THE ROUTE
THE ROUTE ITSELF
(SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME BY THE HOST CLUBS!!)
Currently, the “Where we’ll Be” and venues are a mix of CONFIRMED and UNCONFIRMED. Please note this route is FLUID (or “fluif” to you Triumph Listers!) As Clubs/Venues firm things up, we’ll modify this page and let you know by email. Each Host Club determines where they will pick up John in caravan, the route to and from their area, the local activities.
START – Sat 27 June DAYTONA, Florida. Join the Classic Motorsports team between 09.00 and 11.00 at the Classic Motorsports offices for the send-off of the Triumph Trans-American Charity Drive 2009, a three-month long charity run through the United States and Canada in vintage Triumphs and other British cars.
Classic Motorsports magazine has generously undertaken to host the START and see everyone off in style that morning. There’ll be coffee, donuts, office tours and door prizes. To enter into the spirit of things, it’s been arranged for the START to take place from the magazine’s parking lot, followed by a short drive (for as many as want to take part) through “The Loop” - pictured above. This is a scenic ride, a few minutes north of the start point, with the road passing beneath a thick canopy of overhead trees.
How to find Classic Motorsports offices? Click here for a map – but if you don’t need a map, here’s the address:
915 Ridgewood Ave.
Holly Hill, FL 32117
Phone: 386-239-0523. Your contact is David Wallens.
See you there!!!
WAIT!! Central Florida Triumphs have Hosted John and Edward prior to the kickoff and caravaned after the kickoff. Thanks to Tom and Janet Fansher, Jere Dotten and the volunteers at Central Florida Triumphs!
After a short jaunt to Ocala …
Then “The Temple of Triumphs” led by Obin Hamrick received John and Edward into Tallahassee Florida, performed some preventative Maintenance, fed them breakfast and caravaned John, Edward and the STTAG to Ft. Walton Beach! thank you Temple of Triumphs!!
Sat 27 June – 2 July FORT WALTON BEACH, Florida. A brief vacation with friends at their home for John and his wife and getting ready for the journey itself.
Thu 2 July. Drive to MONTGOMERY, Alabama to meet with members of The British Motoring Club of Montgomery for an informal evening of fun and frolics.
Fri 3 July. Drive to ATLANTA, Georgia
Sat 4 – Sun 5 July. GEORGIA TRIUMPH ASSOCIATION event. Watch here for further details and also check out Georgia Triumph Association website.
Mon 6 July. ATLANTA. Private day with family friends and Liz Macartney returns to England.
Tue 7 July. Leave ATLANTA. An early feature of the drive north will be to taste and enjoy “THE TAIL OF THE DRAGON” on US 129 TWICE!!. This has surely GOT to be an opportunity for a fabulous caravan of British cars from as many clubs in the area who can be persuaded to take part? Having done “The Dragon” it’ll be roughly south-east with a view of spending the night in or near Spartanburg. If there’s time, we might try to invite ourselves to the BMW plant and show them that if BMW does decide to one day resurrect the TRIUMPH brand, the company had better turn out something other than a re-bodied Z4!
Wed 8 July. An invitation has been most kindly extended by the TRIUMPH CLUB OF THE CAROLINAS to drop in to Charlotte, NC for an informal evening visit and stories of ‘Life at Triumph in the UK in the ’60’s.’Â Thanks guys – we’ll be there!
Thu 9 July. Onwards in a north-easterly direction with a PROVISIONAL lined up to visit everyone for the evening at CAPITAL TRIUMPH REGISTER in Washington D.C.
Fri 10 July. We plan to call in and pay a brief visit to The Sidran Institute – the US non-profit in Baltimore that the event will be supporting. On leaving Sidran, it’ll be straight on up to ‘Philly.’
Sat 11 – Sun 12 July PHILADELPHIA Confirmed. John looks forward to meeting the great members and hosts from Delaware Valley Triumphs – and a few others besides? Don’t forget, Ragtops and Roadsters will provide experienced service for the STTAG here!! Thank you Mike and Dave!
