Interesting postcript to Stoneleigh!

I had wondered why we had had a noticeable welcome increase in business from Ireland over the past couple of years (particularly Southern Ireland). Someone explained to Karl at the show that the reason is simple. Some years ago as a result of some wacky probably EEC funded scheme a bounty was placed on all old cars of approximately £150 in an attempt to clear the country of this 'environmental' problem. As a consequence all old cars (classic or not) were traded in for this bounty and crushed! As a result there are no old car parts, or project cars, to be had over there. Is this true? If so god forbid it ever happens here, imagine!

Did you go to Stoneleigh?

We did and very good it was to! Still one of the best Triumph show's in the calender. The public obviously think so to as they continue to attend in reasurringly large numbers unlike some other shows which seem to be going backwards. Got to chew the cud with some old aquaintance's from the trade and compare notes about what's happening out there. I was chatting to an old face from Rimmers when an overpowering sence of dejavu came over me, it's only at times like this that you realise how long we have all been doing this. Not bad for a car manufacturer that has been out of production for over 20 years, and cars that had a life expectancy of less than 10, there must be something special about these Triumph's! The consensus amongst the major traders seems to be that as a trade we will all be attending far fewer (cherry picking) Triumph events. Most shows are percieved as being purely a PR exersise from the larger traders (apart from Stoneleigh which continues to be a money spinner). Unfortunately for the smaller club shows this PR is seen as poor value for money as against other mediums, so attendance by the hard core traders is set to continue to dwindle. One show in particular this coming year was highlighted by several traders as being likely to suffer from poor attendance by potential customers (and as a consequence traders), part of a year on year noticable decline. It's a shame but the market moves on, fashions change, and we all find other things to do with our summer weekends and our Triumphs.

Alloy Cylinder Heads

Some early questions regarding our alloy cylinder head revelation need answering.

"What's the weight saving?"

In simple terms an aluminium equivelant to a cast iron head (bare) is a third of the weight. This holds true for any like for like aluminium replacement anywhere in the engine bay, water pump housing, water pump, etc. A worthwhile weight lose you will agree. Allthough our head's will be outwardly similar to the original cast iron ones we are taking advantage of this opportunity to improve them in several respects, in ways that aren't possible with the original iron head. This however will not affect that simple weight saving equation.

"Any performance & economy improvements as a result?"

See above. We have looked long and hard at where things could be improved as a result of starting from scratch with new patterns. We have sought extra advice from respected Triumph head modifyers of standing. We have not undertaken this process lightly bearing in mind the costs incured that would be foolhardy. Several interesting inherent weakness's came to light in the original head as a result of sectioning and sampling original cast iron heads, hopefully now removed for good.
By far the greatest improvements will be for the 2ltr Vitesse and GT6, simply removing all of that weight from ahead of the front axle will bring huge benefits in handling if nothing else!

" What models will your heads fit?"

Allthough we see our biggest potential market amongst the TR6 boys, we intend to have heads to suit every application on the shelf as soon as feasable. The first off head will be fitted to a 2.5 engine in the next couple of weeks, full production follows after that has been extensively tested.