For Sale 1957 TR-3 One Owner

By Wayne Lynch

Purchased new on September 23, 1957, from Triumph Incorporated in San Francisco, California.

The dealership was on Columbus Avenue if I remember right. We had to have the red one of course. Its commission number: T8-18309L. No overdrive or spoke wheels because the $86.18 a month payment was the most we could handle on military pay. Out the door: $2896.35.

Purchased new on September 23. 1957, from Triumph Incorporated in San Francisco, California.

I was stationed at Hamilton Air Force Base, 26 miles from our home in Penngrove, where Charles M. Schulz, creator of Peanuts, also lived. I had different days off from most people so I joined the Volunteer Fire Department. The red TR was a big hit with the community because I would occasionally tuck the TR in behind the Fire Truck all the way to the fire.

After a year or so my wife Judy and I relocated to downtown San Francisco in the Twin Peaks area so we could be near the sports car action of Gymkhanas, Rallies and Clubs. We were lucky that our apartment came with a garage. We joined an all-TR club called Triumph Limited. Weekends trips became the norm—Tahoe, Monterey and the race course near Vacaville to name a few favorite spots. One of the adventures we loved was going to Reno on a Friday night about 220 miles away. If we won enough for a hotel room we stayed the night, if not, back to San Francisco we went.

We are both from South Carolina so the TR was back and forth across the United States many times. We had many great adventures on the road traveling across the country. We would stop in places like Oklahoma City, Phoenix and Charlotte to enter the TR in drag races. We won quite a few trophies and were entered in the top eliminator in OKC against a 58 Corvette. The start light spotted the TR three seconds. The corvette passed my wife in the TR at the finish line with about 10 feet to spare. At the Charlotte drag strip a guy with a new Corvair asked if he could make a practice run against my wife. Judy burned him so bad he would not even look our way when he got back to the pits.

One night after midnight we were going through a small town outside of Little Rock, Arkansas, and made too much noise with the exhaust as we left the only stop light in town. The Sheriff followed us out of town and stopped us. Made us follow him back to town, and woke up the Justice of the Peace who fined us $12 cash.

The back of the driver’s seat in the TR would fold forward to allow one to store stuff behind the seat. I switched the seat to the passenger side of the TR, left the nuts off so the back could “recline.” With a blanket and pillow one could stretch out and sleep. We used this method to travel in July from Myrtle Beach to Los Angeles in 2 driving sessions of 24 hours each with a stop in OKC to motel it for 12 hours.

My wife devised an air conditioning system for us. She would buy a bag of ice, placed the ice on the transmission cover under the air vent. Worked great at 80 MPH. One time she was holding the melted ice bag to her face and it broke. She was very cool for a bit.

Another time in October we were in Oklahoma City and I had finished a work assignment on Friday afternoon. We decided to leave for Los Angeles. About half way to Amarillo, Texas snow started coming down in buckets. Soon the TR was plowing along the road. We were way out in the middle of nowhere. We finally ran up behind a big truck. I told the wife if he stops we stop. We followed the truck into the outskirts of Amarillo and saw a motel on a small hill. We shove the TR into second gear and made the motel parking lot. Boy were we relieved to get a room for the night. Next morning I got out the tire chains that we had the foresight to bring because they don’t plow the roads much in Oklahoma City. The snow had stopped but the roads were iced over. Got on the highway heading to Albuquerque and right outside of town was the big truck we had follow into Amarillo, it had jack knifed and was off to the side of the road. We made it all the way to Albuquerque with the chains on.

All new front end parts, (the good stuff from Moss Motors). The entire hydraulic system has been rebuilt, new brakes and clutch. The engine is fresh with new sleeves. The heater core is shot so I have it bypassed. The car is a real driver—not a show car, but looks great. I can still start it with the hand crank. The side curtains need to be re-built; we do not have a soft top but still have the bows. Comes with a factory steel top and lots of spare parts, including a spare transmission. The car has always been garaged.

We are getting too old to get in and out of the Red Car. We are only selling it because we know someone will love it and care for it the way we have.

The underside looks nice and solid…

..just like a California car should.

BritishCarClassifieds.com

Way back when, once upon a time, the Moss Motoring magazine had a classified section for customers to sell their cars. It made sense then. That was pre-internet, pre-Craigslist and eBay, and if you were going to sell a British car, why wouldn’t you put it in front of as many British car fanatics as you can? We still get calls from customers to help them find good homes for their cars.

And now we can help!

Moss has partnered with a couple of web-savvy car guys who put together a fantastic classifieds site exclusively for British cars. You read that right, only British cars!

Moss customers save $10

BritishCarClassifieds.com is an affordable way to reach buyers looking specifically for British cars. And, as a Moss Motors customer, you get a $10 discount on any of the three available listing packages. Just type “MOSS” in the promotion code to receive your savings.

One thing that needs mentioning: our partnership with BritishCarClassifieds.com is one of support in order to benefit the hobby. Moss Motors and our sales people aren’t able to help you list your vehicle. The website developers have a contact page to answer any questions you may have.