 Wed. 15 July. A kind and generous invitation to visit Brits of the Hudson in NY State for an evening of fun and frivolity has been most enthusiastically accepted. Thank you Brits of the Hudson!
Thur 16 July. We say goodbye to our hosts of the previous evening and head for BENNINGTON, Vermont to call in and say “Hi” to all those nice people at Hemmings magazine. It’s a bit difficult at this stage to advise a specific ETA – but sometime not too long after lunch looks a distinct possibility! Current indications are that a substantial ‘caravan’ could be forming!!!!
Fri. 17 July. Drive to MONTREAL, Quebec – ‘caravan’ may even come up to the frontier – and to be met on the other side by a Canadian ‘caravan.’ The fun thing about planning this route is that periodic emails come in saying, “we’d be delighted to see you if you can make it.” An email saying just that came in from Gilles Deschenes, President of “Rendez-Vous des Anglaises” club in Montreal. This is a 400 member strong multi-make club for Brit iron (102 Triumphs) and we’ll be passing what is surely going to be a fun weekend with them. Equally important is to meet up with Genevieve Charette, Executive Director of the Anxiety Disorders Association of Canada / Association Canadienne des Troubles Anxieux (ADAC/ACTA). This is the Canadian charity the event will be supporting throughout its run.
Sat & Sun 18 – 19 July. A mix of friendship-forming with Montreal club members and Charity employees – together or separately? We’re not sure yet!
Mon 20 July Leave Montreal and wend our way back across the border into Maine – and hopefully discover the lobster season is in full swing! This trip has the ultimate objective of being in Massachusetts the following weekend. Hey, about some Canadians delivering me to the frontier and some ‘Colonialists’ joining up on the other side – or why don’t we just all jump in and make it an international affair?
Sat 25 – Sun 26 July. We’ve been invited to be at the NEW ENGLAND TRIUMPH Annual Event at the Larz Anderson Museum of Transportation at BROOKLINE, Massachusetts. Looking at the events on the Museum’s website, it says the Triumph Day is booked for 26 July while the Club’s website says it’s on 27 July(??????????) Our money’s on 26 July – but you never know:) WATCH THIS SPACE!
Mon 27 July. It’s ‘Goodbye’ to Massachusetts and into New York state. Maybe at somewhere around ALBANY, we hope to meet up with members of the Greater Rochester Triumph Touring Club who want to ‘caravan’ as far as possible to Buffalo. Watch this spot for more info.
Tue 28 July. Across the border again into Canada, to pause at Niagara Falls.
Wed 29 July. We’ll be able to pay a flying visit to say “Hi” to everyone at the TORONTO TRIUMPH CLUB – (venue/time/availability TBA) and then back-tracking a bit to make it in time for
Thu 30 July. Then its on, ever westward to meet up with everyone at BLUEWATER BRITISH CAR CLUB at SARNIA, Ontario.
AUGUST
Sun 2 August. ILLINOIS SPORTS OWNERS ASSOCIATIONÂ Burlington Park, Burlington, Illinois.
On our way to Chicago we will stop and visit Detriot Triumph Sportscar Club and my old friend “Twin Cam” Chris Holbrook, Blake Discher and other drive supporters from DTSC.
In Chicago, it’s a group of loyal enthusiasts from I.S.O.A. who under the leadership of Joe Pawlak who put in so much work in the rebuilding of “uncle jack” for this event. At the very outset of the planning of the Charity Drive and at that stage having no idea at all of what the route would eventually be, John was determined to pay them a visit to say a truly heartfelt ‘thank you’ and also to say ’sorry for depriving all those who worked on the car of valuable LBC driving time in 2008 when they were rebuilding the Stag.’ Hey, see that ISOA Grill Badge on the front of the STTAG? That represents about 32,600 person hours to restore this car!! Restoration shop rate times hours, well that is like … TWO and a half MILLION DOLLARS!!
