By Richard Truett

VALLEY FORGE, Penn. — Today was the day that many VTR attendees were waiting for.

Just down the road from the host hotel, members of The Delaware Valley Triumph club set up a huge autocross course in an empty parking lot. All day long you could hear the distinctive growl of 4-, 6-, and 8-cylinder Triumph engines as Spitfires, Stags and assorted TRs burned through the course.

It was hot out there, but that didn’t affect the enthusiasm. Watching the TR6s and Spitfires cutting corners and accelerating out of tight bends made me remember that our cars were built for more than just the usual daily driving chores. With a change of wheels and tires, it’s play time.

The highlight of the day had to be Dave Hutchinson, of Ragtops and Roadsters, driving the Triumph TRS LeMans car around the course. He wasn’t trying for speed, so he didn’t drive th ecar nearly as fast as it could go. It was more a demonstration. Hutchinson got a hearty round of applause for his efforts. That TRS sounds great, with a very nasty bark.

Hats off to Glenn Merrell for autocrossing his Rover-powered Stag. Another red Stag, from Texas, also autocrossed.

Since tomorrow, Friday, is the day of the big show, many attendees spent Thursday washing, waxing, polishing and buffing their cars. I did the same to the Dolomite Sprint. She looks pretty good, but I am in the Special Interest class and that’s like running up against a buzz saw. I’ll be competing against a nice prewar car, two Italias and some other weird and rare Triumphs. I don’t care if I win anything or not. It’s been a blast letting Triumph fans see a Dolomite Sprint up close. I have enjoyed answering questions about the car, too.

I’m going to be judging at the show. I attended a class taught by Triumph expert Darrell Floyd. Based on the cars I’ve seen in the parking lot, the competition is going to be tough in every class. The amount of money and effort spent on these Triumphs — by people who clearly have enough money to buy far more expensive and exotic cars — is nothing short of amazing.

Other stuff: I did a video interview with noted Triumph historian Graham Robson, who will give the keynote speech at the banquet Friday night. I asked Graham why nearly every model of Triumph ever built is now being collected and restored, even the sedans such as the 2000 and 2500 have found a home among the classics. He said it comes down to character.

Robson said Triumphs are loved so today because they are ruggedly honest in their design and construction and relatively easy to restore and maintain.

By the way, I asked which Triumph Robson would most like to own right now. He said a clean, low mileage TR8 convertible. Surprised? Don’t be. After more than three decades, the wedge is finally coming into its own as a collectible classic. With a few inexpensive modifications here and there to the brakes and suspension, the TR7 and TR8 are wonderful sports cars, comfortable, quick and fully able to cut it in the 21st century.

Anyway, VTR plans to post the entire Robson interview on its’ website in a few weeks. It will be the first in a series of video interviews with former employees of Triumph. Look for interviews with Mike Cook, Chris Holbrook and others. It’s an effort to make a collection of living archives from the people who were there. You will enjoy what Robson has to say.

The atmosphere in the parking lot is lively. And cars are still arriving. A blue right-hand drive Herald estate pulled into today, powered by a GT6 engine. It is an immaculate car, one of the best Triumphs I have ever seen. More TRs arrived, too.

There are some repairs going on. A dude in a TR4 changed a transmission! And he did it in a few hours working by himself. Let’s see the owner of any modern sports car do that.

Happy Endings: You may have read in the Vintage Triumph about Wayne Simpson’s recent accident in his TR8, a car he owned for many years. The car was totalled. Thankfully, no one was hurt. The wreck didn’t stop Wayne from coming to VTR this year. He rolled into the VTR convention Wednesday in a bright yellow 1980 TR7 convertible with just 8,000 original miles. The car looks new.