Rimmer ad 'D overseas' 08 1/7/08 14:44 Page 1 FREE club events A BRITISH COMPANY SUPPORTING BRITISH CARS CATALOGUES

My Next by Terence McKillen

75,000 SQ FT OF SPACE FULL RANGE OF PARTS & ACCESSORIES Great prices! British Classic? Great service! PARTS PICKED FROM 1000’S OF LOCATIONS WANT A PROFESSIONAL PARTS SERVICE SALES OFFICE AT THE RIGHT PRICE? COME TO THE EXPERTS We stock MG Rover and Land Rover parts too. STAG . TR2-8 . SPITFIRE . GT6 . HERALD VITESSE . DOLOMITE . 2000/2500 Rimmer Bros tick all the boxes:- I Competitive prices I AUTHORISED PARTS DISTRIBUTOR Great customer service Original Parts & Accessories ROVER SD1 . ROVER 75/45/25 I Efficient mail order anywhere A fine collection of E-Types celebrate 50 years MGF/MGTF . MG ZT/ZS/ZR ROVER 200/400/600/800 I World’s largest Triumph stock he 28th annual British Car Day at through time and literally see the A to Z had escalated and it was still a year before METRO/MINI . MAESTRO/MONTEGO BronteT Provincial Park in Oakville is over of the once prolific British automobile in- the Cuban missile crisis. The USSR contin- I Free catalogues LAND ROVER for another year. The organising commit- dustry, even though one can actually only ued to openly test atomic bombs. The East AUTHORISED PARTS DISTRIBUTOR I Trade enquiries welcome tee and the host of supporting volunteers achieve that with models from Ford (An- Germans started the construction of the Original Parts & Accessories did a wonderful job on behalf of the club. glia to Zephyr or Zodiac!) Berlin Wall. John F. Kennedy was inaugu- RANGE ROVER CLASSIC/P38A/SERIES 3 I Easy to use website DISCOVERY 1 & 2 . FREELANDER The organisation exhibits a high level of The featured marques were the E-Type rated as President of the United States. The DEFENDER . ROVER V8 ENGINES professionalism and one can see how BCD Jaguar, the MG Midget and the Triumph Soviets put Yuri Gagarin into space. In the has become one of the pre-eminent gath- TR4, all three celebrating their fiftieth UK, Harold Macmillan was Prime Minister PARTS SALES & ENQUIRIES erings of all things British. birthdays. It is absolutely amazing that the and Britain applied for membership of the Since its inauguration in 1984 it has style and design of the E-Type (or XK-E as it EEC, but didn’t actually become a member Tel: 01144 1522 568000 SALES COUNTER VISITORS WELCOME experienced continued growth and this is sometimes known in North America) is for another 12 years. In Canada, John Dief- Trade Enquiries: 01144 1522 567111 & VISITOR We are open:- MON – FRI; 8.30am to 5.30pm, Fax: 01144 1522 567600 CENTRE SAT; 8.30am to 1pm. year drew almost 1,100 entries and 9,000 still as fresh as ever, holding its own, in my enbaker was Prime Minister and Tommy E-mail: [email protected] spectators. Once again, the weather mind at least, against its younger siblings, Douglas was elected leader of the newly BROWSE OUR gods prevailed and we had a beautiful such as the current XK-8. formed NDP. At Monza, during the Italian CATALOGUES www.rimmerbros.co.uk ON YOUR PC sunny day with temperatures in the high It is an interesting exercise to think back Grand Prix, Wolfgang von Trips crashed his Rimmer Bros. Triumph House, Sleaford Rd (A15), All our teens. Walking around the Bronte exhibi- to what we were doing in 1961. It was a Ferrari onto an embankment killing him- Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln, LN4 2NA, England. Catalogues & current Price Guides tion field permits one to take a journey simpler time, but tensions in the cold war self and 14 spectators. Let’s Twist Again, are available on one CD. Small charge is made to cover burning & postage. Ragtop I Winter I 2011/12 www.TorontoTriumph.com 27 always thought that the Stag had the most Morse TV series). A neighbour Blue Moon, Michael Row the Boat Ashore, beautiful styling of any of the Michelotti pillar roll bar or “hoop” of mine has been completing and Hats off to Larry were the big hits of designed Triumphs. The car had its ori- was connected to the wind- a frame off restoration on one for the year. The Beatles were performing at gins in a styling experiment with the screen frame by a T-bar, resulting in several years now. Liverpool’s Cavern Club, but were still two Triumph 2000 Mk I saloon and Tri- what is known as a semi-convertible. Wandering around the show, my ever, one can always dream. years away from hitting the charts! umph management liked the While I kept one eye out for a pos- eye was attracted to what I think was Meanwhile, as I keep half a watchful eye The birth of the featured models cer- prototype so much that