By Sid Bridge I recently bought my first British Roadster—a 1980 Triumph Spitfire. I wanted an MG or a Triumph ever since I was 12, but I never had the guts to buy one given all the warnings I would get from responsible adults. I’m an adult now. Responsible? That would depend on your definition….
We constantly hear from people who want to buy a classic car. They yearn for that sports car experience—a curvy road, a humming engine and a nice day to put the top down. Some want to do a frame-up restoration including windshield repair and transmission overhaul, while others just want a play car to take…
by Graham Robson(written shortly before his passing in 2021) When talking to North American Triumph enthusiasts, the first thing I try to do is to remind them that the famous TRs were not the only sportscars the company had. If you total up the global sales figures, in fact, there were other models which did…
By Casey Yunker I became infected at the age of four in 1978. You know how the story goes, Uncle Rick had a 1965 MkIII Austin-Healey, black with red interior, and he’d take me for rides. The disease spread quickly in our family, given how contagious it is, and my father in 1981 got it…
By Keith Daniel I met Dave the summer my family moved to the country. He lived a short walk or shorter bike ride down the road, and by the second day we were best friends. His dad had a fantastic garage and hustled a buck on the side by clearing out things people wanted to…
By Graham Robson A twin-cam Le Mans engine, independent rear suspension for the Spitfire, modular body shells for the Herald, Spitfires which raced at Le Mans, front-wheel-drive for the Triumph 1300, fuel injection for the TR5, and an all-new overhead-cam engine for the Dolomite—all were innovations, and all were completed between 1956 and 1968, while…
It never fails to surprise me how much real life is like high school. Back then we were typically identified with a group and that appellation likely stayed with us throughout our entire four years. Jock. Nerd. Slacker. Freak. Sometimes you were lucky enough to cut across such crass distinctions by creating a niche for…
Field of Dreams, Brian’s Song and Old Yeller make me cry. The late night commercial of various animals languishing in shelters while Sarah Maclachlan wails about something sad in the background brings me close. I am sure if the Chicago Cubs ever win a World Series in my lifetime I’ll cry like a baby or…
With their rarity today, it’s hard to remember how successful the Triumph Herald was in its day. Introduced in 1959 to replace the large unloved – and unsuccessful – Standard Eight and Ten, the new small car made good use of the modern lines penned by Giovanni Michelotti to create an entirely more desirable vehicle….
May 2012 Some friends dragged me to British Car Week’s National Meet. Thank God for friends. The highlight of the trip was meeting a car named Grace and her driver, John Nikas. Grace, a 1953 Austin Healey 100-4, was traveling the United States in an effort to offer love, encouragement and hope for people affected…
