Postby rugbyref1 » 29 Jul 2015 21:19
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew Poynter was born in 1949 and spent his early years living in Colonial East Africa, where he became familiar with such rugged fare as Saabs, Volvos and the ubiquitous VW-Beetle.
By the time Harris Mann’s Wedge first hit the streets in 1976 he was newly married, and by the time production ceased around 1981 he had two children and what was known at the time as a ‘steady’ job in a Timber Merchants, employment that provided him with a Company Car. Undoubtedly useful, but totally boring as a veritable list of Repmobile Fodder was to follow, in the form of Vauxhall HC Vivas, a variety of Ford Cortinas, a couple of Hillman Avengers and even a Talbot Solara. Eventually, the family grew up and moved on to have families of their own, but the string of Company cars was to continue, albeit now rather more up-market.
A change of job meant that a nearly-new silver BMW E30 318is was to be followed by an Audi Coupé, and then a wide-body Alfa Romeo 155....
Time eventually came when the pension-pot was raided, and some of the proceeds were used to buy a TR7 Drop Head Coupé - this served well but was eventually used as a down-payment on a more exciting TR7\V8 Drop Head, a car that was eventually sold to fund a place in the 2012 Mongol Rally.
Who else can say they traded a TR7\V8 for a Hyundai Accent? It was an inspired choice, made following a period of intense research - but was also one that was boringly predictable. The popular, Pensioner-Blue three-door hatchback was the perfect vehicle to choose; undertaking the 9,800-mile trip in just six weeks and never missing a beat, other than a shredding an alternator-belt somewhere in the vast, sandy expanse of Kazakhstan...
Once home in the UK - courtesy of Aeroflot via Moscow - and champing at the bit for another Wedge, a late 2.0l Fixed Head Coupé was bought in Silver with a near-perfect Tan interior, a car that’s now been supplemented by another 1981 Drop Head fitted with a 3500cc unit sourced from a Rover SD1.
Andrew is an active member of the TR-Driver’s Club and has been editing their bi-monthly Club Magazine for three years, as well as orchestrating - together with John Clancy, the Club’s Press Officer - the TR7s 40th Anniversary Run in September 2014, an event that went on to win the TRDC a prestigious award at the NEC in November.
Christopher
A respectable collection.