Below, is the programme already committed to print by Joe Pawlak by email to triumphs@autox.team.net on 13 March 2009.
John Macartney PTSD TTA Stag Tour. August 2nd noon.
Burlington Park, Burlington, Illinois
Participants: ISOA, Chicagoland British Car clubs, Burlington and Hampshire Police & Fire, Kane County Sheriff, Burlington and Hampshire Communities and more!
- Lunch/Cookout
- Talk by John about PTSD
- Possible “Spinal Tappets” Concert
- Tour Overview
- Restoration display
The main purpose of this event is to raise funds and community awareness about PTSD. John will be present for a short talk and enjoy the day with everyone. Community police and fire of which this event
ultimately benefits will be there. Other British car clubs are being invited to participate since this is an all British car event as well.
Newspaper, TV will be present as part of the press publicity for the national event.
At the end of this message, Joe also added:
“Any help I can get with this stuff would not be refused. I am wwwwaaayyyy over extended and I can’t do it alone. I will try but it is really starting to affect me physically as of late.”
Please, can a group of people who live close to Burlington, Illinois take up Joe’s request?
The guy has been going FLAT OUT in getting the Stag ready for this trip – as well as doing a full-time job and all the usual things to do with running a home with his wife, Kathy.
Mon 3 August. It’s a “Beer and Burger Nite” with the Indiana Triumph Car Club. The outline plan is to meet up with John up well North of Indianapolis (3rd Aug) and escort him in with some other British cars. Kirk Minster is the route organiser and is charged with finding a nice road in for everyone to drive and enjoy.
Having met up, the caravan will make its way to Nick Gray’s house on the northwest side of Indianapolis. It’ll then be time for John to remove his bags from the car and grab a quick shower before leaving the house again at 5-30 pm – again in convoy, and drive down to the American Legion Lodge 500 which is right on the Start / Finish line of the Indianapolis motor speedway. We should arrive about 6 pm.
Indiana Triumph Car Club are selling tickets to the event at 6 pm, in all the Bristish car clubs in Indy (Jaguar, Lotus, MG, Healey and of course the Triumph club). Ticket (US$20)Â will get you a Mexican buffet (valueUS$6) and the rest goes to PTSD. At this event, John will be pleased to give a talk about The Drive, why he’s doing it and some stories of the trip that far.
The event is expected to close by 9 pm.
The next morning (4th Aug), Indiana Triumph Club is trying to organise a local media event at the Indy 500 Track and the Indy 500 car museum – but this is still in ‘investigation’ stage, so cannot be guaranteed.
The rest of the day will probably see John catching up on essential “Event Admin” and emails. The following morning, it’s hoped another Caravan comprising Indiana Triumph members and some from Kentucky, will form up and drive with John to the Indiana State boundary where part of the caravan will return home.
The “Kentuckians” will continue with John to his next port-of-call in Nashville.
Wed 5 August and another “Beer and Burger Nite” with all those friendly people at the Nashville Car Club. Then it’s onward and westward for
Friday 7 August Depart Memphis TN for British Motoring Club of Arkansas, overnight in Little Rock AR
Saturday 8 August Rendezvous with GCT for handoff from BMCoA at Oklahoma Welcome center
Sat 8 – Monday 10 August where we’ll be attending an event laid on by Green Country Triumphs in TULSA, Oklahoma.
Text below submitted by Sam Clark of Green Country Triumphs:
John will be meeting Green Country Triumphs at the Oklahoma welcome station on I-40 coming from Arkansas on Aug. 8. Approximate times will be sent out as it unfolds. As I’m sure you know, John is criss-crossing the country to raise awareness (and money) for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We will be “picking him and Uncle Jack” up at the welcome station and escorting him in to town. He will be staying at the Homewood Suites at 71st and Garnett from Aug. 8-10. There will be a “meet and greet” Fox and Hound on Sunday, Aug 9 from 5-9 pm.  For info call or e-mail me. The more cars the better!!
