Gaydon According to the Triumph Stag Register

[Mike Wattam <101714.1343@domain.elided>]

Wow, what a weekend!

The Saturday evening dinner was very interesting, food just about OK but
the company was something else altogether.  Stuart Turner did a short but
very funny after-dinner speech which was not related to Triumphs - except
by coincidence.  I was sort of hoping for short speeches from the guests of
honour which included many ex-works competition drivers and designers,
chief among them being Harry Webster.  All of them regettably looked as
though time had taken its toll, fortunately I was not looking in the mirror
at the time.  Eventually we got thrown out about 12.30am!

It was a terrific Sunday and on the Club stand we got to meet lots of
people - and signed up quite a few of them for the club!   We also had a
steady stream of current members along, and we also seemed to be THE
meeting point for all our American members.  It was really great getting to
know you all, we were so busy I never got off the stand until 5pm, and I
never even thought about whingeing about not liking shows!

Most of the larger suppliers were present, and some smaller. Two suppliers
were selling 2nd hand parts only, boy oh boy did they look second-hand! 
Rimmers as always had a magnificent display but seemed to sell out, and
Monarch/Finnis was there with their uprated Stag brakes - looking very 
nicely engineered indeed, must try those.  Dave Gleed was there with all
his 'small' parts nobody else bothers with ......................

There was some confusion at Gaydon regarding the weekend, which had
resulted in some people turning up on the Saturday - including Rimmer
Brothers who were not too happy to be surrounded by a tarmac desert!  The
clubs and most of the suppliers had made it quite clear they were only
going to be present on the Sunday, but Gaydon still pushed it as a whole
weekend event and I have to say one or two clubs still advertised it as a
2-day weekend, a case of left not knowing ..........  but it all turned out
right in the end.

Nobody seems to know how many cars were present but I am hoping we will
very soon know the number of people who came in through the gate.  It was a
lot, Triumphs as far as the eye could see.  No doubt there will be rival
claims for this shortly, e.g., more Heralds than Spits .........

Reflecting, I have my doubts that we will ever see so many Triumphs
together in one place again.  By the 100th anniversary, will Gaydon be
there?  Will the dreaded tin-worm have done its worst?  And will the
b...... legislators still be allowing us to use our cars?

For me the very best thing coming out of Gaydon, was the spirit of
co-operation between the various clubs - even those locked in hard
competition with each other for members.  We in the TSR were very
privileged to have the Triumph Stag Enthusiasts share our stand, not only
were they good company but there was no competition to 'grab' new members. 
Most of the officials of the other clubs came to visit our stand and make
themselves known to this new club, we even had a deputation from the SOC
asking if we can let by-gones be by-gones, to which the answer was yes.

An occasion to be remembered for a long time.

Mike Wattam
Triumph Stag Register