gerry40
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Bought my TR4 in October 1989, body off restoration which took just over 2 years, first owner in 1961 was the then Director of Standard Triumph Donald Stokes, later to become Lord Stokes the British Leyland supremo. Very early TR4 ( 286th built ) it has the shorter bonnet bulge and aluminium surrey top, this was added sometime later as originally was a soft top.
I also have a 1966 Austin A35 van which I've had for 20 years and my daily runner is a 2004 Nissan 350Z which I've had for 3 years which is definitely a keeper as well.
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Hi Gerry
Interesting to note your TR4 was owned by Donald Stokes, and certainly looks good on your car's 'CV', with also being a very early car. Do you know the exact date of build?
I believe Stokes was once a car salesman so I should imagine he had owned quite a few cars by the time he retired. I think he identified the problems with BL but didn't know how to handle them and rationalised the company with a sledge hammer. He apparently cancelled the Minor van and Mini van when both were in full flight with full order books, closed the Adderley Park site where all the highly skilled locals knew the motor industry inside out and moved production to Bathgate. He also refused to give John Cooper £1.00 per car to retain the Cooper name, which was a huge and very valuable asset to British Leyland at that time in my opinion.
Hang on to your A35 van as I expect you will as they are getting hard to find, and to find a pick-up is even harder! I'm guessing it's a 1098cc? I used to work for a BL/BMC Dealership and have one of their Minor vans to restore which I hope to get around to sorting sometime soon!
Regards
Kevin
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