Sam Clark
Green Country Triumphs
Member at Large
918-455-8993
918-625-6798 Cell
Tuesday 11 – Thursday 13 August AM Fayetteville AR
Thursday 13th – Mon 17th August where Paul Higley, David Pilcher and all their friends at Red River Triumphs have kindly offered to host an event (details below). Did you know that RRTC received all the donations from the Team dot Net Triumph List so the STTAG could be purchased!?! What a great group!!! Here is the provisional outline which may be subject to detail change.
Thursday 08/13 – Morning departure (around 8-9am) with John Mac and uncle jack in tow. Lunch around noon at the Sirloin Stockade McAlester, OK · 1415 S. George Nigh Expy. (Rt. 69) 918-426-0311. Departure from there to Grapevine (Duncan’s house) for John to freshen up. 6:30p dinner at Mimi’s Café in Grapevine followed by the monthly RRTC meeting. John to return to Plano with Paul Higley for the evening.
Friday 08/14 – Basically a rest day for John. Duncan and Chuck Murphy will probably entertain John at Chuck’s house. Duncan also plans on taking uncle jack to British Auto Specialists for a check-up and grooming session.
Saturday 08/15 – 8am breakfast with the MG club at The Main Street Bakery at 3600 Shire Blvd., Suite 160, Richardson TX (972) 578-0294. 4pm pool party at Dave and Sue Northrop’s house in.
Sunday 08/16 – 11:30am lunch at Tolbert’s, 423 S. Main Street, Grapevine, TX. Then 1pm depart on the train at 705 S. Main St. Grapevine, TX. (Price, if we have 10 people, will be $15.00 otherwise it will be $20 each). Travel to Fort Worth Stockyards for sightseeing. Train returns at 6pm. John to return to Dave and Cathy Pilcher’s house for dinner and rest until departure on Monday.
Monday 08/17 – About 9am, John and uncle jack to depart with RRTC escort for overnight stay in Amarillo TX. Photo op at the Cadillac Ranch is planned.
Tuesday 08/18 – Departure from Amarillo TX to Raton NM to Rendezvous with any and all caravaners to escort John to Colorado Springs. After an overnighter in Colorado Springs -
Wednesday 08/19 – drive up and down Pikes Peak Toll roa, then lunch in Colorado Springs , then north toward and through Denver before rush hour!
ALL ROCKY MOUNTAIN BRITISH CLUBS: John is available for a talk about Coventry Motor industry days either Thursday 20th or Friday 21st evenings. Contact Glenn Merrell ASAP to set something up at your venue and invite all the other British Car clubs and members – pass the hat! Any arrangements and organization are greatly appreciated!
At this point, we’re at about past the ‘halfway’ point in terms of distance covered and distance to go before the finish. With this in mind, Glenn and Susan Merrell have kindly asked John to spend a few days R&R with them in Lafayette, Colorado. Glenn is past Chairman and President of The Triumph Stag Club, USA and very much of a moving light in the organisation and co-ordination of the Triumph Trans-AmeriCa Charity Drive 2009, Glenn being the TTA North American Charity Drive 2009 Coordinator.
Sun. 23 August. A visit to Fort Collins as a guest of The British Motoring Club of Northern Colorado
Tue 25 August. The Drive resumes with John and “uncle jack” leaving Fort Collins, en-route for an evening meet with the guys and gals of somewhere between Ft. Collins and Omaha NE.
Wed 26th August in Omaha, Nebraska at the Nebraska Triumph Drivers Club. Details TBA
Hopefully fortified by Nebraskan hospitality and new-found friendships, John will be celebrating his 65th birthday in “uncle jack” by driving onwards and eastwards towards the Twin Cities. This will be an auspicious day in England for John as it marks the occasion that he officially becomes an “Old Age Pensioner,” with an entitlement to a free ‘bus pass AND be able to receive his State Pension!!! It also equally officially marks the date where he passes from being ‘possibly employable’ to being ‘too old and ga-ga to do anything’ though some of his closer friends are already of that view.
