We have reached the end of another club year and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the committee members for helping me work through the last year as President. There were many  things to learn throughout the year that weren’t too obvious at the beginning, in order to make the club run seamlessly and smoothly. The committee are a dedicated group of people who carry out their responsibilities in the running of the club very effectively and it has been my pleasure working with them.

I would also thank all the various members who work tirelessly and proactively behind the scenes in many ways carrying out small tasks that generally go unnoticed because they just get done when needed.

This year’s August meeting is significant not only because it is our AGM but it is also the 50th anniversary of the TR4 and it is proposed to have a celebration to mark this event at our meeting, so I would invite all to attend on the night and join the festivities on this occasion.

As is the usual practice at the AGM all positions are declared vacant and I would ask all members to consider if it is your turn to do something for the club. No position is too onerous and everybody helps out, so if you think you would like a new challenge or can help out then let me know either before the meeting or on the night, I am sure it will be a rewarding experience.

Several of our recent club runs have been dampened by the weather, but it did not dampen the enthusiasm of the members who attended, again I must thank those who organised these events,

Our July meeting was well attended as it provided a one stop shop for membership renewal and log book sign off for those on concessional registration. The registration scheme requires members to be a financial member of the club to participate in the scheme and there will be another opportunity at the August meeting to finalise these matters so you can legally drive your pride and joy.

Last year we held a very successful Day of Triumph and we are hoping that again this year we can equal or better the 70 or so cars we had on display at TTG Civic Park opposite the TTP shopping centre. Not only is this a great picnic day for all members to attend and mingle with fellow Triumph owners, but it is a tremendous opportunity to promote our marque at this fantastic venue.

Details of the Day of Triumph are shown later in the magazine and I urge to take this opportunity to clean and polish your car and participate in this event, this will also mean that your car is well prepared for the coming summer months of club runs.

For those who may not have caught up the fact, I am pleased to report that Brian Argent is home and recuperating well after his major operation of a couple weeks ago and we wish both Brian and Peggy all the best, and look forward to seeing them again soon at club functions.

Till we meet again

John Sampson

Thank you to all who have assisted during the past year be it organising runs, preparing supper, selling raffle tickets etc.   The job of Social Secretary is a lot easier when you have willing helpers.  If you would like to take on the position, please put your name forward as this position becomes vacant at the AGM on 16th August.

Thanks to Stephen for organising the mid week run on 6th July in, what can only be described as atrocious conditions.  Three brave people brought their Triumphs, the rest opting for the comfort of good demisters, windscreen wipers and a good heater.   The meeting place was Millies at Stirling for coffee then the run went for a distance of approx 75kms taking in Clarendon, Meadows, Macclesfield ending up at Grumphy’s at Hahndorf for wood oven pizzas.

Ian and Raelene’s run to Cafe Y at Chateau Yaldara Lyundoch on Sunday 24th July saw 11 Triumphs brought out in the very inclement weather.  A few other members came along in their normal cars.  We had a tour of the back streets of North Adelaide passing the sad TR6 (it has featured in TRak) parked on the side of the road before heading up Gorge Road to Cudlee Creek for a coffee stop.  The rain conditnued to fall as we made our way to Lyndoch and lunch at Cafe Y.   Thanks to Ian and Raelene for their efforts in organising the run.

The next ladies technical session is on Tuesday 9th August at Cafe Buongiorno Mitcham and we would love to see you there for a chat and a bite to eat and, of course, a little technical discussion.

The run on Sunday 21st August is heading south to Willunga for coffee (the swap meet is on if anyone wants to go early and meet up afterwards) then heading down to Middleton Tavern for lunch.

Don’t forget to put Sunday 11th September in your diary for the Day of Triumph at Civic Park opposite TTP.  This is a major event in the Club’s year so let’s see a record number of Triumphs on display, even if you don’t want your car to be judged bring it along and put it on show.

The other major event is the Christmas Dinner and Trophy Presentation on Saturday 10th December at the Royal Adelaide Golf Club.  The 3 course meal with choice is very good value.   Details will be in TRak.

