Asking to borrow a national treasure
A hands-free phone call, a keyboard sitting unattended in front of me, and a dangerous idea. One email to the office, and no way back.
There is a rule in the TR Register that deserves to be better known than it is.
Members wishing to loan out TS2 may do so by application to the TS2 Trust. The member must demonstrate that their use of the vehicle will promote the TR Register or the TR marque in some way.
That is it. TS2 is held for the membership, and the membership can ask to use her. You send an email to the office.
I found this out during a conversation with Jo at Central, who could not understand why TS2 was considered controversial at all. The membership voted for it. It is held for their benefit. Anyone can ask. She said it in the tone of someone stating the obvious, which of course it is, right up until the moment you consider actually doing it.
The call was hands-free. Which left my keyboard sitting directly in front of me. A dangerous situation for a man with a half-formed idea and no supervision.
I already had a drive planned for the 4A.
What I actually sent
Nothing elaborate. Just an introduction and a question.
That I administer the Dorset group. That we keep a 4A, a Spitfire 4 and a Mk1 GT6 at home. That I came to cars from endurance cycling, finished the 2023 Round Britain Reliability Run in a TR6 sharing a road with Wayne Scott, completed last year’s Ten Countries Run with a bonus eleventh country, and was helping arrange the South West control at Gurston for this year’s RBRR.
Then the actual point. I had been rebuilding the GT6 and fettling the 4A with 2,000 miles and Alpine passes in mind, and it had occurred to me that the same event was a unique opportunity to use TS2 to promote Triumph and the Register right across Europe. More than that: to create a demonstrable value for keeping her.
I offered to cover entry, fuel, and the logistics of getting her to, from and between the start and finish lines in France and the Netherlands.
And I mentioned Evie. The event needs a co-driver, and our plan was always to share it. She is an avid and entirely capable driver of the 4A, and, as I put it perhaps a little cheekily, her presence would go some way towards negating the slightly musty reputation of the UK’s male-dominated classic car scene.
Then the only question that mattered:
Please could you let me know the application process for the trust.
And then
Nothing happens quickly with something irreplaceable, nor should it. There were phone calls. There was, eventually, a request for rather more documentation. That turned into six pages, and its own story.
But the point of no return was a Saturday lunchtime in April and a single email to an office inbox.
Send.