Sat 29 – Sun 30 August with everyone at Minnesota Triumphs in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Outline details of what Minnesota Triumphs have planned are a car show at the Fort Snelling Officer’s Club on Saturday August 29 and a picnic at Cherokee Park in Saint Paul on Sunday August 30. Be there!
SEPTEMBER
Then it’s back into Canada. We’ll be leaving Minneapolis/St. Paul to drive to Winnipeg in the hopes that on
Tue 1 or Wed 2 September, we can hopefully have an informal meeting with everyone at the Winnepeg British Car Club. We’re finalising details at the moment.
On Thu 3rd September, it’s on to pay a visit to a little house on Retallack Street in Regina. John’s Dad, Charles Macartney, lived there as a child and teenager from 1905 to 1915. It was World War 1 that called the family back to the UK for active service in the British Army for John’s Grandfather and the Royal Flying Corps for his son. Both saw extensive action in northern France – and while they both survived, neither of them ever returned to Canada after 1918. For the whole of his later life – and like millions of other young men of his age, Charles Macartney suffered from PTSD as a result of what he had had to do with the machine guns fitted on his Sopwith Camel or Bristol Fighter aircraft – and what he saw of the carnage of trench warfare. The pilgrimage John wants to make in Regina will be a private one.
Saturday 5th & Sun 6th September – CALGARY, Alberta and a visit with everyone at the Vintage Sports Car Club of Calgary. A day earlier, John will be meeting up with his wife Liz who will have taken the ’sensible way’ across the Atlantic by availing herself of a special offer to sail on the newly launched and commissioned ship, the Queen Mary II – all 1132 feet and 151,000 tons of her! Assuming we get the timings right, Liz will then into Calgary from New York and will be with John for what both hope will be the opportunity of a lifetime by crossing The Rockies together. We’ve given ourselves 5 days to do this as we have to be ready for the next event in Vancouver.
Sat 12 – Sun 13 September with our friends at the British Columbia Triumph Registry in Vancouver. Venue event and date TBA.
At this point, it’s the start of the ‘home run’ down to San Luis Obispo and the START PROPER of what is hoped will be a caravan of Triumph cars slowly making its way south to “Triumphest” and the “North American Triumph Challenge” which are to be held concurrently and at the same location for 2009. On the way however, John plans to call in to see some more relatives near Seattle but is headed for Portland.
HELP!!!DONE!!
VISA check! If John HAS his visa extension from the previous border crossings, it looks like Uncle Jack will be Driven by John to complete the drive to SLO ! WE NEED JOHN TO COMPLETE THIS DRIVE TO TRIUMPHEST!!!
So if you have any pull with anyone at US Immigration and Naturalization, we need to get a 30 day extension approved at one of the re-entry points coming back into the USA.Â
Call your Senator, Congressman, President Obama, EVERYONE you can to shed light to this important cause and drive. All John needs is a simple 30 day extension!!! Point them to this web site and to the Sidran website, express how important it is to complete this drive and cause to the end.
If not, he may need to fly out of North America, then back in in order to get another 90 days.
Sat 19 – Sun 20 September Taking in some ‘rays’ at or near Portland, thanks to the kindness of the Portland Triumph Association. Don’t know what they’re planning – but it sure sounds like fun!
On leaving Portland, John and Liz plan to do another “rubber-neck tourist” bit along the Pacific Coast Road – stopping off here and there to indulge in whatever takes our fancy – all with the objective of reaching ‘Frisco in time for
Thurs 24 – Tues 29 September. Triumph Travelers Sports Car Club have most kindly invited us to spend the last 5 days +/- of the Charity Drive with them in the Bay area. A talk to the Lions Club is planned for the 24th, adn a day at the VA Hospital in the Bay area too! John adn Liz 5th Wedding Anniversary is on the 29th, to be celebrated in Monterey. They’ll do it by relaxing (a bit) and also preparing for the very final leg to San Luis Obispo. Watch here for further info.