sible shot at an elusive Stag, a 1930s era Rolls Royce 25/30 (or was it open for a Stag to cross my path, I am per- tainly takes me back to the years well be- they not only gave the the Aston Martin DB4 at a Silver Wraith?) I’ve noticed in recent fectly content to enjoy my current piece fore I could legally drive, but I can clearly go-ahead for the Stag BCD looked fantastic, as web browsing that 1960s and 1970s of British motoring history – a ‘73 TR6, al- recall the day when I first saw an E-Type development, but also did the much more vintage Rolls Royces and Bentleys are though my two dogs keep asking when Jaguar. It was in Paris in the spring of 1961. carried the same styl- modern Lotus Elise, relatively plentiful and not too badly the extra leg and shoulder room is going I was on a school trip to France, my first ing lines into the later 2000 and one shouldn’t priced, all things considered. I am just to appear! ragtop visit to what we called “the Continent” and Mk II and 2500 saloon and es- forget the 1950s not sure if one would was enjoying seeing some quite different tate models. vintage Jaguar XK120 fit in my garage and it is car models from the British offerings nor- When launched in 1970, the Stag was and XK140 models, probably totally non-u mally seen on the roads at home. Some of two years behind schedule due to a num- both great examples of to even consider doing the Gallic designs from the likes of Citroën, ber of issues including pre-modern British sports cars. one’s own servicing or re- Facel Vega, Panhard, Peugeot, Renault, financial constraints Who could resist that quintessential pairs on a Rolls Royce. As Simca and Talbot were quite appealing. imposed after the of British sports cars, the Austin Healey I understand it, especially In the early 1960s, before traffic conges- BLMC merger, but 3000 MkIII? I have recently noticed with the early Rollers, tion and city grid-lock contagion, young also development of one of these, in British Racing they weren’t particularly Parisians, and even the not so young, a suitable engine took Green finish, has cropped up built for the driving expe- would turn up most evenings to show off time. Technically the car in the showroom at my local rience, as the driver was their automobiles, motorcycles, mopeds was very advanced for its independent auto centre. It expected to a liveried, be- and/or their women on the Champs Ely- day, powered by a three litre would be interesting to see low stairs, chap. sée. Drivers would motor up one side of V8 OHC, with all round independent if they would let me take it So where is all of this the tree-lined thoroughfare and then race suspension, servo-assisted brakes, power out for a spin. leading? Who knows? But around the gigantic traffic circle at the Arc steering and electric windows. There was One tends to think of sports it could possibly be back de Triomphe (or toile) and back down the a choice of a 4-speed manual gearbox cars only when considering clas- to 1961 and the E-Type other side to the Franklin D. Roosevelt with overdrive or a Borg-Warner 3-speed sic cars, forgetting that there is a Jaguar, which must surely Circle to repeat the circuit over again. One automatic transmission. whole range of options out there if one is be the undisputed icon evening, while out for a stroll, we encoun- The Stag was marketed as a luxury prepared to consider saloon cars or util- of 1960s motoring. When tered our first glimpse of the new Jaguar. sports touring car and was seen as a ity vehicles. I’ve always liked the 1960s era introduced at the Geneva It was in bright red with wire wheels and direct competitor of the Mercedes 3.8 litre Jaguar Mk II saloons (à la Inspector Motor Show, Enzo Ferrari is top down – it caught everyone’s attention SL models, particularly in reported to have said that or perhaps it was just the blonde, fur-clad the targeted US mar- the E-Type was, in his opin- Brigitte Bardot-type in the passenger seat ket. The Stag offered ion, “the most beautiful car that caused the crowd to gather and stare? four-passenger ever made.” All of this has left me musing about seating in a con- I would love to own one, what my next British classic car might be. vertible coupé. but those that know tell me As a Triumph aficionado, it has to be a Stag However, in order to that acquiring and keeping roadster. Although born of the 1960s, the meet U.S. rollover standards such a cat can be a very ex- Stag didn’t enter service until 1970. I have and for structural rigidity, a B- pensive proposition. How-

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