It is often said that English roadsters have passed the zenith of their popularity as classic cars. And perhaps this is even true, as their numbers at open-brand meetings are slowly but steadily decreasing. It is therefore all the better that new events dedicated to one of the many vanished brands from the United Kingdom will still be making their debut in 2024. Such as the "Swiss Triumph Day" at the Zihlschlacht-Sittersdorf adventure airfield, which took place for the first time on September 15.
Anyone coming from Zurich or Aargau had set off under a cloudless sky and found themselves on site under a closed, steel-grey cloud cover. Accordingly, many convertible tops were closed on arrival - and remained so for the time being as a precaution. But as is always the case: once you think of the umbrella, it stays dry. The proverbial "English weather" failed to materialize, and as the number of cars increased, so did the sunshine.
Pearls before the people
It is certainly thanks to the Spitfire Club Switzerland that the little brother of the TR series and its six-cylinder coupé twin, the GT6, dominated the field of participants. The large roadsters (and the one coupé) were of course represented in full and in large numbers, from the TR2 to the TR8. Nevertheless, the attentive observer was presented with a curious distortion of history. Although the TR4 A IRS was built around ten times as often as the TR5 PI, the ratio in Zihlschlacht-Sittersdorf seemed to be exactly the opposite: only a single four-cylinder with a semi-trailing arm rear axle was to be found in the rows, while "fives" were present in almost all colors and states of preservation.
Of course, "Triumph" does not exclusively mean "roadster". A surprisingly large number of the big six-cylinder saloons - in all performance classes from the 2000 to the 2.5 PI - were present at the meeting. There were also a few Stag (it is not known how many more broke down on the way), Dolomite, Herald and Vitesse. Even one of the almost forgotten Triumph 1300s was pulled to the airfield by its front wheels.
The "pearl field" was reserved for particularly beautiful or special cars. This is where the secret star of the meeting was to be found: a 1937 Triumph Continental with convertible bodywork by Graber. As the only pre-war vehicle at the event, it set itself apart from its TR cadaver brothers with a certain grandeur. The whimsically quirky Triumph Mayflower was not quite as successful in terms of elegance, although it was also a one-off on the course.
The Italia 2000 also showed much more graceful lines than the technical basis. Beneath the Vignale bodywork, the Triumph TR3 engine performs its high-torque service. Two examples of the rare coupé were found in the "field of pearls". Also a Michelotti design, but certainly more controversial in terms of style, was the TR5 Ginevra, which was built in 1968 as a makeshift solution for the Geneva Motor Show.
Sausage and errors
A lively comings and goings, parking and maneuvering made an exact count difficult; however, there must have been well over 100 cars in total parked on the adventure airfield - and they were remarkably homogeneous. Only an Aston Martin DB4 and a Morris Minor 1000 Tourer had sneaked onto the site. While the Morris could be accepted with two eyes closed - after all, Morris and Triumph were united in the BLMC from 1968 - the DB4 looked a bit like evening wear at a barbecue.
Speaking of barbecues: a pleasingly large number of young families gathered at the airfield on September 15 - and certainly not just to eat a bratwurst. They would certainly have had it elsewhere without the noise of engines and the smell of exhaust fumes. Unless, of course, you want to get the next generation interested in classic cars at an early age. A toddler sitting on his mother's lap was clearly having fun in the TR3 cockpit, even though he couldn't even look over the steering wheel. Perhaps English roadsters will soon have passed the end of their popularity curve.
