Crime Does Pay
1962 Triumph TR3-B Roadster
Once upon a time, the English built some interesting cars. MGs, Austin Healeys, Rovers, Jaguars, Vauxhalls and Triumphs were well known on both sides of the Atlantic. A good part of their popularity in the States was a result of U.S. servicemen bringing them back here after their tour of duty in England in World War II.
These were lightweight cars, usually two seaters, and while a bit underpowered, the exhaust note was quite pleasing to the ear and they handled well. Mostly though, they were fun cars, stylish convertibles that guys liked to drive and women liked to be seen in. Many of the Austin Healey Sprites and MGs were modified for racing and there are a few still circulating around racetracks in various classes.
These cars would give you the occasional sincerity test by breaking down at inopportune moments. The electrical components were weak and made by the Lucas Company who enjoyed a monopoly position in that country. The headman, Joseph Lucas, was often referred to as the Prince of Darkness. This weakness would later be, in large part, a major reason for the demise of the entire British car industry.
God may have saved the Queen but not the British auto industry.
Lets get back to the TR3. I had seen this car in a number of auto magazines. There was something about the swoop of the front fenders, kind of like a French curve, that blended into the door and then a new shorter swoop formed the rear fenders.
The upper edge of the doors was shaped like an armrest and cut down toward the ground at a 45-degree angle. You could easily reach out and touch the ground. The car of cars at that time was probably the Jaguar XK 120, a roadster of timeless beauty. The TR3 mimicked those flowing lines but didnt look like a copy. It had a stout 4-cylinder engine that originally was used in a farm tractor so it had good torque and was well built.
There had been a TR2 that had the same body but a little different nose and it was not quite as mechanically advanced as the TR3. TR3 sales were thriving in the States, but the home office back in England were bringing out a successor model, the TR4, a rather squared off car that the US dealers thought looked awful as it had none of the graceful curves of the TR3.
The dealers over here raised such a stink that the factory decided to use up some TR3 bodies that they had built for spare parts and put TR4 2138 cc engines in them with an all synchromesh transmission. The car was then named the TR3-B because it was mechanically different from the TR3 and became one of the most valued Triumphs. Good examples today will bring between $15,000 and $20,000. Triumph built 3331 of the TR3-Bs and all were exported to the United States.
At the time I got interested in the car, I knew nothing about the car except it looked great, all the car magazines that covered foreign cars were raving about it, and I wanted one bad. When a guy wants a particular model car and he has the fever, obstacles like money, time or space are swept aside as the car is pursued.
There was a foreign car dealer over in Flint that handled English cars. Now days these cars might be called imports but back then they were foreign cars. The dealer was known as Sports Cars, Inc. and he had four cars in stock at four price points. If I had $1,800 he would be happy to sell me a cute little Austin Healey Sprite, for $2,400 you could have the TR3-B, $2,800 would get me a MG and $3,200 was the price for the big Healey, the AH 3000. He had one of each. The TR3-B was white with a black convertible top and a black interior. The whole deal totaled $2584. I managed to get him to throw in an AM radio and bring the price, tax included, down to $2401. The number sticks in my mind because I had to finance 100% of it.
I went to my friendly banker, a young guy named Fitzpatrick that I had met in the bar at the local K of Cs. He said the bank would loan 80% of the cars selling price. How much is the car going to cost, he asked. I said $2400, I mean $3000 and he said, Fine, we can go up to 80% or $2400 in this case. I said that was great but there was one more little problem we needed to resolve and that was that while I was working part time in the summer, my new teaching job wouldnt start until September and I wouldnt see a real pay check until late September or early October. No problem, he said, Well start the clock now on interest and just put that in the calculator so that when your payments start in the fall, they will reflect the interest charged from now up to that point.
I dont know where Fitz is today but he is either president of some big bank or doing time in a federal pen. Our deal wasnt illegal, just a highly accommodating arrangement that I was grateful for.
So here we were, in the good old summertime, me in my spiffy new TR3-B, King of the United States, well, at least of the Midwest. What a great car. Girls loved it, I loved it. The trunk was just big enough for a beach blanket and a picnic basket and maybe a small cooler with a few brews.
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