I have a TR8 story to tell that I'd like to share. I can’t say I ever believed in the concept of karma but after this experience with my TR8 my mind is changed.
It was 1987. I had just sold my 1960 Porsche 356B for a whopping $6500. A bad financial investment in retrospect but that was a typical 356 going price back then. I liked the 356B but the VW bug level performance was less than impressive. I wanted something with a bit more power since my best friend was completing the restoration of a Sunbeam Tiger and I would want to be able to keep up with him in the performance department. I had always liked the wedges since their introduction and once I found a Triumph TR8 for sale it was a no brainer – I absolutely had to purchase it. The car was being sold by a 20 yr. old kid who was selling to help finance his return to community college, no doubt a wise long term investment for him. I drove away with my new purchase, a happy TR8 owner.
After a couple of years I had the car repainted white (never liked that Aqua colour) and did some performance upgrades. I purchased a short block with higher CR pistons and a cam from Ted Schumaker of T & S Imports in Ohio and added headers and a Holley 4 bbl. The usual suspension mods with sway bars, springs, Konis and bushings were also done. The TR8 was now transferred into a real performer. I remember not ever having much problem shutting down period Mustang GT’s or Camaros at the stoplight grand prix. And one time on a long lonely rural Ontario back with no other cars around, some guy in a Ferrari 308 actually thought he was going to pass me. To make a long story short he didn’t and man, did he ever look upset. LOL!!
The mid 1990’s weren’t the best time in my life. I went through a divorce and relocated to start a new business which in a recession economy was hard to get off the ground. In a financial bind I had to sell my beloved TR8. As the new owner drove away in my TR8 I vowed that someday if I ever found her again, I’d buy my TR8 back.
Flash forward fifteen years to the summer of 2010. I’ve remarried, business is good and both my kids have just completed college. I’ve gone fifteen years without a Triumph or anything else worthwhile in my garage and have been driving mini-vans or boring domestic family sedans for this period. I decide that its now my time. On a May evening the decision is made to get another classic car. I log on to Autotrader.ca online, typing in the word “Triumph†to begin my search. As I scrolled down past the multitude of Spitfires and TR6’s a photo of a white TR8 suddenly hit me. I thought to myself “that must be my old car, it just has to beâ€. My heart was jumping but tried to rationalize to myself as to the unlikely chance of finding my old car be on the first night of my search. This was just too good to be true. It just can’t be, so don’t get your hopes up I told myself, yet the more I stared at the photo, the more I was convinced an old friend was crying out for me. I immediately emailed the seller and sure enough, the next day I received his response telling me that indeed it was my old TR8 and that he was the third owner after me. This had to be Karma.
The seller lived about three hours away so I sent him an email begging not to sell my old car for a few days before the weekend when I could see it, to which he agreed. I casually told my wife I was going to “have a look†at an old car that I might have previously owned but said no more as I put a thousand dollar deposit in my wallet, knowing full well that when it comes to explaining certain things to women, it’s always far easier to beg forgiveness later than to ask for permission beforehand.
I recognized my car the moment I saw it. The give away was the aftermarket rear spoiler that the kid had originally put on, which I admit had grown on me and had stayed on the car ever since. The seller had done a lot of work on the car which included a new paint job, new interior and engine rebuild. He was selling at a loss but when I saw his new Mercedes parked in the driveway, I understood his motivation. Ironically, the price I originally purchased the car, sold and now bought back was exactly the same. It had to be Karma. What else could it possibly be. My TR8 and I were destined to be together.
So I’ve had my TR8 back in my life for three years now and I have no intention of ever parting with it again. We were destined to be together. Karma must really exist.
