Reference Photos of our Cars

[Colin Lindsay]

9 hours ago, Adrian Cooper said:

I think the club magazine has been the 'Courier' from the start.  The 'Turning Circle' editions were published alongside, at irregular intervals,  and each of these was focussed on one particular model of the Sports Six family. The 'Turning Circles' were quietly dropped and never mentioned again beyond the late 80s. It must have been very difficult to find sufficient material to fill a magazine based on just one variant and the Couriers of that time were often quiet 'thin', with some recycling of articles from earlier issues.

Adrian

The whole aspect of The Courier has changed quite a bit; obviously with the advent of home computing and the Internet information has become much more widely available to the Triumph owner and there are entire websites on our cars and their maintenance. The early Couriers were very much like a miniature Haynes manual of how to maintain them; over more recent years articles have moved more to the enjoyment and use of our cars rather than solely their maintenance. It's also amazingly difficult to find a topic that hasn't been covered in the last forty years; almost anything you think of has already been covered in depth and in some cases quite a few times. I think that's a challenge that isn't unique to The Courier alone, judging by the content of many current Classic magazines.

[dougbgt6]

Adrian,

I’m sure this question “what is the six” has been covered on here before, but I can’t find it.☹️

In that thread someone put up a copy of a newsletter proclaiming the foundation of the club, giving the reason for the name  and asking for suggestions for a club magazine name. 

So before the Courier there was the Newsletter. Or did I dream it all?!! 😀

Courier No.1 July 1980 actually says “Hope you like the new title”

Doug

[JohnD]

Doug,

I hoped my copying the masthead of the Turning Circle would settle what the founding "Six" were.   However, if, as said above, that was a parallel publication, maybe not so.

So I turn to the earliest Courier I have, April 1988, No.94, and find inside it, a set of double postcard sized sheets, each of which is a recruiting card for the TSSC, designed to be torn out and left in or on a Triumph to enlist the owner to the Club.  Those have the same emblem on them as the TC masthead, the Bond, Vitesse, Herald, Spitfire, GT6 and Special, but this time under the headline "Triumph Sports Six Club".

But if you seek earlier proof, you can go to the database of past issues of the Courier, on this website.     Issue 51, September 1984, bears this same design as its cover picture, and is accompanied by an Editorial within.   Bill Sunderland wrote, saying, "This ingenious design incorporating of the six marques of car with the logo...".     See: https://www.tssc.org.uk/tssc/uploaded_files/51 - September 1984.pdf

John

[dougbgt6]

John,

My suspicion is that both your’s and Pete’s explanations were correct at different times. When I first joined in the 80s I thought as you do. But having seen this newsletter it’s clear that the Vit 6 was the intention at the beginning. Clearly not as inclusive, it got replaced.

As mother’s hospital is still closed for norovirus I shall spend the afternoon trawling the archives for this this wretched newsletter. 😳

Doug

[Colin Lindsay]

From Lindsay Porter's 'Guide to Restoration' features a section on the Club, and as I can't currently scan it I'll quote:

"The club was formed with the aim of promoting and preserving all cars based on the Herald chassis including Heralds, Vitesses, Spitfires, GT6s and the Bond Equipe." 

"The club's name was derived from that given to the US export Vitesse which was aptly called the Sports Six.The number six is also relevant as the TSSC caters for six distinct vehicle types including the five given above with the sixth being 'Specials'. The club also has an Amphicar Register for the German built amphibious convertible."

That's from Peter Williams who was the TSSC General Secretary and PR Officer at the time.

 

 

[Ben Caswell]

Im not climbing into a freezing loft to search 42 years worth of club mags but that's how I remember the club name being decided on.

13 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said:

From Lindsay Porter's 'Guide to Restoration' features a section on the Club, and as I can't currently scan it I'll quote:

"The club was formed with the aim of promoting and preserving all cars based on the Herald chassis including Heralds, Vitesses, Spitfires, GT6s and the Bond Equipe." 

"The club's name was derived from that given to the US export Vitesse which was aptly called the Sports Six.The number six is also relevant as the TSSC caters for six distinct vehicle types including the five given above with the sixth being 'Specials'. The club also has an Amphicar Register for the German built amphibious convertible."

That's from Peter Williams who was the TSSC General Secretary and PR Officer at the time.