In the late summer and early autumn of 2023, I started looking for a new old car.
My 2001 3.0i Z3 is a rocket ship that sticks to the road and a pleasure to drive but being a Brit I wanted something from the old country, something with a bit of character, something that might keep my old oil dripping Land Rover company in the garage. But I wanted some comfort, brakes that work and an engine that is reliable and is relatively gutsy by old British 4-cylinder standard. That narrowed the selection and, in my price, bracket the Triumph TR 6 fits the bill with a straight six and front disc brakes and needless to say, I have always admired the car’s shape and lines.
It was November when I started looking seriously at Facebook Marketplace, this really is the one stop location for buying anything and everything, it’s easy to set up a search with parameters that fit your requirements in price, model, and location, or to be more accurate, distance from your location. I looked at a couple of vehicles in the State and had my eye on a couple in New England but after a couple of disappointments and false starts, I decided that Spring is a better time to search and buy a soft-top sports car. The choices were limited, and I guessed sellers were not listing.
Then, mid-December a 1975 TR 6 appeared, it ticked my boxes with a blue interior, and overdrive, both of which are very rare in this country. The frame is in superb condition, the delft blue paintwork is original and in great condition apart for some stone chips. I contacted the seller, got some background info and a 118-page report from when he had purchased the car 18 months previously. The report included a huge number of photos and convinced me it was worth the 800 mile drive to Norfolk VA to check it out. In addition, the weather report was excellent with mild, dry weather.
After pulling an all nighter, with driving shared with my stepson Craig we got to look at the car after a cooked breakfast. I had a test drive, tested all the switches and buttons, and face-timed with my British TR6 expert, who agreed this one was a keeper. The heater and the wipers don’t work which made for good bartering and I got 10% off the asking price which I already considered very reasonable.
Now it was up to finding a U Haul trailer. Portsmouth was the closest so another tunnel passage and then headed north over the bridge tunnel that crosses the Chesapeake. I have to say, making this journey without an Easy Pass would have been a real pain with all the tolls and bridges, (almost $200 in fees) but its really the time saved that makes Easy Pass a necessity. My V6 Tacoma did very good towing the trailer northbound. We stopped the night in Dover DE. Awaking at 5am it was time to make an early start, I decided to avoid NYC in the daylight so we headed up the Garden State Parkway to the Coumo bridge and from there another parkway straight to Hartford, avoiding I-95. Great decision until we found out with blue flashing lights in my rear-view mirror that trailers are not allowed on this parkway. Now, with the word Sir being used in every sentence by me and the Connecticut State trooper finding my accent hard to follow, he obviously felt pity for me, and I received a written warning and permission to travel 3 more junctions before we had to exit the parkway. This allowed us to get off very close to I-95 without losing time in backtracking. The rest of the journey was made without incident and with enough daylight to garage the TR 6 and return the U Haul trailer.
It was a long and fruitful 48 hours and definitely worth it, now all I have to do is be patient until spring arrives, and I can get her out for the first MMSCC dust off.
