Where have they gone?

[Hasbeen]

I do miss the old days, perhaps I'm showing my 83 years on the planet.

It was not much more than a decade ago that many were still using their 7s as daily drivers, wracking up the miles & dealing with & posting stories of the little problems they encountered. Remember when everyones fuel tanks were rusting out, & all the stories of different fixes.

There would be ten or a dozen new posts daily for us to follow, where have all those enthusiasts gone? I don't do much club stuff these days, so my usage is still daily driving, but only once or so a week to shop at one of the nearer towns. So 40 Kilometers a week, spread over the 7, 8 & S2000 does not mean many miles. I probably spend more time checking the tyre pressure & oil than I do driving any of them.

I did go for a little drive, about 25Km to a tourist spot recently. Parked at the specialist Fudge shop the & drew a crowd, highlighting how rarely anyone would see a 7 today. All the usual "Gee you keep her beautiful", "Haven't seen one of those in years" &, "that made my day" from a previous owner, all gave me a lift. Must do it more often, for those who enjoy seeing our near dinosaurs on the road.

[saabfast]

I had noticed that there did not seem to be any posts on here for some weeks. Times have changed, it's all on the 'TR Drivers Club' and 'Triumph TR7 Owners' pages on Facebook now. That means it is difficult to ever find something again! The latter page is quite active, the former is quite new (to me anyway).

Despite being a youngster (only 70 but feeling it) we have moved to the south coast which is away from most things happening car wise, maybe not a good move in TR7 terms. I do belong to the local car club and we 'exhibit' classics monthly on the seafront which gets some interest but the old girl (the car) is rusting away now and really needs a lot of input which I do not seem to have the energy or garage space for. I keep saying I will get cutting and fabricating again but, having just got over the third bout of covid (not that anybody worries about it anymore), I am still feeing a bit drained.

[FI Spyder]

After logging over 3,000 miles in 2019 (and getting my long distance club award), largely by attending the Portland All British Field Meet and Triumphest in Santa Monica the following week then visiting nephew's family in Ventura (start point, Duncan, BC) COVID hit in 2020. Lost a good friend of over 52 years, my cousins son (55) and cousin's husband, didn't do much driving that year. Club functions closed down for a year, then slowly started back up, but no long journeys, just local stuff. Last year we had a record of about 260 cars at our car club event, Brits on the Beach. This year's is this coming Sunday, July 9th. We'll see how it goes but people will still like to get out after the COVID hiatus. Only been out a few time so far this year but each time I got comments from "Wow, what a car!" from an older lady to a smile and a wave from a young girl in an SUV while I was adding fresh gas. Next door neighbor English lady that moved in likes to drive it so maybe will get out more. Showing her how to renovate her place from building fences to doing plumbing and electrical, etc.as quality of the professionals is spotty and she wants to do it all herself but realizes time puts a restriction on that. I have noticed that a lot of club members have got rid of their MG's and Triumph and moved into Jag XK8's as they are easier to get in and out of and are easier to drive in their older age. Any members of car clubs notice that too?

[dursleyman]

For the past few of years we have done more miles in the TR7s than we have in our "everyday" car.
Nine classic car runs so far this year and six more planned in the next couple of months.

[Cobber]

I just checked and our newest member joined back on the 14th December 2021!!!
I remember something about the membership being temporarily closed for a while due to spammers….. is it still closed?
If so no wonder the forum is dying a slow death

[Beans]

Another problem is the "ease of use" for the various FB groups.
But it annoys me that most "contributors" on FB only ask questions that have been asked many times before if they have problem (usually basic).
Often accompanied by blurry pictures or wobbly video's which don't add any info.
They really depend on other peoples knowledge, even expect to be helped for nothing at all.
And they don't come back to report if the tips solved the problem or not.

But to be honest I am glad I know my stuff and have a few friends (all not on FB) who are far more knowledgeable then me!
So I don't have to depend on the info provided on FB Rant over!

[stevie_a]

I have stopped using FB and am slowly shutting my profile down.

Fed up to the back teeth people sticking their nose into my business

Thats my rant over .... ...