“That’s what the car is for”
The Trustees approved the request, and welcomed it in terms better than anything I had dared write into the application myself.
Yes.
The Trustees have approved the request. TS2 is going to the Ten Countries Run.
I want to record the exact phrase that came back, because I could not have written a better one myself and I did try, at length, over six pages. The Trustees welcomed the concept and said:
That’s what the car is for.
Two hundred and ninety-three days since I emailed the office last April to ask what the application process even was. Six pages of risk assessment and media planning in between. And every stage of it handled by people giving their time voluntarily to look after a car that belongs to all of us.
I would not have wanted it to be quicker.
Thank you
Genuinely, and by name. Chris Mountford at Technical, who fielded a great many longer-than-necessary emails from me and asked the hard questions properly. Julian Taylor, who looks after TS2 and now has to hand her over to somebody else for a fortnight. Jo in the office, who took the very first call and could not see why any of this should be controversial. Keith, who backed it from early on. Wayne Scott, whose publicity guidelines I intend to follow to the letter. And the Trustees and Management team, who could reasonably have said no and did not.
I am acutely aware that TS2 belongs to the membership, not to me. We are borrowing something that several thousand people part-own, and a good number of them paid for her restoration out of their own pockets.
What happens now
Not a lot of celebrating, as it turns out. The approval is the start of the work, not the end of it.
Technical briefing. I need to sit down with Julian and understand TS2 as she actually is rather than as she is in my head. Ignition: points, or an electronic conversion? Carburettor setup and how recently it was tuned. Known quirks and preferences. Service history, areas of wear, preferred oils and fluids for every system, tyre age and condition.
Spares. My proposal carried a sample list based on the 2024 run, but that was a TR6. There is unlikely to be another TR2 on the event at all, which means anything TS2-specific we do not carry, we will not find. What has a history of failing? What is the current state of the consumables?
Altitude. We will spend a couple of days high up. Carburettors are more forgiving than injection in that respect, but we may still need to advance the timing and lean the mixture out at the roadside, and I would rather learn how from Julian in a workshop than from first principles on an Alpine pass.
Servicing and a shakedown. A full service and inspection beforehand, and a proper run to shake it down, which also buys Evie and me seat time. Her regular car is a 4A, so it will not be entirely unfamiliar territory.
Insurance and paperwork. What our cover looks like as members, and what Europe needs adding to it. Full breakdown and repatriation cover, at minimum.
Media. Now that we have a go, I will reconnect with Wayne and rewrite the media plan properly. The aim is to celebrate TS2 and the Register appropriately, positively and respectfully, and if the route allows, to meet Register members along the way for photographs.
The overnight stops for the 10CR have just been published, so accommodation is the immediate job.
Seven months. Better get on with it.