Thanks for Your response, Bill
and no I, and probably many more, didn't know that they lost the
dies for the car parts. I was aware that the tooling for the big
saloons was lost/sold for scrap but I took for granted/natural
that a conscious car manufacturer never sold off tooling - maybe
they scrap and destroy tooling for never to be models etc but to
loose or sell things like that is damn near criminal in my mind.
William Davies wrote:
> Hi Odd,
> With all due respect, I was led to believe that BMH
> made an initial batch of 100 TR6 bodyshells after con-
> siderable investment in new tooling, as up to 60% of the
> original tooling was lost/destroyed. It took several years
> to sell the initial 100, in fact I was surprised to read
> that 250 had now been sold!
Was the pricing too heavy maybe? If the cost for a complete TR6 tub
is in the same ballpark as the B then they should be easily sellable
I think. But maybe they wanted their investment back on those first
100 tubs?
> The sad fact is that whereas most of the MG tooling was re-
> tained by the Rover Group (or whatever it was called at the
> time), much of the Triumph tooling was sold off or destroyed.
> Did you know that the aftermarket outriggers and doorskins for
> the Herald and Vitesse, which are made by LMC, are actually
> pressed using original Triumph press tools?
No, but there - obviously there are still tooling to be found in
sheds and barns - why not collect everything, make up what's still
missing and start selling? The market is there, I'm sure. Just
look at all the badly rusted out and patched up Herald tubs still
on the UK roads...
> And the GT6 bonnet top tools were apparently privately owned
> for many years by an individual who had a "difference of opinion"
> with BMH, which is why it took so long to see new bonnets for
> the GT6 Mk3.
OK, but where are the Mk1-2 bonnets, or the early Spit bonnets?
I've heard that it was finally a small private firm who took on
the task and started to reproduce early bonnets, not Rover/BMH
the firm with the resources... Or am I wrong here?
> I also understand that much of the Spitfire tooling is lost,
> and the TR7/8 tooling went to Japan (no, I don't understand
> why either!).
Then they ought to be easily reimported to Britain now - given
the current strength of the GBP and the terrible financial mess
in Japan. They would probably be glad to sell it back to Britain...
> I feel that BMH took a great risk on the TR6 bodyshell, where
> unlike the MGB, supply turned out to be greater than the demand.
Supply and demand is always a question of pricing.
> Are you aware how long the prospective purchaser had to wait
> to get a new MG bodyshell when they were first released?
No, but given the success the repro MGB shell did it was quite
a while I guess. But on the other hand building the unit con-
struction B body ought to involve vastly more parts and jigging
as compared to a tub for a separate chassis car like [most of]
the Triumphs, meaning the Triumphs ought to be much cheaper in
parts and labour costs [but more expensive in new tooling costs]
and that ought to work itself into repro Triumphs being at par
with the B given an equal length of production run... Or?
> If BMH had seen a better return on their investment in the TR6
> shell, I suspect we would have seen more Triumph shells re-
> manufactured. Perhaps a Spitfire shell would have been a better
> choice as their first Triumph shell?
Probably, if they had selected the early style tub. For the right
price they would have sold a lot just over here in Sweden. NB If
the price was competitive with a total rebuild of an old rusting
tub and bonnet. If they had selected the late style tub they
wouldn't have sold more than 1 or 2 in Sweden on the other hand...
Far to great an competition from decent second hand tubs still,
as was probably also the case with the TR6 tub. They should have
aimed for something where there aren't an abundance of used ones
still around...
> Not a flame, just a little information not greatly publicised
> in Triumph circles,
> Best regards,
> Bill.
Thanks Bill.
Could it be that this kind of information is not readily spread
around by the BMH themselves? How about alerting their PR staff
and have them actively working _together_ with the Triumph Clubs
world wide? I'm sure only good can come out of such a co-operative
effort.
If I understood it correctly the Directory of BMIHT was rather
stunned by the masses of Triumph enthusiasts gathering for the
75 Y celebrations... Could it not be that they really don't see
the Triumphs as something interesting themselves?
BFN and thanks for Your input,
Yours
/Odd
--
Odd Hedberg
Pomonagatan 4
S-74236 Östhammar International liaison secretary,
Sweden Triumph Club of Sweden
'70 Spitfire Mk3 FD82497LO Signal Red
'80 TR8 EFi DHC TPZDV8AT211468 Midas Gold
E-mail: odd@triumphclub.se / odd.hedberg@bigfoot.com
Club URL: http://www.triumphclub.se/index.htm
Home Phone/Fax: Int+ 46-1731 7131 / 46-1731 8131
Geographical Position: N 60deg 15min E 18deg 23min
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