Concours d'Arse

First off, apologies for the long post - I don't usually write long blogs, but a lot has happened since my last entry...

I picked up my Coupe from Paul's workshop on Friday lunchtime ready to drive to the TSSC International Weekend at Stafford. Unfortunately the front 5.5J rims with 175x70 tyres were rubbing the front wheel arches. So as not to make things worse Paul had some 4.5J wheels and we fitted those on the front and put the 5.5J rims in the boot.

I had a good drive up to Stafford, the car is pulling really well, but I'm trying to take it easy while the engine is running in. Met up with the usual Herald suspects on the Friday evening with the Coupe receiving many favourable comments.

On Saturday the Coupe was part of the Herald display. We swapped the 4.5J rims back for the 5.5J rims and the Coupe looked the business. There was a great display of Heralds and it was good to see so many other coupes.

After much deliberating I decided to enter the Coupe in the Concours d'Elegance on the Sunday. I doubt the car is ever going to look much better than right now immediately following a total restoration. This is a one-off, my intention is definitely to drive the car and enjoy events like the RBRR and 10CR.

During the Sunday the car received lots of interest and I was happy to talk people through the Shorrock installation. The car was judged and I didn't feel there was anything more we could have done to the car. I spoke to the other owners in the "Modified Triumph" category and there was a friendly exchange of information regarding the work done to our cars.

Come 3 o'clock the results were read out. "Modified Triumph" : Third place - not me. Second place - not me. First place - not me. I was gutted. Mark Bland was with me and suggested I ask for a copy of my score card to see where I had gone wrong. As the main hall started to empty, the guy who came first wandered over and couldn't believe I hadn't been placed. There were only seven cars in our class, and it turns out the organisers didn't use the same judge to judge all the cars in the class. What the heck?! On closer inspection of our score cards the concours organisers (using spreadsheets and a laptop - what's wrong with mental arithmetic or a bloody calculator!!??) had screwed up the scoring and not counted all my marks - I had in actual fact more marks than the chap who came first!! I reported all this back to the organisers - who were most apologetic, and said they would look into it but couldn't do anything now as the laptop had been put away and it was now too late.

I can't believe this is the level of organisation in what claims to be the biggest and best club for the small chassis Triumphs. My first and last concours for sure. Concours d'Elegance? Concours d'Arse.

On a happier note, thanks to everyone who lended me a hand over the weekend, or just made smart Alec remarks - thanks Ferny.

Here's my Coupe alongside Richard Philpot's Coupe DTH...