The rare alloy-bodied cat that sired the American sports car By Tom Morr; photography by Scott Dahlquist One of the world’s most stunning sports cars has roots that burrow back to an English piano repair shop. Four decades before he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, William Lyons toiled in his dad’s piano shop. This experience…
An aftermarket CHMSL improves safety By Tom Morr Center high-mounted stop lights (CHMSLs) became mandatory for all U.S. street-legal vehicles in the mid-’80s. The Department of Transportation theorized that greater brake light visibility would assist driver reaction times, thereby minimizing rear-end accidents. Many older cars come from the factory with small, dim brake lights—some seemingly…
Triumph, MG and Austin-Healey win big at the 2002 SCCA Valvoline Runoffs By Leonard Emanuelson; photography by Bob Ucker/Showcase Photo I’ve been a road-race fan for years, but vintage British sports cars have never been on my radar. That all changed on a lazy Sunday afternoon last November. I was driving my wife insane channel…
By Wiley Davis First I opened the driver’s side door. Next I instructed my passenger to open her door. Then I lifted the bonnet and opened the glove box. “Are you looking for something?” my passenger asked. “No,” I said. “I’m fixing the car. It’ll just be a minute.” “Okay,” she said, looking perplexed. I…
Bryan Miller has spent the past 10 months restoring a symbol. The black 1962 Mark II MGA given to him by his father is more than just a rusted heap of metal. As anyone who gets involved in the restoration process can testify, it can be a spiritual journey. Miller had already discovered this when…
By Paul Richardson After my father Ken’s Competition Department at Standard Triumph was closed in the early ’60s (due to the Leyland takeover), he was invited to join the TVR sports car company in Blackpool as Competition Manager. The family moved north from Coventry, and I also joined TVR. I worked in the Experimental Department,…
A look inside Moss Motors Imagine having a garage with a parts bin that is computerized, cross-referenced, and equipped with a staff of skilled individuals whose job it is to fetch the particular piece you need. Multiply this image until its scale matches that of a modern supermarket, and you have the Moss Motors warehouse….
The TR6 and the Big Healeys By Wiley Davis Certain groups of people look upon the string-back driving glove with disdain. They equate boots and bonnets with baby dolls, not automobiles. These people tend to worship the V8. They measure manhood in cubic inches and performance as a function of acceleration alone. Their position, though…
A club restoration project comes to an end In October 2002, in the windy desert of Laughlin, Nevada, a Triumph TR3 will be raffled off by the Desert Centre Triumph Register of America. It will be the culmination of a 12-year club project that has seen its share of starts and stops. In 1989, a…
The makes and models that changed the face of motoring By Alan Paradise Yes, we love our British cars. The soul, the romance, the connectivity of human and machine—these are the fundamental factors that have established loyalty to brand names like Jaguar, MG, Triumph, Morgan, Lotus, Austin-Healey, Aston Martin, Sunbeam, and others. By today’s standards,…