IT’s PLANNING NOW!!! THIS IS THE DRIVE NOT TO BE MISSED!!
Wednesday 30th September. L’ Gran Finale + 14.000 miglia de Norte Americana de Triumphe! This drive is being coordinated by Triumph Travelers Sports Car Club (TTSCC), initial plans to depart Monterey Bay in the morning on Highway 1A, travel south through the redwood forest with as many Triumphs and British Cars that want to come along, lunch somewhere half way like Morrow Bay or Cambri, then make a spectacular entrance to Triumphest in two long rows of Triumphs in Gran Finale ceremony. BE THERE!! You may never be able to drive in a larger group of Triumphs and British cars in a more spectacular scenery EVER than on this day!!
 MORE GRAN FINALE DETAILS:
>Wednesday morning, 9/30: Meet at the Rio Road Shopping Center in Carmel at
>Highway 1 and Rio Road at 8:30 a.m. Final TTACD tour departs Carmel at 9:00
>a.m. and proceeds down Highway 1 to Triumphest/VTR at San Luis Obispo.
>Scenic photo stops and comfort stops along the way. Lunch in Cambria. We
>expect this caravan to get huge as we approach San Luis Obispo. If you don’t
>make the 9:00 a.m. departure, it won’t be difficult to catch up with us. If
>you are already in SLO, please head north and join us for the end of the tour.
>
>Wednesday afternoon, 9/30: We expect to arrive in SLO at 2:30 p.m. (to be
>verified), and we hope for a Grand Reception as we enter the parking lot of
>the Embassy Suites. We will post updates about this final tour.
For the Embassy Suites Inn SLO group side of things, this gathering is very informal since I am driving south from Monterey. This should be two groups:
-  Drivers wanting to make the CAMBRIA lunch stop should plan of being in front of the hotel to depart no later than 10:30am Wednesday 30th September for the drive north on Hwy 1A to make the LUNCH STOP in Cambria. Just look for Triumphs lining up and assemble and ask those folks if they are driving up to Cambria to meet the Gran Finale Drive.
- As the details of the 2nd rendezvous point are finalized for the two groups, the 2nd has been set at Morrow Bay at the Lila H Keiser Park on Hwy 1 and Atascadero Road exit for the late group, after the Cambria Lunch stop. Anyone wishing to Rendezvous at the Morrow Bay rendezvous point should depart the Hotel about 1:00 pm. I have no idea what is available for parking at that park, but I would recommend this group line up on the Hwy 1 A On Ramp to merge with the south traveling group as they come down 1A
So, ‘Frisco is the very last port of call on this epic drive-of-a-lifetime and the next stop is San Luis Obispo – Triumphest and North American Triumph Challenge 2009, the end of the charity drive event fast approaching, John and Liz will fly big silver bird to New York where the Queen Mary II (?) will take us both home to England.
 Disposition of UJ the STTAG:
Meanwhile, the disposition of the TTA Stag is in the planning. First option it to have a benefactor add UJ to their collection; second is to auction on line to the highest bidder; third, if legally possible, is to hold the original planned raffle.  The method that raises the most money for charity will be selected.
Finally, while John and Glenn have (hopefully?) managed to allocate the correct dates to the correct locations, the issue of caravans throughout the event is still very much of an unknown are being tallied for exact mileages and participations. We have managed to secure much interest from Hemmings magazine who wish to provide regular updates via it’s own blogsite and we’ll do our best to meet those requirements, but please try to remember two things:
- John (and other organisers) are reliably informed the Charity Drive in terms of distance and duration is probably the longest ever undertaken in American and Canadian automotive history. It’s objective is to raise money (as much as possible) for people suffering from a serious mental illness (PTSD). We can ALL help to do that by publicising the event however, whenever and wherever we can. A Charity Drive of this sort is almost certainly likely to attract interest from local radio and TV stations – as well as journalists – and trying to do that at arms-length from the UK is not easy. This is where we need YOUR help. Send John an email with your ideas and/or thoughts and let’s try to hammer things out before the “last minute.”