Sue Gibson

The Triumph story, according to Graham Robson and Richard Langworth, goes back to 1863 when a young and very ambitious 21 year old man by the name of Siegfried Bettmann decided to leave Germany and head to London to make his fortune.

Siegfried was very bright, well educated and he spoke German, French and English. Given that he was very talented at an early age gave him advantages and is why his rise through the ranks was so spectacular.

Siegfried had soon out grown his initial menial job as a translator and had created S.Bettemann & Co and obtained a number of continental companies for whom he was London agent. With the exception of one of these agencies most not that successful; the only one which was successful was a manufacturer of sewing machines from Saxony and S Bettmann & Co imported these sewing machines under this agency agreement to be sold profitably throughout the England.

Bettmann saw that there was little to be seen of a profitable nature in importing but there was a real market in exporting, and at that point of time transport was in its infancy with the humble bicycle being the “new” mode of transport.  At that time the “penny farthing” was all the rage.

However Bettmann saw that the high front wheel of the Penny Farthing was not as easy to ride as the smaller front wheel and had a Birmingham company manufacture them for his company, he foresaw that there was a huge market over the channel.

But he knew that calling these new bicycles the “Bettmann” would not be a good marketing product and he wanted a name which would be recognized worldwide, he came up with the name “Triumph” which he felt would be recognized throughout.

Little was he to know that this name would become so well known the world over for such high quality cars and motorbikes. The Triumph Company has arrived!

In  1887 Bettmann needed more capital to continue to expand this thriving small concern and he asked a fellow German countryman of his , a Mauritz J Schulte to be a partner, this partnership was to last over 30 years.

The company was changed to a limited liability company when Schulte added his life savings of 150 pounds (which in those time would have been a large sum!) and the Triumph Cycle Company Ltd was created!

Sales of bicycles continued to sell so much that Bettmann, being driven by the more astute Schulte asked several more financiers to assist in the expansion of the company.

As part and parcel of this process the Directors made the decision to manufacture bicycles themselves rather than have someone else do the manufacturing. So they started to look for suitable location in Coventry; which was the hub of bicycle manufacturing at that time.

The Triumph Cycle Company indeed found a suitable building in Much Park Street, in the West Mid-lands town of Coventry, the Company were to move to Priory Street in 1907 but some major factors propelled the company to become so much more successful and this was due to  a number of factors;

One was that Mauritz Schulte was more forward thinking and

Secondly the link with a Dublin based Company, called the Dunlop Rubber Company in seeing what success the Triumph Cycle Company was having and wishing to be involved.

These two factors were part of the process in changing the way the Triumph Cycle Company was to go into the future. On pneumatic tyres!

By 1897 manufacturing of bicycles started selling motorized bicycles with very primitive and tiny motors; Triumph was also interested in this move forward and tried a number of different engines before deciding to build their own 3& 1/2 hp engine.  The company was still finding its way and by 1906 had started production in a small way. As mentioned above in 1907 the Triumph Cycle company sought larger space and some of the manufacturing moved to the Priory Street premises.

Siegfried Bettmann started to move into politics while keeping an eye on the bicycle division which was his main interest thus leaving the other Directors to drive the motorcycle division forward.

Siegfried’s civic life saw him become a member of the City Council then President of the Chamber of Commerce and in 1913 became Mayor of Coventry.

However the next link in this chain of events occurred in 1911 or 1912 when Siegfried became the Chairman of the Standard Motor Company.  There is some thought that he provided some funds to Reginald Maudslay in order that he could obtain the controlling interest in the Standard Motor Company . Maundsley was to become a Director of Triumph as well.

According to Graham Robson and Richard Langworth; Siegfried Bettmann did not have a very long period of involvement with the Standard Motor Company but it would be 34 years later that this relating link would come full circle. Bettmann had retired with a very handsome payout and the Company was now under the control of Mauritz Schulte, a much more dynamic and forward thinking individual with a new Company Manager, Col. Claude Holbrook who had been closely involved with Bettmann and Maudsley in the procurement of motorcycles as part of the war effort during the Great War.

