We had our first formal meeting for the year earlier this week and it was again great to see all the usual faces and even more great to see a few new members again that have recently bought a Triumph. 3 new faces and wonderful new members, enthusiastic about their new pride and joy. They likely won’t believe it, but I think the regular members all know that that pride and joy somehow never leaves you when you own and drive a Triumph and are involved and participate in this club. Hopefully in many years to come they will know this to be true! It seems “Stu” already has got lost on a Club run, so his initiation is complete and he has learned who and who not to follow. It will be great to see many more new members in their Triumph on a run, or even longer term (was going to say old but didn’t want to be misread…) members that have finally completed restorations or rejuvenations or simply just blown off the dust.

I always encourage you all to also display your Triumph on stage, in any condition at an upcoming meeting. Sure we have had some absolutely amazing examples of Triumphs on stage, a few non Triumphs too, and even my humble little Spitfire has graced the stage twice over the past decade. It has rust, scratches, panel gaps and that bootlid… by the way I have another bootlid to go on now, just needs a bit of work and a coat of paint, so it is on what is a rather long list of Triumph tasks & projects, but until then I will still proudly drive it around as is, bruises and all.

It was exciting to see Bill Jones GT40 project this week. I couldn’t have asked for a better example to help nail home my IKEA message about building it yourself and how good it feels to put some effort in and see the reward at the end. I know a build from kit project does require some extra special skills above that of the average home mechanic, I would love to think I could do all that work myself but there are so many things that are best left to the experts. Plus if we did all the work on our Triumphs I’d hate to think of what the quality or knowledge of tradespeople would be like in the future. It is already becoming difficult to find a Mechanic under 25 y.o who knows what Twin SU’s are, let alone how to tune them!

Computers in cars controlling everything are here to stay and becoming more and more popular. So to are computers in our homes. In future, maybe you will be reading these reports on a computer screen as the switch to faster communication continues to creep into our everyday lives. Having just moved house, I now have all of my bills delivered to me ‘online’ or via email. Maybe one day mail boxes will be a historical item. It is impossible to imagine where what life will be like in 10 – 20 years. We have now made a decision to reduce the printed number of Trak magazines to bi monthly, and where possible, it is my intention that we keep you all updated via our Website, or an email of hello and our important upcoming events. I know many of you don’t mind this at all as you are already comfortable with this technology. The Committee welcomes your feedback as to how you all find this, good or bad, as we will review it at the end of this year.

The end of the year is also being filled up with other Triumph events. The WA team are hosting the National Meeting in mid to late October, November is our Day of Triumph, the Observation Run (and a Presidential Wedding…. ) And the Christmas Dinner date is set already.  But well before then I hope to see you all in your Triumph soon.

Duane