KEEPERS
From a £50 daily driver – bought in 1970 – to a 40-year, £60k restoration, this owner’s Triumph can definitely be called a keeper
'My ownership of this Triumph Roadster spans more than half a century. It started back in 1970 when I was working for British Rail in east London and a workmate came into the depot with this beautiful sports car, complete with a long bonnet and big exposed chromed headlights. For me, it was love at first sight.
‘Anyway, several months passed and I found out that the Triumph was up for sale for the princely sum of £90. Trouble was, I didn’t have £90 at the time. However its price had been reduced to £50 a few months later and a deal was quickly struck.
I became the fifth owner of this 1947 1800 Roadster, which was made that October in Canley but wasn’t registered until the end of the year – in Glasgow. It was my daily driver for ten years through all weathers without missing a beat although it was becoming pretty tired. Somewhat foolishly I decided to strip FSG 517 down – a decision that I regretted fairly quickly because the ash frame had deteriorated extensively and repairs were way beyond my capabilities. So, like many other enthusiasts in a similar situation, I stored it in a garage and left it there.
‘I then got married and started buying houses and so on so it wasn’t until 1987 that I had the finances to fund the restoration project and sent the Triumph away to Davenport Cars in Bedfordshire for a full restoration. As expected, the body’s tub was the worst affected and 95 per cent of the ash frame had to be replaced. Thankfully the sturdy chassis frame remained in pretty good condition after being stripped down and only required minor repairs before being powder coated in black.
All told this took around a year to complete. ‘As I could only have work carried out when funds allowed, the Triumph remained untouched until 2015 when I finally had the necessary money to return the car to Davenport in Wisbech for the engine to be overhauled. I sent the unit off to Carlow Engineering where new pistons and liners were fitted to the block along with a checked and balanced crankshaft and flywheel and a lightweight clutch. After all of the necessary overhauling the engine was returned to Davenport Cars for fitting, but this took another four years and no sooner had I got the car home than it was off for a full re-trim by P&G Trim of Milton Keynes; it took them three months but they did a very fine job.
‘With the Triumph finally back home I could at last begin the last leg of fitting everything and it’s here that I must give massive thanks to the Roadster Owners’ Club for its help and assistance. It was a proud moment in 2020 when FSG 517 could at last take to the road again in 2020 after a lay-up of almost 40 years. Now Iam making up for lost time and taking the car t