In fact the Triumph Cycle Company did very well during the war with large orders for motorcycles as part of the war effort, orders for machines increased from 3000 in 1909 to some 15,000 by 1923 and by 1929 this number had doubled!  By then the Priory Street building was a seven storey building thanks to the high quality of material and workmanship which has made Triumph motorcycles famous.

During the early 1920’s management at Triumph were cashed up and were like a number of companies interested in building Automobiles. An article in The Autocar printed an article advising that the Triumph Cycle Co Ltd was interested in producing light cars and had purchased the Dawson Car Company who had built a 12 hp light car. Unfortunately the Dawson motorcar was not a success with some 65 cars built and there are apparently no survivors today.

When this purchase was made by Bettmann prior to his retirement his intention was more for the value of the property that came with the sale which was only half a mile from Priory Street. When William Morris ran into financial difficulty he approached Bettmann with a view to buying the Morris Motor Company, however Bettmann refused, reasoning that he could build exactly the right complex for the production of the Triumph motorcar.

In April 1923 it was announced that the production of wholly Triumph designed”Triumph 10/20” was to commence.

The start of a long illustrious period of some 60 years for this famously named automobile!!.

By Mike Greenwood – Adelaide

Past

25 – 26 June Wakefield Park

Six cars left for Wakefield Park on Thursday 23rd June comprising our entire TSOA(SA) racing contingent for the annual All Triumph Race and Sprint. The trip over and back is split into two parts with an overnight stop at Hay. We rolled into Hay around 4:30pm and registered at the motel then met up at the hotel for refreshments and a game of pool before meandering into the restaurant for an enjoyable evening meal. This was followed by viewing of racing videos at the motel.

Up early Friday morning, we sauntered across to the bakery for breakfast around 7am and departed for Goulburn around 8am. Lunch was at the Tucker Box near Gundagai and we arrived at the track about 3pm to off load the cars and equipment in locked garages fronting pit straight. After pre dinner drinks and more videos, we all met up for a meal in town, then back to the motel for more drinks and videos.

Saturday morning was down to business after clearing the ice off our transporters. The track is approximately 15 minutes out of town and started out foggy The sprint was postponed until 11am due to poor visibility. It was also cold – very cold. This gave the opportunity for a group walk around the track for many. There were 104 entries comprising of Sports Sedans, Lotus, Mazda, Jaguar Healey and many Triumphs amongst others. Track conditions improved once the sun came out and dried the wet patches. The SA contingent (which included the sons of Rod Carey and Bryan Young) placed as follows:-

3rd Trevor Lindsay – GT6

15th Roger Lange – GT6

60th Rod Carey – Spitfire

66th Neil Martin – TR7V8

74th Michael Carey – Spitfire

93rd Robin George – TR7V8

94th Daniel Young – Vitesse

104th Bryan Young – Vitesse

Most of us attended a group dinner that evening at the Old Brewery. More drinks and videos followed after at the motel.
Sunday morning was clear and cold. After once again clearing ice of the windscreens, we headed back to the track for the All British Race Meeting. Bryan, Robin and Neil competed in the Regularity events as they didn’t have roll bars for the racing events. Out of four runs, Bryans best placing was 14th and Robin and Neil both gained a  2nd placing.

Out of 22 cars, Roger ended up with 4th position after conclusion of the All Triumph Race with Rod in 16th and myself in 1st. Rogers other two races were spoilt by suspected faulty distributor rotors ending in DNF’s. Rod scored a 7th and 16th in the other events and I scored two 2nd placings.

We all had some minor gremlins to overcome apart from Neil. I had a fuel leak that was found and fixed before racing commenced Saturday and found a way to make my tyres work better. My Dorian timing unit also packed up.

Roger had his rotor button issue (we think?), Rod had to replace a fuel pump, and Bryan lost his fanbelt causing overheating. Robin developed some oil pressure issues and an oil leak.

Sunday night we had a good feed up within walking distance of the motel and celebrated what was 2 days of great fun (plus more videos and refreshments afterwards).

