By Steve Simmons

If you have a British sports car you know that timing is everything!

Or, dreams really do come true.

Banner Elk, NC.

I purchased my TR250 in 1973, for $1,300, in Denver, Colorado. A good friend joined the Peace Corps and had to sell his car. It had a bad clutch, and spiderwebbed paint. After I replaced the clutch (easy), I drove it everywhere. I loved that car. I drove it on our honeymoon along the west coast: 3 weeks 3,000 miles. It performed effortlessly. I went on to drive my little TR250 until 1985. At that point, it needed tires, brakes, oil leak repair, etc., so I parked it until I could give it the attention it deserved.

Twenty-four years later in 2009, I started my dream of making my car really special. I was retiring and going to live near the Blue Ridge Parkway. What a perfect place to enjoy my dream of driving my car.

I did a frame up restoration: paint, engine, drive train, all in tip top shape. I soon realized the brakes were a weak link, the IRS was giving me issues, and it was low powered.

So I began phase 2 of my rebuild.

I ran across Richard Good, of “Good Parts” and we agreed on a plan. He would do all the work with his son and we were going to totally upgrade suspension, brakes, cam, roller rocker, and a complete rebuild of the cylinder head. Now my car was complete. It had plenty of power, handled like a race car. I was so proud of my 54-year-old car. My wife even named her, “TRixie”.

I spent a lot of time with this car, but time is moving on. And we are not driving her as much as we used to.

The second part of this story is about my four grandchildren. They came for a visit here in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and I took all of them on multiple rides. It was so much fun to give each of them a little thrill ride. From our 15-year-old granddaughter to our 4-year-old grandson, each got one of the thrills of their lives. My youngest grandson called it the “RACE CAR”. I loved every minute of time with them and my car of 49 years. And finally, after all this time we had all four of our grandkids and their moms here at the same time wanting to finally get a ride in the car! Another dream comes true.

We all went to one of the major attractions here in Banner Elk, the Wilderness Run Alpine Coaster. We had a nice time. As we were heading back to our cars, my car all polished up and sitting so pretty in the lot, a young man was admiring my car. He asked if he could look it over. I was happy to oblige. I showed him my frame up restoration, Wilwood brake system, roller rockers, anti-sway bars front and rear, and my Infinity rear differential. We talked about my GP-2 cam from Good Parts. I love showing my car to anyone who wants to look. He said: “I want to buy your car”. I laughed, I mean, it wasn’t for sale. He asked for our number in case I wanted to sell some day. So, I gave him my card with cell and e-mail address. He contacted me that night.

Three weeks later, to the day, he put TRixie on a trailer, and headed to her new home in Wake Forest.

And the truth is, we were both so thrilled to make this deal. The time felt right, and he loves the car as much as I did.