By Corky Guenther
The Triumph Register of America held its 2018 National meet in Blowing Rock on June 19, 20, 21, 2018 at the Chetola resort. David Poe organized an excursion to visit on Wednesday June 20th when they held their Car Show. As is customary for trips to the Blowing Rock/Boone mountain environs we met at the Smith Corner Coffee House/Chick-fil-A/Harbor Freight parking lot in Lenoir for a scheduled 9:00 departure. Several folks took the opportunity have breakfast having traveled from as far as Hickory to get to the meeting place. Breakfast and coffee completed, nine cars departed for Blowing Rock. We arrived at the Chetola Resort around 10:00, found parking and wandered onto the show field.
Now, I’m not a “Triumph Guy” even though the first LBC I wanted to buy (from a classmate) was a 1957 TR3A which my parents refused to finance - probably wise on their part. I did while in the Navy, buy a 1959 TR3A as my first LBC and kept it as a daily driver for 8 or nine years, had it repainted, reupholstered etc., but it was just a place holder for the MGTC I really wanted and eventually found. That said this was a terrific show. From their web site: “The Triumph Register of America is the only national U.S. organization devoted solely to the TR2, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, and 4A series”. Also: “How can you characterize our membership? We believe in side-curtains. We believe in engines that last forever. We believe in a rock-solid ride and cut-down doors. We believe that overheating in traffic is an unchangeable, natural phenomenon, just as earthquakes and tornadoes, no matter how unfortunate they might be. We believe that the person inside an automobile who is cold in the winter and hot in the summer–just like the weather outside–is a more healthy person, who will no doubt live longer than those who drive along in a controlled, unnatural environment. And most of all, we believe that the TR2, 3, 3A, and 3B series is the last mass-produced, cut-down door, side-curtained sports car that will ever be produced. --- It represents the finest of an honest and rugged car design that is capable of providing immense sporting pleasure at a reasonable cost”. Not that much different from the TC philosophy. I digress.
As this register is devoted to the 4 cylinder cars there were not very many TR 250 through TR 7/8’s shown. Maybe needed the fingers of both hands and the toes of one foot to enumerate them. I didn’t bother. What I can say is that there were more TR2s and small mouth TR3s than I’ve ever seen in one place “The Gathering at Shelton Vineyards” included. There were also a large number of TR3As, TR4s and TR4As amongst which was a BRG TR4 “Barn Find” completely original. Well maybe the air in the tires has been at least augmented, with as I recall, less than 50K miles.
Off in one corner of the field were two very rare Triumphs that I, for one, had never heard of but Dean had and he was almost dancing with excitement. The first was a 1954 Francorchamps Coupe.
From the display placard (edited):
“The Francorchamps Coupe Commission TS2767SN
The Francorchamps Coupes were constructed at the Imperia Factory in Nessonvaulx, Belgium. Standard TR2’s were imported as complete knocked down kits (CDK’S) and the company converted 22 of the kits to Francorchamps Coupes.
The Francorchamps was a luxury version of the TR2 with rollup windows and a small sunroof. All were left hand drive but only 3 were long door versions like this one. Even with the sunroof, the cars were warm inside and noisy but beautifully crafted automobiles.
Of the 22 produced, I am told that only 11 of these Coupes remain but I have never validated that number. I also understand that most of these have been restored Concours condition. After showing the car at TRA 2018, I intend to make the Coupe roadworthy and keep it, as much as I can, in the condition I purchased it.
I intend to replace the installed TR3 motor with a correct one. Mark Macy has made new brake and fuel lines for me. The leather interior will be cleaned and dyed and hopefully the carpets will clean up and not need to be replaced. A little body work will repair the nose that was damaged in shipment. The body will not be resprayed in an effort to make this special car a survivor.”
The second was, from Wikipedia (edited):
“Perhaps the rarest production TR4 model is the Dové GTR4 (and GTR4A) – a TR4 rebuilt as a coupé by a specialist coachbuilder for the Dove dealership in Wimbledon, London; only 43 were produced. The conversions were by Harrington Motor Bodyworks. Although most were based on the TR4 model, the sales brochure pictures a TR4A version of these cars. Two jump seats were placed behind the driver's seat using identical materials to the originally equipped standard TR4. A wood-rimmed wheel with riveted perimeter was fitted to some models along with auxiliary lamps under the front bumper bars. The side window glasses were specially shaped with a flat top edge to fit the new roof line. Each Dové was an individual order and some variation occurred in each car. The aerodynamics of the Dové gave it good acceleration from 80 mph (130 km/h) to 100 mph (160 km/h) in comparison with the standard version of the car. They were originally conceived by L.F. Dove & Co. as their attempt to fill the GT category for Europe, hence the French nomenclature with an inflection at the end of the word Dové”.
Another was a 1957 Triumph TR3 (chassis TS20966L) fully restored including fitment of a custom British-made full aluminum alloy body, modeled in part after period works racers like those that ran at Le Mans.
Then there was the Concours class. Dean & I accuse each other of being anal in our pursuit of detail. We each went our own way through the field and when we met the first thing we each said was that neither of us could hold a candle to a baby blue TR3 displayed. Even the slotted polished stainless screw heads were aligned north to south.
No mid-week outing is complete without food. We chose the Come Back Shack in Boone for Burgers. Breakfast & Lunch and a great car show in between. Not many better days.