- This TRIUMPH TRANS-AMERICAN CHARITY DRIVE is not restricted to just Triumphs. Any British car that is loved and treasured by its owner is welcome to take part for as long or as short a distance its owner is willing to go. To that extent, we’ll soon be launching the necessary paperwork via this website for Application to Participate, Book your seat to ride (but not drive) in “uncle jack,” choose your own Rallyboard number, Press Releases and Sponsor Forms.
We do so want YOU and all your friends to join in, if you can.
There’s lot more to come after this, so click on the ‘Keep me Informed’ button on the sidebar for regular email updates!
Below is the NEW rallyboard – but you need to know why it’s been changed. All that info and two images of event memorabilia follow on below the image.
For some months, there’s a been an illustration of a likely Rallyboard on this site. While it had similarities to a typical “Rallye Monte Carlo” layout and shape, it had major shortcomings in terms of what it didn’t say. That’s why it’s been changed and these are the reasons:
- The TRIUMPH TRANS-AMERICA Charity Drive is, by all accounts, a trip never previously undertaken with an international charity fundraising objective. Because of this, the Rallyboard needs to be a storyboard in itself and convey important messages.
- A picture is worth 1000 words, so that’s why a map of the route outline is placed in the centre.
- The START and FINISH locations, their respective dates, the likely event distance and the time-frame for its completion, all have to ram home the overall message that this event isn’t an ‘afternoon walk in the park.’
- The beneficiary charities/non-profits must be identified, so their names appear with their country of origin and their Web URL’s.
- The principal SPONSORS – Vintage Triumph Register, Triumph Stag Club USA, Triumph Sports Six Club in the UK, Rotary International, Grassroots Motorsports and Hemmings magazine – all deserve and need exposure. Without their support and encouragement, this trip would be a hard one.
- The outline details of each car taking part (even if only for an hour or two) with its event number, together with model name, year and name(s) of crew are equally deserving.
- All the cars taking part will hopefully attract media and general public attention. Because of that, a large number of people we will meet en-route will be interested to see the journey unfold as it progresses. For that reason, we must inform them how and where they can access that information.
That’s quite a lot of detail to get into a space of 8.5″ x 11″- but it does summarise to the casual on-looker all he/she needs to know as to why all those old cars are jamming up a car park – or better still, overtaking slower and more modern traffic! In any case, the whole objective is to persuade spectators to dig deep in the pockets, purses or wallets for some money as donations!!
And that’s why the rallyboard has been changed. The example above will appear on John’s Stag – “uncle jack.”
But that isn’t all.
TTACD rallyboards will cost a nominal US$15.00. The standard size is 8.5″ top to bottom and 11″ wide and there’s a choice of board you may want on your car. The board itself will be emailed to you as a .jpeg image.
You can have your rallyboard as:
- A ‘cheap and cheerful’ version, in which you colour or greyscale print it off at home, laminate it in plastic and fix to your car with cable ties or sticky tape.
- The more durable piece of ‘magnetic’ plastic you can put anywhere on the car’s bodywork without worrying if it will blow off or damage the paintwork! Your local signshop can make these for a very nominal price. Just give the shop the .jpeg file on a CD or email it to them.
But you’ll get something else as well, as keepsakes.
Each crew will receive a signed Certificate attesting to their participation in the event – and because they couldn’t have taken part without the car, it too gets its own certificate which can always be on display where people will see it. This takes the form of a British Road Tax disc holder into which fits the car’s own Certificate. The disc holder itself is an exact replica of the ones used by Standard-Triumph in the UK in the late 1960’s on all company-owned cars and light trucks. They were also found on all Personal Export cars collected by their first owners in the UK for initial use before being finally exported.
