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OK, our particular choice of vehicle was never that common on Aussie roads, and as the years go by, the chances of encountering another Trumpy in day to day driving (as opposed to at an event) undoubtably becomes more and more unlikely.
However, there’s this set of traffic lights just down the road from my home that seem to be trapped in a time-warp of some kind. In the last few months, I’ve found myself face to face with another Triumph on no less than four separate occasions.
There was the yellow stag, and then the baby blue herald, both of which turned out to be for sale in the local car precinct. Then a month or so ago I found myself looking at a silver 2500S which was at the lights going the opposite way to me.
To top it all off, I was on my way to the beach this morning, (Sunday 8.30am) for a quick surf. The roads were almost deserted, so I was sitting alone at the lights, when I heard a familiar sound, and looked beside my car to find a superb bright yellow 2500S sitting right beside me in the right turn lane!
I acknowledged the driver, he acknowledged me, the lights went green and we went our separate ways…. Spooky….
Cheers, Glen.
I see the odd Spit or Herald about, the occasional Stag (there’s a major Stag specialist in Chester, James Paddock), but in the six months I’ve owned my 2500S I have never seen another 2000/2500 of any variant on the road, and that even includes whilst travelling to club meets and the like.
The first week I had my 2500S on the Gold Coast, I parked it in a side street near my real estate office on the Saturday morning, and walked toward the office. A BRG 2500S came around the corner and as it passed my bright red sedan, the young lady driving it slammed on the brakes and stopped to check my car out.
I walked back to where she was parked, and commented..
“Thought that would make you stop”She replied..
“That just makes mine look so shabby”So we chatted for a while. Turns out her partner is a mechanic, and I know where the car lives, so if ever I strike a problem my mechanic can’t fix I have someone who loves Triumphs to turn to!
Cheers, Glen.
Well i see a 2500 whether an S or a TC prob once a week up here in launceston…but i have only ever seen one other MK1 2000 other than my own. it was a BRG and i last saw it a year ago but never again. feeling like your the only Mk1 on the road is a lonely yet pleasant drive but the googles from Mk2 drivers makes it all worth while
It’s fascinating just how many 2500’s/2000’s there are in Tasmania. I know of plenty that have been wrecked too. I see one almost every day on my way to work or back.
I’ve never seen a GT6 in Tasmania though. Sad.
There seem to be a lot of Triumphs in Tasmania! They’re regularly advertised too, and at prices I find hard to believe. In Queensland they’re rarely for sale, and when they are it’s generally at a premium price…
I must admit I haven’t seen a Mk1 for years. The one I’ve always regretted is the Mk1 PI I saw in a wreckers in Gosford many years ago. It was a little rusty, and on the top of a pile of other cars destined for the scrap yard. I looked it over, but had nowhere to store it, and all it was missing was the wheels!
Cheers, Glen.
Why are there more big saloons in Oz than in the UK? I suppose there are several reasons. Generally worse weather in Britain 9 (having said that I suppose the weather in Tasmania can be pretty bad?), salt on the roads, punishing petrol prices, high cost of insurance, road tax, blah blah blah.
I think there are a lot of big Triumphs [i:v6f86erw]in[/i:v6f86erw] Britain, it’s just that they’re not on the road. They’re either tucked up in people’s garages, in collections (I know of several members of the club who own 4 or more of them, but only ever drive one and that’s just to the shows!), in scrapyards or on eBay! I went to a local classic enthusiasts meet last night and of the twenty-odd people there only two of us had come in our classics, me and Brian, both big saloon owners.My 2500S sedan is on the road 7 days a week! I’ve done thousands of K’s in her since I got her last year, and apart from needing a new battery she hasn’t missed a beat.
I get waves from total strangers in the street, I get cars full of young girls pulling up beside me at the lights wanting to know what I’m driving, and I even get blokes in Rolls Royces beside me at the lights wanting to drag me!
When my son gets his licence I’m buying him a Triumph, I can’t imagine a better ‘chick puller’ than a nice shiny Trumpy sedan for a young bloke!
Cheers, Glen.
It happened again today!
Differerent set of lights admittedly, but I pulled out of a side street into a main road up to a set of red lights just in time to see a brilliant BRG Triumph TR6 make a right turn across in front of me!
Cheers, Glen.
I’ve actually stopped counting in Brisbane, now.
I’ve seen lots of Stags, a couple of Spitfires (one from SA with ‘Spitfyre’ on the plate!), a couple of Tr7s and TR4s, a Herald Estate, lots of Dollies, but probably a dozen saloons in various state of repair. My wife spotted a 2500 TC and a Dolomite parked very near to each other at the Uni of Queensland – both white!In Adelaide saloons started getting rare when leaded petrol was phased out recently. Before that there are quite a few rusty old bangers – mostly 2000/2500TC Mk 2 autos in brown or light green – trundling around. They have mostly disappeared. Nice PIs and S’s, especially in more unusual colours, are obviously being garaged and only come out on nice days. Mk 1s of any persuasion are now very rare.
I see more Stags and TRs, especially the Stags, on the road than I do saloons.
Having said that – I was down at the mechanics the other day, and he had in the most beautiful Mk1 saloon in a dark burgundy I’d never seen before. I did a double take when I saw the ‘MD’ badge on the back panel – but apparently it is a MD replica complete with the triple carbs. No matter its a stunning machine never again to be seen as a daily driver I suspect…
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I’m surprised to think that the phasing out of leaded fuel caused the demise of any Triumph, especially any made since 1970, as the Triumph factory apparently made all their engines unleaded-compliant in case they ended up in a California bound vehicle. I know my S runs on ULP without a hiccup and has done so for well over 20,000k now.
I still drive her every day, and would you believe, yesterday I was cruising up the M1 at 110 when I spotted an old Rover V8 saloon up in front. I couldn’t resist, I had to catch up and overtake, giving him a cheery wave as I passed!
And then today, coming back from my brother’s place in Redland Bay, I spotted another bright red Mk2 sedan coming the other way up the main road, no time to flash the lights or anything though, I spotted him too late.
Cheers, Glen.
Glen the connection is admittedly pure guesswork on my part. Maybe lots of people think they need expensive valve work to keep them running on unleaded? All I can say is that the number of saloons on the road here has dropped considerably in the least year or so.
Of course they are getting old so maybe those that are just driven and not ‘loved’ are finally just wearing out? I can go for many days and not see a single saloon on the road now…
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I must agree with you that they’re getting very scarce these days. I’m on the road all the time (in mine), and spotting another one like I did yesterday is a real treat. If I do happen to see one I always try to acknowledge them, and if we’re going the same direction, it’s fun to catch up and drive with them for a while, sort of showing the flag!
Cheers, Glen.
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