TR Action London Group report for issue 347

First, apologies for our missing social scene report in issue 346. Normal service has now been resumed, but it does mean this report is slightly longer than normal as we have a lot to cover.

So, what has London Group been up to since issue 345? Quite a lot as it turns out…

To start with, two of our members have put their restored TRs on the road, and they both look magnificent.

Graham Baggaley has spent eleven years restoring his 1960 Powder Blue TR3a. He bought it as a project, sight unseen, back in 2012, and has restored it in between starting a family and moving house. Most of the body has been replaced, but the chassis has been restored and the engine rebuilt. Graham has now done nearly 500 miles in the car, with the only major problem being a slipping front pulley, with the TR Shop very kindly hand delivering some parts to him so he could get the car back on the road – great service. He has bravely entered the car in this year’s Round Britain Reliability Run and we all look forward to seeing how he gets on!

Dave Rackham bought his 1965 TR4a FAH 202C back in 2007. It was a total wreck, with no floors or sills and everything apart from the body and chassis was in crates and boxes. Dave had previously owned a signal red TR4a back in 1986 and had always promised himself that he would own another one. Dave has spent the last 16 years restoring the car, doing most of the work himself, with refurbishment of the chassis and paintwork left to the experts. The main change he made was to change the car colour from Wedgewood Blue to Signal Red. The car had its first major outing in July, making the run to Goodwood and back without any problems – a proud moment!

Events wise, in April we joined the other South East area groups for Drive It Day at the Amberley Museum, organised by Windsor Forest group. Despite the inclement weather, 20 cars headed down from Ockham Bites on the A3 to the museum, located in the South Downs near Arundel. The day was well organised by Windsor Forest and the museum was fascinating.

We also attended the Brooklands Easter gathering, with a total of 23 cars tuning up, filling our allotted space alongside the Memorial Gardens at Brooklands, right next to the start finish straight.

During May, four of the group participated in the TR Register Track Day at Castle Combe, two TRs headed down to Montlhéry, four TRs went to Laon and there was also an impromptu run out to Newlands Corner near Guildford for breakfast at the Plucky Pheasant.

On the second weekend in May, Mark Bulford and Alan Jones drove to a small track called Montlhéry about 20 miles south of Paris (in their TRs of course). Every year, this track holds a “God Save the Car” festival celebrating all makes of British classic cars. There were about 200 UK classic cars of all types and the amazing fact was that all the cars are French owned, driven and registered – apart from the two TRLG Brits everyone else was French. The French were extremely friendly and hospitable, sharing their croissants, coffee and wine.

The other amazing thing was the track. It was reminiscent of what Brooklands must have looked like; half the track was a normal flat twisting tarmac surface; the other half was a fully banked track. Mark Bulford did a session on both the Saturday and Sunday and did extremely well.

The last weekend in May saw four TRs (and a Porsche) heading for the “Circuit Historique de Laon”. This is another excellent classic car event in France. On the Saturday we all received a pack consisting of a rally plate and a booklet containing a complicated and obscure route plan of how to get to lunch at Le Circuit de Gueux at Reims which was a former F1 track. The route was through northern France, over hills and valleys, open and forested countryside, down single farm tracks, all in brilliant sunshine. It was breathtaking.

On the Sunday everyone met up in the main square and other sites round the town. All the roads round the town were closed to normal traffic and at 2 o’clock all the classic cars, motor bikes, mopeds and other strange vehicles did parade laps round and round the town to the cheers and clapping of the local populace, many in the streets, cafes and pubs – all great fun!

July was also busy, with trips to Classic Le Mans, Warlingham Classic Car show, Brooklands Summer Classic Gathering and Autojumble and a run down to the Goodwood Classic Car Sunday for breakfast.

For Classic Le Mans, six cars headed off from Newhaven for the overnight trip to Dieppe. It was great to see Peter Keefe join the trip, as he has been trying to get to Classis Le Mans for a few years. It was also the first time for Michael Finnis and his son Ben. Friday afternoon we were joined by Joe Galloway in his mighty fine 6, along with two classic Porsches, a modern 996 and a (Triumph) Stag.

On the Saturday Cecile, our honorary French member, had arranged dinner at a highly recommended local restaurant. In total 15 of us finally sat down following the usual Mark Bulford detour around the narrow-walled streets of Le Mans!

Saturday also saw several of us charging round the Le Mans racetrack – great fun! The classic racing was as always fantastic to watch, and Joe and his mates actually blagged their way into the pits and got chatting to some drivers at the start of a race.

Warlingham is another regular event for TRLG. John Collins and his wife very kindly hosted eleven cars and their drivers for an early morning coffee and croissants before heading off to Warlingham. We had twelve cars on show at the event, generating a lot of interest from the public and the other exhibitors. We may have even gained some new members from the day.

We finished off the month with fifteen cars heading down to the Goodwood Classic Car Sunday. Dave Rackham brought along his newly restored TR4a for the first time – the car looked great and it made the journey to and from Goodwood without any issues, a great result for its’ first outing in over 16 years.

The big event in August was TR@70 at the Bath and West showground. Mark Bulford, Neil Kemp and Richard Cooper did a great job in setting up the group’s camp site on the Thursday and we had another three intrepid campers arrive Friday for the weekend. The weather could have been better, but there was plenty to see at the event and the drive there and back along A and B roads was magnificent. We all look forward to the multi-club event at Malvern in 2024.

So finally, do come and join us for a noggin and a natter over a beer, you are most welcome. See our upcoming events below - please keep an eye on your emails or on the web site http://www.tr-register.co.uk/group/london for dates and times.