The tax disc holder is a circular pocket made of self-adhesive plastic film that fits anywhere inside the windscreen. All you need is clean glass, a little saliva traced with a finger across the windscreen face – and press it to the screen ensuring there are no trapped air pockets. BINGO! It’s STUCK! What’s more, it won’t fall off or blow off during top down motoring and the British climate has proved that! You can remove and replace it as often as you like for glass cleaning and it’ll always stick in place.
Illustrated below are the obverse and reverse of the tax disc holder, so you have a preview of the Certificate your car will earn for itself.
For the time being, illustrations of the Rallyboard and the tax disc holder / insert are for preview purposes only. We’re having quite a large number of clubs contacting us to take part in a variety of events or just wanting to form a ‘caravan’ so, for ease of administration, we plan to ask those clubs to solicit their members who want to take part in a ‘caravan.’ Having obtained the relevant car and crew details on a simple list emailed to us, we can then prepare the boards and the other items. The deadline for that list will be around the end of April 2009.
IF YOU ARE TAKING PART (AS AN INDIVIDUAL OR A SMALL GROUP) AND NOT THROUGH YOUR OWN CLUB’s PARTICIPATION, YOU NEED TO CONTACT JOHN DIRECTLY – TO MAKE THE NECESSARY ARRANGEMENTS.
Please be aware we have already been approached by a few enthusiasts saying they want event numbers for the rallyboards on their cars that reflect the car model – e.g. 0004 for a TR4. To compound the problem, two or three people wanted the same number, which makes things a little difficult. So, recognising this as a not uncommon need and in the spirit of charity, we feel the best way for anyone to obtain a ’select’ number is to bid for it with the bid dollars going into the non-profits fund because each number will only be issued ONCE! Different cars and crews will not be taking part with the same number on different parts of the route. With that in view, we have set aside certain ’select’ numbers with brief notes alongside them to indicate which vehicle they might apply to. These are shown below:
- 0001Â Already allocated to the Triumph Stag
- 0002Â TR2
- 0003Â TR3
- 003a TR3a
- 003b TR3b
- 0004Â TR4 / Spitfire 4
- 004a TR4a
- 0005Â TR5PI
- 0006Â TR6 or Triumph Sports 6 sedan/convertible
- 0007Â TR7
- 0008Â TR8
- 0010Â Jaguar Mark X or Austin Ten or Triumph Ten sedan
- 0120Â Jaguar XK120
- 0140Â Jaguar XK140
- 0150Â Jaguar XK150
- 0250Â Triumph TR250 or Daimler SP250
- 0997Â Mini Cooper S 997cc
- 1004Â Austin Healey 100-4
- 1006Â Austin Healey 100-6
- 1071Â Mini Cooper S 1071cc
- 1200 Triumph Herald 1200
- 1250Â Triumph Herald 12/50 sedan
- 1275Â Mini-Cooper S 1275cc
- 1300 Triumph 1300 front wheel drive sedan
- 1360Â Triumph Herald 13/60
- 1500Â Triumph 1500 front wheel drive sedan
- 1800Â Triumph Renown and Roadster with 1800 engine
- 2000Â Â Triumph Renown and Roadster with 2000 engine and (Michelotti) Triumph 2000 sedan Mks 1 & 2
- 2500Â Â Triumph TR5PI, TR6, TR6PI, Triumph 2.5PI, 2500TC or 2500S sedans
- 3000Â Â Austin Healey 3000 (all marks)
- 3500Â Â Rover 3500 or P5b or P6 or Range Rover
If you would like one of these numbers, please email John at standardtriumph@btinternet.com to find out what you must do. The bidding for each number will start at US$100.00
Finally – and hopefully(?) bringing this issue of Rallyboard numbers to a close, we’ve even considered the issue of “UNLUCKY 13″ for those who are superstitious! The number 13 will not be issued on its own or as part of a larger number – e.g. 0013, 0113, 0213 etc and 1013, 1113, 1213 ad infinitum. Multiples of13 such as 26, 39, 52 etc are not considered unlucky.