Beauty and Performance – TRA Members Illustrate Both

Participants at the TRA National Meet enjoyed the show, as well as the hot laps at Summit Point Motorsports Park and other driving events.

The Triumphs gleamed and sparkled in the June sun at the car show during the 2009 Triumph Register of America National Meet in Charles Town, West Virginia. With the pretty paint jobs and beautiful detailing, you might think they were strictly the objects of obsessive pampering. You’d never know that just the day before, nearly every single one of them—60 of the 66 cars at the meet!—was turning hot laps at Summit Point Motorsports Park and hitting 85 mph in the straightaway.

Jack and Carol Schmelyun of Glen Burnie, Maryland, embodied the spirit of the event. Their pristine 1954 TR2 won Concours Best of Show at previous TRA and Vintage Triumph Register national events, yet they couldn’t resist exercising it on the track. When the car’s coil burned out—of course on the far side of the two-mile course—Jack started pushing it back to the start while Carol steered. Before you know it, another TRA member was right beside him helping him push. The next day, the Schmelyuns had their TR2 back in spotless condition and won the Bronze Certificate in the Concours Preservation Class with 99.03 points.

Jeff Krupp of Upper Arlington, Ohio, slid off the road on a wet corner and hit a pole on the first day of the event, making the front end of his 1962 TR3B into a V-shape. “It looked ugly but it drove fine,” he says, so he joined the raceway lineup without hesitation. “That’s what they were made for,” he adds, “we had no problem keeping up.”

Only Jeff Krupp’s TR3B (lower right) looked unhappy after its front end was altered by a telephone pole.

Krupp’s crunched car also took its place on the show field, undeterred and resilient. “It’s just sheet metal and paint,” says Krupp. Certainly the TR3B was the photographic favorite of the event, if not an award winner.

Pat Davis of Grove City, Penn., won Best in Show in the Concours d’Elegance with 97.98 points for his 1954 TR2. “I was humbled to win,” says Davis. He explains that the car was a “real barn find” since part of it was buried in 10 inches of manure in a barn, while another part was out back with a tree growing through it. He restored the car bit by bit, and has been competing in Concours events for four years, improving the car after each round of judging.

TRA was launched 35 years ago focused on TR2, 3 and 4 models, yet invites all Triumph owners. This year, a rare 1968 TR5 PI (Petrol Injected) with left-hand drive owned by Jonathan Bonds of West Chester, Penn., created a buzz. Recently restored, it won the Participants Choice Award in the Other Triumphs category.

This year’s event, hosted by the TRA Mason-Dixon Center, also featured a funkhana, gimmick rallye, mountain drives, and tours of Harper’s Ferry National Historic Park and Antietam National Battlefield. Bill Piggott, author of a dozen Triumph books, and Robert Johns, a TR2 racer who became a Triumph Factory Team driver, both regaled workshop audiences.

The 2010 TRA National Meet will be held in Ohio’s Amish Country in Holmes County June 16-19. Hosted by Buckeye Triumphs, it will include covered bridge tours, Amish food, a stop at the famous Lehman’s Hardware and special driving events. Check the website, triumphregister.com, for more details, or contact John Huddy at jhuddy@columbus.rr.com.