Mechanical Engineer Louis Orme, from Newbury, tells us about borrowing a Triumph TR7 Convertible from the TR Register Car Club
Applying to the Classic Car Loan Project
I came across the classic car loan scheme by chance. There’s a classic car club nearby in Fleet where I have attended some car events, and someone posted an article from a classic car magazine talking about the Classic Car Loan Project on their Facebook group. I went on the loan scheme’s site to see what cars they had and spent the whole of the next day completing the form to apply, then looked forward to seeing where I went from there. I was 24 at the time and wanted a classic car but couldn’t afford one, so it sounded too good to be true.
I applied for the TR7 in particular but put a note on saying I’d be interested in anything else of a similar era. My dad had a TR7 hard top a long time ago, so it was one that I was more familiar with because he’d talked about his with nostalgic enthusiasm. It was before I was born but I know he restored it and painted it a different colour.
After applying, I received an email from Bob Wilkinson, who runs the scheme, and he told me the people who had the TR7 wanted to get in touch with me. I then had a phone call from TR Register Coordinator, Allan Westbury. We had a friendly chat about my involvement with this kind of car, and a couple of weeks later I had another phone call from the TR Register saying they were interested in loaning it to me. It was just a case of sorting out the insurance with Peter James, and then working out a day for me to come and pick it up, which was fantastic. I was really pleased.
Picking up the keys from TR Register Car Club
I picked it up on the 2nd of December 2023 from the TR Register’s office in Didcot. I had a little test drive; they gave me a Haynes manual and a few other bits and bobs, and I was away. It got me home that first day, but it has broken down a few times since! I guess that’s one of the joys of owning a classic car. It had been stored in the previous owner’s garage for 25 years and he’d then donated it to the TR Register, who spent a fair bit of money getting it restored before they put it into the loan scheme. So, I’m the first person in a long time to have put any miles on it. I drove it a fair bit the first week. Funnily enough, I didn’t tell my dad that I was getting it, and two days after receiving the car I went down to see my parents and surprised him with it, which was brilliant. Dad loved it and enjoyed reminiscing about his while he looked it over. He went straight to the driver’s seat and looked in the footwells for rust and then under the bonnet. He pointed out things on the car and said ‘’mine had that’’.
My mum wasn’t too impressed as she thought I’d got yet another car, although contrary to my mum’s opinion I haven’t had that many.
Road Trips
Last year a group of friends and I decided to go on a road trip around Wales and do it Top Gear style, so we set a budget of a grand each and turned up without previously announcing what car we had bought.
I bought the oldest car I could afford on eBay, a 1986 Volvo 740 estate…I was very lucky as I haven’t seen anything as cheap recently. It was sold shortly after our holiday but regret selling it now because it was good fun, and I enjoyed it. One mate had a supercharged Mercedes SLK, which he paid £450 for and fixed within the budget. The other friend bought a Toyota Celica.
We enjoyed that trip, so the three of us have just bought an E34 BMW 5 Series estate 2-litre straight-six, between us. We are going to take that down to Spain on the car ferry and visit 11 or 12 countries on the route home, then come back through the Eurotunnel. We’ve all chosen things we want to see, so we all get an equal say in what we visit, such as car museums and other attractions.
Out and about at events
I’ve enjoyed taking the TR7 to events including the Basingstoke Festival of Speed and also to Gaydon for the loan scheme event. The first event I took it to, however, at Caffeine and Machine, was the first time it broke down. We’d got there ok but, on the way back, at about 11 pm on a mid-December night, it cut out.
We didn’t get back to Basingstoke, where I was living at the time, until about 8am. The AA breakdown cover that came with the Peter James Insurance sorted it, but it was a long cold night. We think the problem was the coil as the engine just lost all power and cut out. We changed the coil, but in January we went to Crawley for Torque Moto Café’s, Classics meet, which is on the third Sunday of every month, and it broke down again, in the same manner, on the way home, and again needed recovering.
A true classic experience…
We thought it was the distributor at that point, but then we broke down again about a month later while I was with my girlfriend, Sarah. Luckily, we were only 5 minutes away from home, so we walked home, got a tow rope, and walked back with the intention that Sarah would get her car and tow the TR7 home.
However, when we got back to the car it started like there hadn’t been an issue, so I zipped it home negating the need for a tow from the less than impressed girlfriend! We then looked at the wiring and realised the original engine bay loom was not in the best condition. I replaced some of the wiring and it has been ok since then; I’ve even trusted it to get to work on nice days. The fanbelt did break once on the way home from work, but I got home and that was an easy fix. Nothing else has gone wrong since.
This Is Your Garage
On one of the longer journeys, driving home, we heard a clonk, so we pulled over but couldn’t see anything. We made it home, driving it cautiously while enduring a weird vibrating noise. Not long after I went up to Abingdon, to ‘This Is Your Garage’, a workshop where you can rent a ramp and tools by the hour; paid for by the TR Register which I thought was generous of them.
Once it was on the ramp, we were able to work out that the bolt that holds the gearbox mount to the gearbox had fallen out while we were driving. That was an easy fix once we’d worked it out. One of the things I’ve learned from the scheme is how to adjust the ignition timing. I’ve put the static timing back to how BL said it should be and it drives a lot better now, so it had obviously slipped out of adjustment at some point, probably gradually.
All the issues the car has had I’ve managed to fix myself, with help, which has been nice and will be useful when I get my own classic. The TR Register Car Club has been very generous and paid for the parts and the ramp as well as providing great support which I’ve appreciated.
The scheme has run very efficiently, so far, in that I filled in the paperwork and got the car four weeks later, it was very straightforward. You have to have a garage to get on the scheme, which is important. I’ve really enjoyed it, and it has given me experience of, and a perspective on, classic car ownership and I’d like to thank them wholeheartedly, it’s a brilliant scheme. I’m hoping to get to as many car events as I can whilst summer is still here.
When it goes back, I’m definitely going to get a classic car again, probably a two-seater open-top sports car as I love driving with the roof down. I’m open to all brands, an MX5 is definitely a contender, but my dad has always had Triumphs and has passed that passion on, so it may be another Triumph, perhaps even a TR7 that’s been converted to TR8 specification if I can afford one.
Peter James Insurance are proud to sponsor the Classic Car Loan Project and help to inspire and enthuse tomorrow’s classic vehicle owners.