Pressure off, we had a sleep in and relaxing start to Monday morning. After a lunch stop at Narrandera, we met up again at Hay around 4pm and showed those not yet acquainted with it – the old Hay Jail and Museum. After dinner, you guessed it, more of the usual. Roger left early Tuesday morning (Bryan never stopped), Rod and Neil paired up to return via the Riverland and Robin and myself kept each other company returning via Pinnaroo and the freeway. I was home by 4pm.

Another great weekend that brought smiles to everyones faces at one time or another. Bring on 2012.
3 July MSCA Sprint Mallala

Rick Staehr, Peter Davidge, Arrand Ellery, Peter Berlemon, Rod Carey, John Sampson, Andrew McNeil and myself did our duty for the TSOA on what was a windy but fine day at Mallala. I personally enjoy this activity and know many others also do, though it is a time eater. Perhaps next time we can draw a raffle at the preceding GM and the six prize winners get to wave flags and eat out at the track. Just a suggestion.

Neil Martin was the sole representative of the Triumph marque on track and was well observed by all the TSOA flaggies around the circuit. I was impressed at how well the TR7V8 pulls up under brakes.

Well done to our volunteers. The TSOA, MSCA and myself appreciate your efforts even if the majority of our membership is apathetic to the cause.

Future

16 July Come and Try Day Collingrove Hillclimb

17 July Winter Cup Rd 2 Collingrove Hillclimb

7 August Winter Cup Rd 3 Collingrove Hillclimb

14 August MSCA Sprint Rd 3 Mallala

Other

22 July Sporting Car Clubrooms

The SCCSA is holding a Competition Night commencing at 7pm in their clubrooms to discuss the latest in motorsport including Tailem Bend, rule changes, scrutineering etc as well as an interview with Trevor Pound and trade displays. All interested parties are welcome

Cheers,

Trevor Lindsay

Jon in WA

Jon Williams doing a little bit of circle work around the cones in WA after moving over there recently. The “6” looks great Jon!

The sausage sizzle lunch at Thorndon Park on Sunday 19th June saw 38 people enjoy a club sponsored gourmet sausage lunch.  The weather forecast was not good, however there was blue sky and sunshine for the morning and into the early afternoon, before the rain set in later on  The run, organised by Bill Smith, took in some roads not travelled before, departing from The Place Next Door on Greenhill Road and heading into the hills ending up at Thorndon Park at 12.30pm for lunch.  The gourmet sausages were cooked by Bill Berlemon at home and transported to the park in foil lined eskies to keep them hot.  Thanks to Bill and Margie for organising the food, Bill and Lyle for cooking the sausages, Sue T for preparing the bread rolls and Bill Smith for organising the run route.

The mid week run on Wednesday 6th July is meeting at Millies Bakery at Stirling at 10.00am for coffee before heading off at 11.00am destination Grumphy’s at Hahndorf for wood oven pizzas.  Stephen Wade has organised this run.

The run on 24th July is being organised by Ian Rigby and heading to Cafe Y in the Barossa for lunch stopping off at Cudlee Creek for coffee on the way.  Ian and Raelene have put a lot of work into organising this day, so let’s see lots of Triumphs out and about whatever the weather may throw at us.

Sue Gibson

The weather was perfect for the club sponsored sausage sizzle held on Sunday 19th June at Thorndon Park. The Sunday morning run was well attended by about 48 members who met at “The Place Next Door” at Burnside for coffee and then enjoyed a drive to the pleasant park surroundings at Thorndon Park, Adelaide’s first reservoir.

Although I was away for the weekend and could not attend, I understand an enjoyable lunch of Gourmet sausages was provided on the day. Once again my thanks go out to Margie and Bill for organising the day.

For those members who have their cars on Historic Concessional Registration and do not have internet access, we have included later in the magazine, an extract from the “Code of Practice” detailing the eligibility criteria as documented in the code.

Just a reminder that the August meeting is our AGM and all official positions will become available for re-election, so if you are looking for challenge or feel the need to participate in the running of the club in some small way in the coming year then let your thoughts be known.

