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This is the car when the previous owner drove it to Pensacola from Atlanta for my club's annual show in April 2002. We have a all-British car show on Pensacola Beach every April. For details, see the club's website: Panhandle British Car Association. |
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This was my first trip with wife and baby for a drive with my British car club. Can you spot the Triumph 2000 in the first picture? In the second picture, we are going down the highway in the line of British cars with a MGB-GT close behind us and a MGC after that. Pictures by PBCA club member Bill Moseley. [May 2004] |
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With my friend William's help, I had both my Triumph 2000 and my Spitfire at my club's annual show on Pensacola Beach. In spite of Hurricane Ivan's damage, we had 100 entries this year compared to our usual 125 or so. That's pretty good considering that many people decided to stay away this year since many hotels and restaurants were not repaired and open yet. But I had the ONLY Spitfire! PLEASE make plans to bring your Triumph to our show in April 2006! There were only 13 Triumphs compared to 17 Jaguars and 34 MG's. Pictures from this year's show are here. [April 2005] |
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My first trip to the huge all-British car show Atlanta British Motorcar Day held at Chateau Elan winery resort in Braselton, Georgia. Another Triumph 2000 Mk1 was there with it's owner, Vern Catron. Vern's car is the even more rare Estate version (British for station wagon), which was not exported to the USA. Therefore you will notice that his car is right-hand drive! One of it's previous owners had it brought over from the UK. In the photo, that's me holding my son and Vern in his Scottish kilt is in front of my Triumph 2000. There were several men wearing Scottish kilts that day including the guy I bought my 2000 from last year! :-) [May 2005] |
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The right side turn lens has been broken since I bought this car. When these cars were made new in 1960's, they used white lenses for the USA cars and amber lenses for the UK and European cars. I spent some time trying to find the USA specification white lenses but I could not find them available. Then while discussing this with other Triumph 2000 owners on a message board, I was told that the UK specification amber lenses are more available. So since most cars in the USA today have amber lenses anyway and USA drivers are accustomed to seeing amber turn signals, I decided to buy the UK specification lenses. I bought them from Mick Dolphin Classic Triumph Spares in the UK who has NOS parts. I also needed a new lens over the license plate light and he had that too. Later I bought new white lenses that are next to the turn lenses because one of them was chipped and the other has some cracks. I think the car looks great with these new amber lenses! At the left are one view of the whole front, each side close-up, and one very close-up. [June 2005] |
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I was not able to work on this car much for a few years because my wife and I had another baby in 2006. Children require a lot of time and attention. I had the carbs rebuilt in 2006, so in May 2007, I tried to drive it to a local show with my son. The car started in my shop, I drove it to the driveway to get my son's child seat from the family SUV, then after putting my son in the seat the car would not re-start. I tried everything but no go. So we went to the show in my blue Spitfire. We returned 4 hours later and the 2000 still would not start. SO I pulled it back to my shop with the SUV and winched it inside. There it sat for several months until I had a few moments to work on it. It had spark and fuel to the carbs and turned over fine but still no go. Months passed and club members told me that the timing might have jumped. Then a year later a Spitfire friend, John Bolton of Pensacola, came over and adjusted the carbs correctly. I used the electric fuel pump to get out the old gas. We cleaned the rotor arm and cap contacts, gave it fresh gas, and it started! It ran bad but at least it was running! So I drove it to John's house where he has a large shop that he rebuilt and we worked on it some more. We replaced the spark plugs and inspected each one again after adjusting the flow mixture of the carbs. It took several attempts to get the right look on the spark plugs. But then it started good without using the choke. [July 2008] |
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Well time did not improve the situation because in November my wife had an accident that damaged her leg and left her not able to walk at all for over 2 months using a wheelchair, then she had surgery. After that she could put a little weight on it and use a walker device for several months of physical therapy and later be able to walk slowly with only a cane. So this 2000 got even less work time. This and medical bills have helped me decide to sell this 2000 to someone who can keep it running good like the previous owner did. It's a neat car for the family if it's kept running good and driven regularly. I have 32 detailed photos of this 2000 Mk1 on my local British car club's site. [August 2009] |
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Since nobody made me an offer last year I decided to get this Triumph running again. This car is now running after time with a professional British car mechanic (and a lot of $$$). I used the money from selling my Spitfire Mk2. It's nice to be able to drive this car again after so much time. Yet if a really good offer comes along, I will still sell it. [March 2011] |
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I took my family to the 12th annual European Car show at the NAS Pensacola National Museum of Naval Aviation. The Triumph 2000 got a lot of interesting looks but it's not one of the flashy cars. Some UK-born gentlemen talked with me and said that when they were kids, these cars were considered the "big" family cars and used by doctors and lawyers. It was a nice day with a field of about 75 European cars and for the first time several Alpha Romero cars. My kids got to play at the Museum's Kiddie Hawk, we had lunch in the Cubi Cafe, and toured the new aircraft display hanger. They have one S-3B Viking, the aircraft type that I worked with when I was in the Navy. Back outside, there was one Spitfire whose owner needed to sell. We put an ad on our club's website. More photos are on my club's site. The next weekend I replaced the white part of the turn lenses and also replaced the trunk lock and ignition lock. Now I have keys for this car which is something I didn't have before. I found the broken radio power wire and fixed it so now the radio works. Before the show I fixed the air fan under the dash and the interior roof light. [May 2011] |
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I drove my Triumph 2000 to a summer gathering of the Panhandle Cruisers on 9-Mile Road in Pensacola. It's a informal group that meets nearly every Saturday night and has lots of driving events during the year.[2011] |
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My Spitfire's engine broke 3 weeks before my club's annual show, so I worked on this Triumph to get it going again. It's amazing what fresh gas and new spark plugs can do! Well, maybe not so amazing since that's basic automotive, right? I will sell it if a good offer is made, but at least I can drive this Triumph while I'm repairing my Spitfire, which will take some time. [April 2014] |
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Again I drove this Triumph sedan to our local British car show. It was fun for a while but most of the real restoration that this car needs are beyond my capabilities and time allowances. This rare Triumph sedan has now been sold to a man in Texas who has a family history with this model and will restore it correctly. [April 2015, June 2016] |
