternity who are grumbling (with reason) about the price of coal and
escalating costs for bi-annual boiler safety pressure checks..
All of them
are now saying to a greater or lesser extent, "this will have to be the last
year. The costs for enjoyment has got out of reach and this is substantially
dulling the pleasure."
As of today, one US gallon of gasoline in the UK is selling in supermarkets
for the equivalent price of US$6.71 of which the better part of $6.00 is tax.
Franchised gas stations with BP, Shell or Texaco have higher prices and so I
ask this either / or question of all of you who are inclined to answer
"How high would gas prices have to go in your country before you would
seriously consider giving up your Triumph?" or "If there was no way you could
buy gas for less than $6 a gallon, what would justify you in keeping and using
your Triumph as you do?"
I've already sold both of my
Triumphs because I simply could not justify the cost of re-fuelling either of
them for the simple entertainment value they gave.. With two cars in the
family, we now put fuel economy at the top of the list and that's why our
household has converted over the last three years to modern high-speed
turbo-diesels of less than 2000cc. They're boring, they're absolutely
reliable, they're fuel efficient and both are returning +50mpg with extremely
low emissions. That's what matters, that's how our motoring will be in the
years to come - and not because of inclinations towards a 'greener'
environment. Running a classic car that does little more than 25mpg (because
it was never designed to do it) is simply throwing good money after bad. And
that's exactly how my friend with the Bentley feels which is why he's selling
it - and it's a view being ever more widely propounded throughout western
Europe. The price of fuel is slowly killing the hobby.
Jonmac
Here's my take on the subject.
As for me, my 1973 TR-6 has not been a hobby for most of it's lifetime. It's
been an avocation. For most of the TR's life it was a daily driver and then
some. The Red Car as it came to be known has been across the country from
Chicago to Key West, to New York City, 200 miles into Baja, and in 1976 from
Illinois to it's now home of California. Together we hit the 325K milestone
and the 37th year just two weeks ago. My late wife the inimitable Helena once
claimed that I had touched more parts on the TR than on her. This of course
was a gross overstatement but it is evocative of the time I spent keeping the
Red Car and us on the road.
As Helena (H) and I and the Red Car rolled up the Ventura Highway through
Montecito and into Santa Barbara top down on a fabulously sunny morning, with
the Pacific on the left, the exotic scent of jasmine in bloom in the air a
week after Thanksgiving in 76 all I could think was WOW "What a good Idea it
was to pack it up and move to Santa Barbara!" As it turned out it was a GREAT
idea. With $1700 in our pockets we made our home in SB. Both H and I earned
our degrees at U. C. Santa Barbara and the Red Car most always got us to where
we needed to be. Most of those years we were broke and the Red Car at times
suffered for lack of maintenance. The discovery that Moss Motors was located
in Goleta was a blessing. Actual parts were available something that was near
impossible in Chicago.
After a number of years of neglect of crucial maintenance I slowly started
bringing the Red Car back to health. Many obstacles were overcome, many
problems were solved and improvements made. Rarely did I have to resort to
professionals to keep us on the road. It was my responsibility alone to do the
work that kept us rolling.
The Red Car carried us from Santa Barbara to the High Sierra's, to the mud
flats of Morro Bay, to the Baja, to San Francisco, to Oregon and any new
country road we could find. In all the years there were very few strandings.
Details such as a cracked rotor on a late night trip from Santa Barbara to
L.A. were about the worst of it.
Lo, these many years later in Santa Rosa, the Red Car and I continue our
Journeys. The ghost of H rides with me on these sojourns along with a the new
woman in my life the impeccable Maria Pia who surprisingly loves her roadsters
dearly having owned an Alfa Romeo and now owning a BMW 325 CI. We ride with a
host of British car owners of all types on a two week basis every Saturday
through the wine country, up and down the coast and points north, south and
east. The Red Car has never looked or run better. It still sports its
Silverstone mags and as of a couple of weeks ago it is the proud recipient of
a Herman van den Akker Toyota 5 speed transmission conversion.
The Red Car is not just a machine to me. It is a portal to the past and an
opening to the future. Our travels together spin tales of love, triumph, loss,
hope, adventure, tears, joy, and heartbreak.
The cost of fuel is irrelevant in this scheme of things. As long as I am able
to turn a wrench I will look after my long term partner the Red Car. I will
treat it as a member of the family and look after it accordingly. I will not
let the Red Car just sit in the garage. I'll fill the tank and hit the road
when the call of the highway beckons.
And for me... That's the truth of it.
Deano
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