Many of the current committee and appointed club positions have been held for several years by a same willing people, and some may be interested in having a break, so speak up as one of these positions may be just what you are looking for.

Till we meet again,

John Sampson

Remember July 24th run. Meet at Adelaide oval front gates off King Willianm. Meet at 9.30 run will be through the hills with a morning stop then on to lunch at Y cafe. Cafe has live music with wood fired food on Sundays. Area also has opal shop, Cheese and wine tasting. Car park display of the cars. Info Ian Rigby or Sue. Info in June mag.

Past

May 1 MSCA 6HR  Mallala

Sunday 1st May started out wet and cool for the 2011 running of the MSCA 6 Hour Regularity Relay at Mallala, though conditions were apparently better than in Adelaide. This years “Team Triumph” consisted of 6 drivers and cars. Unfortunately, this number was reduced to 5 when Roger Mannett from Victoria in his Spitfire dropped a cam follower in Saturdays open practice session. It is somewhere in the sump after the neck broke away from the base. Perhaps lightened a little too much.

Saturday saw a wet morning practice and Team Manager Rog (Roger Lange) decided to guess at some nominated times for the drivers based on a dry track. This proved to be the correct call – well done Rog.

‘And then there were 4’

Our first casualty was Geoff Bills in his TR3A. After putting in some good laps, Geoff’s motor decided to tighten up. Upon entering the pits, All attempts to restart the hardy four came to nought. A post race examination has revealed a spun con rod bearing and some very blue heat stressed rods. Another engine is waiting to be installed.

‘And then there were 3’

Our second casualty was the TR7V8 of Robin George whose temperature dial went of the clock. A split heater hose ended up being the culprit. Once fixed, Robin eventually rejoined the effort, though we were potentially down to 2 cars at one stage.

‘And then there were 2?’

The next to develop an issue was Andy Ansell from Victoria in a borrowed TR7V8. Andy blew a head gasket in his TR7 during the preceding historic Easter event at Mallala. Andy’s new problem was suspected warped front discs that produced severe shudder under braking and progressively worsened as the temperature increased. Andy persevered with the wounded TR in true team spirit and with Robin George rejoining the fold, we were back to 4 runners.

‘Back to 4’

Ian Cowie’s GT6 performed faultlessly, as did Ian.

And what can we say about Neil Martin. Neil and the TR7V8 were, as usual, totally reliable and dependable, as we all knew would be the case.

The pit crew, timers, runners and mechanics all did a great and well appreciated job and looked like they enjoyed the day as much as the drivers. They consisted of (in no particular order)  Rod Carey, Rick and Maree Staehr, Phil Bagust, Arrand Ellery, Peter Davidge, Bryan Young, Tom Bills, Cherri Lange (lunch girl) Rog and myself. Life and founding member Tony Case also made an appearance and buzzed around offering encouragement.

Great job guys and a great result of 3rd outright. The first 3 teams were extremely close – incredibly close.  2012 watch out.

May 29 Collingrove Hillclimb

Bryan Young competed up the hill in his Vitesse at this event and the times are falling – now 45.15. Bryan is our sole climber and is thoroughly enjoying the challenge.
June 5 & 6 Mallala

Rod Carey and myself entered Round 2 of the SA State Racing Series. Both of us had new tyres to scrub in on our GT6’s before the All British Wakefield Park event later in June. Unfortunately, Rods head improvements and new tyres didn’t seem to result in any lap time improvements.  Rod also lost oil pressure in race 3 due to a broken oil pump pickup and the engine now needs a total rebuild. Due to time restrictions, the Spitfire will be pulled out for Wakefield Park and will get a shakedown at Mallala in private practice on 11 June.

My weekend was mixed. I was not at all happy with the new tyres and handling early Saturday. However as the event progressed I fine tuned settings to get the car to a point where it is more predictable and closer to previous performance, though still 3 seconds off my best times. Race 3 was the only one I didn’t have a problem in, starting 12th and finishing 5th. Race 4 on Sunday resulted in the loss of 1 – 4 and reverse gears around lap 6 of 10. I was able to limp home in 5th.

