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TRisha TR, who is the inspiration behind this website and my
pseudonym on various TR forums, was originally plain old Truhh (TR).
The name TRisha was not bestowed upon her until the 15th month of ownership
when I met the girl who is now my wife. I have now owned TRisha since
June 1990, the first car I'd ever bought at a youthful 20 years of age!
This story details the 13years of ownership up to the point of restoration
#2 - which stared in July 2003. So please check back
for regular updates!
The Story In A Nutshell...
TRisha, an awful Pageant blue, with tatty interior, ropey sounding engine
and an old dish rag for a filler cap was mine from the moment I saw
the
'For Sale' sign propped in the rear window. Some 13 years on the car
has more holes in than it did then - but it's in its original plumage
of Tahiti blue (with rust effect). However with over 8000 miles clocked
in the last 12 months it's running somewhat better than it did
all those years ago. Those 13 years have seen some changes, many frustrations
and more than a few breakdowns! The car was given an extensive restoration
during the winter of 1991/92 and was kept in pristine condition - garaged
over the winters - until 1995. Due to the onset of a first mortgage
and the need for a reliable car TRisha was laid up….. and sat rotting
outside from 1996 to November 1999. The car emerged in May 2000 to the
thunderous applause of the expectant public (well me and the wife),
some 5000 miles, 12 months and uprated front brakes later it was once
again into the garage for more remedial works. TRisha re-emerged again
in January 2002 for a brief fling before some serious engine problems
(very!) in April once again saw her in the pits. One reconditioned engine
and 2.5 months later she was back on the road. Since July 2002 it's
been pretty smooth running and that's where we're at now. Please read
on for part one of the TRisha story.
Across a Weed Riddled Drive our Eyes Did Meet
Yes they did actually pop-up (TRisha's not mine)!! I've always liked
TR7's, as a mere scrote of a boy - aged 7 and a bit - I thought the
car was the dog's proverbials! The first one I saw was in a squint inducing
shade of bright yellow, at that age reliability was a word we'd yet
to come across in spelling tests, so meant very little. The car was
cool, and after a brief appearance in
The Professionals the seed of 'must own one' was planted ! I remember
hoping that the car would still be in production when I got around to
passing my driving test (Some hope hey British Leyland? What did we
have then….. Maestro's and Montego's - hmmm thanks). The first time
I got to go in one, and actually the only time I've ever been a passenger
in a TR7, was sitting on someone's knee as a neighbour took me to an
end-of-season Division Two game (that's old money division 2 - and for
our American friends I'm talking 'Football'). Leicester City won 2-0
at home (and Leicester wins are as common as TR7s these days) - I thought
it was against Chester, but apparently Chester were playing park football
in those days!!
So how did I get the car? At the time my preferred mode of transport
to work was by pushbike - I had 3 choices: bus, pushbike, or walk. No
contest. Anyway as I peddled back home there on a drive way, just 500
yard from my front door, sat this R-reg TR7, a bit rusty and a yucky
blue. £700. A friend's Dad looked it over for me, as what I knew about
cars wouldn't challenge the mental capacity of a goldfish - he pronounced
it poorly, very poorly, thrashed and generally very, very poorly. He
gave me a rough account of what would need doing to get it running well
and advised me to get a sensible first car like an Escort. A couple
of days later and £450 lighter I'd bought my first car - and it wasn't
an Escort!! And so I became the 5th (and last) owner of this 1976 Speke
built Triumph TR7 Fixed Head! What did seem quite unfair was that this,
undesirable, car weighed in at the Insurance Group 7 (the highest at
the time)!! Which meant the premium came in at a hefty £600 - and that
was basic third party! Not even fire and theft! And with a rag as a
filler cap, fire was a distinct possibility.
I took Truhh (as it was then) over to a friend of my Dad's for a proper
inspection and report. And spluttered as much as the car at his findings!
Miraculously, a couple of months later, some magic had been worked and
for around £150 the engine sounded many times better. The car leaked
oil (as all good TR's do!) and water through the sunroof 
but was fun. I was hooked - this car quickly became part of me (and
briefly part of an Escort, which had stopped unexpectedly, - allowing
TRisha to meet his tow bar). Yes TRugh had become TRisha - and it was
thanks to the car that I met my wife (we married 8 years later); My eventual
wife was delivering something for a charity event and I happened to
be washing my tatty blue sports car, so if it wasn't for the car we
may never have met….. it gives me ample reason to keep the car don't
you think?
In that first year and a bit the car had, somewhat surprisingly, proved
to be pretty reliable…. Except if it was asked to head South (!!) for
some strange reason this TR and travel South of Leicester didn't seem
to mix. Some of the incidents that occurred, before the restoration,
included:
- Electrical fire (parked outside of work so correct extinguisher was at hand!)
- Fuel pump failure
- Snapped steering column (broke pulling out of a parking space so I guess
I got lucky!)
- Viscouse fan falling off at 85mph on a motorway
- Broken throttle cable
But it was on a fateful journey to Aylesbury that the car filled with fumes
and lead to a full restoration. The cause was damaged Piston rings and a
few months on the sidelines was the only cure. And if I was doing that why not
get the bodywork and interior sorted too?
Part Two of the story will follow shortly....
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