Friday, July 29, 2005

... and in with the new!

Well about time too.
Finally, at last, with the news of the GT6's impending sale Ella and i have made a sneaky purchase, swiping a new Big Red/Orangey Bus. It's a 2500 S with Manual o/d of course. On the test drive it proved to have plenty of poke and good level suspension (the new KYB shockers help i think). Plus it was half the price of the others I've looked at.

The footwells were mint, carpets in great shape, no sign of rotting sills, oil leaks, and apart from a couple of minor scuffs on the paintwork great bodywork. Everything seemed to work fine inside, o/d was spot on, electric fan was working fine, there were new front tyres, and so on.

The seller is moving to NZ (note the SOLD sign on the house in the background) and seemed in a hurry to get rid of it, and at the price I paid it won't even matter too much if there are any little problems I haven't spotted yet.

We're going to pick it up on Sunday.

Anyway, here she is, and yes the door and boot lid are open rather than out of shape!!!


The Big Red Bus No.2

... From the rear

Thursday, July 14, 2005

I've Been A Busy Boy!

The photo for the second Triumph Spot (see entry below) was actually taken on June 11th. Since then I've been a rather busy boy. First up was getting married (18th June)

Vows

It was great fun ... even though it didn't involve Triumphs (don't worry there was beer and BBQ though!)

Then there was the Honeymoon ... which did involve Triumphs! Hurrah!
Ella hadn't yet seen my GT6, or my family, so we flew to England for a ten day whirlwind Round Britain Run style Honeymoon (or "Funnymoon" as we ended up calling it). We landed at Heathrow, got the National Express to my Mum's near Exeter, and after a rest day gave the GT6 a once over before heading off to North Devon.

Here's the two ladies in my life:

Ella and GT6 at Hart#139E92

After a beautiful day walking the North Devon Coast we drove up to the Peak District, via the back roads of Exmoor, Canley Classics, and some great Derbyshire roads. Here we met up with both our families for a wedding celebration ... and I got to take my F-in-law along Snake Pass in the GT6 with no traffic around!

A Green Lane!

After this we headed East to Lincolnshire to stay at my Dad's where we had time for a fancy car line-up!

Fancy Car line-up

We also met a load of friends for a day of debauchery. A good Club Triumph count turned up, too! My favourite pub car park was treated to Andy Mac (on his feet), Andy Pearce (and GT6 aka 'The Guttersix'), Andy and Sarah Johnson (Herald aka 'The White Tornado'), Steve Waddingham (Spitfire) and "Group Captain" Tim Bancroft, with the web-enabled JC in Tim's Mk1 2.5Pi (SU) aka 'The Grey Thing'. Great fun! I didn't take my camera unfr

Then it was back to Devon, via Kettering to see my Sister and family, and Reading to see some old work colleagues.

Blimey and Crikey, as Mr Bancroft might say!

Fortunately the GT6 ran perfectly, and not a drop of oil was needed in the whole affair ... seriously, as much as I lifted the bonnet, I couldn't really find anything to do in a week's good driving. Not bad after a 4 month lay-up I reckon.

Nevertheless the decision has finally been made that the GT6 should stay in the country where it was built (or at least in the UK ;-)), and Ella and I will get something a bit cooler running, and more appropriate for dirt-road antics over here.

So now we're back home in Oz. It was great to be back in Blighty where there's fun to be had even within the speed limits, and I must say I do miss the noise of a six cylinder Triumph. But hang on, what did I spot in the paper at the weekend but a 2500 'S' at a pretty good price ... hmmm... I'll take my camera when I go look at this one!

Triumph Spot No.2: Not Just a Pretty Respray!

I am getting better and better at not updating this Blog. But I do have a good reason!

More about that above, but first another Triumph Spot! Admittedly I've seen at least a dozen around Brisbane, but this is the second one that I managed to get a shot of.
It was in almost exactly the same spot as I saw the White 2500 previously (see Triumph Spot No.1), but was an impressive metallic green. It doesn't show up too well in this photo, but looked pretty good "in the flesh".

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