Both Rod and myself have some work to do before Wakefield Park.

Upcoming

June 25 & 26 All Triumph Race & Sprint Wakefield Park

Bryan Young with his Vitesse and Robin George (TR7V8) are joining Neil Martin (TR7V8) this year in the sprints and regularity at Wakefield Park. Rod Carey, Roger Lange and myself  will also be competing in the All Triumph Races. We will be leaving Thursday 23rd and returning Tuesday 28th. If you want to know more about this event or wish to tag along, give me a call.

July 3 MSCA Supersprint Rd2 at Mallala

Our Club has been rostered to assist with flag duties at this round. Please let me know if you will be able to assist. This is a great opportunity to get up close to the racing. Lunch and refreshments are supplied. We need a minimum of 4 and preferably 6 volunteers to be paired into groups of 2.

Other

Tom Hutchinson has joined Ian Wilson  in ditching TR’s for TVR’s. That extra letter makes all the difference. Looks like the competition Trophy may end up in someone else’s home this year?

Cheers,
Trevor Lindsay

What a TRiumphant weekender 40 plus members enjoyed on the 21st and 22nd of May in the Clare valley, lower Flinders rangers, Pt Pirie and Bute. There will be a report later in the magazine so I will not go into any details here, but it would be remiss of me not to give a huge vote of thanks to Margie and Bill for planning a pleasant scenic drive, interesting stops and a great evening on Saturday night, not to mention a BUTE day on Sunday. (sorry, I resisted but in the end I could not stop myself from saying it)

Some members went back to the motel early on Saturday night and missed an exciting new range of talent that was exposed to the population of Pt Pirie at the karaoke night held at the Broken Hill Club, I have had it on good authority that the talent scouts have been alerted and are waiting in the wings for next year’s weekender so they can see them and sign them up.

On a more serious note our club along with all other clubs associated with the Federation of Historic Motor Clubs have received advice from the Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure (DTEI) of impending proposed changes to the concessional Historic Registration scheme, which may impact on those vehicles registered under the scheme.

The proposed changes will be reported in more detail later in this magazine, and over the next couple of months we will pass on more details of the current scheme and include a copy of the “Code of Practice“ applicable to the scheme.

Briefly the proposed changes involve the deletion of the rolling 30 year date for historic vehicles and a retrospective final effective date of the 1st January 1979 introduced, as advised at our last general meeting.

We have sent a letter to DTEI and the Federation of Historic Motor Clubs expressing our concerns in relation to the introduction of the proposed retrospective date, and the significance of the 1981 date to the Triumph marque.
In a conversation I had with a representative of DTEI, I understand that any vehicles of 1979, 1980 and 1981 vintage that are currently registered on the scheme will be able to be on sold and the historic eligibility carried over to the new owner with the appropriate sign off and paperwork as would normally apply.

The second proposal is for a yearly sign off of each concession registered vehicle to ensure the integrity of the historic vehicles, and the alignment of the LHD concessional vehicles from the current date of 1974 to the 1979 proposed date.

It is my understanding that a range of concerns have been registered by various clubs and these will need to be worked through before the legislation is approved, and therefore it won’t be finalised until next year.

This time frame will allow us to discuss internally, plan what we have to do and how we implement the proposed revisions, but it looks as though we will have a couple of days set aside next year to conduct the yearly inspection.

We will keep you informed as the proposed revisions to the scheme are finalised.

At the last General meeting it was decided that the general meeting planned for October will be cancelled as it clashes with the National Rally.

I would like to remind members who have registered for the National rally in October that the next instalment of your entry fee is required by the end of May.

While we are on the subject of dates here are two important club events to put in your diary and plan to attend before other commitments in your activities are locked in.

The 2011 DAY OF TRIUMPH, Pride of Ownership and Concours Day at the TTG Civic park opposite the TTP to be held on Sunday the 11th of September.

The Annual club Christmas dinner and trophy presentation night at the Royal Adelaide Golf Club Seaton to be held on Saturday the 10th of December.

Look forward to catching up soon,

‘Til we meet again
John Sampson