About the TR SDF

Aims

Quoting from the TR SDF’s very simple “Rules”, the aims are summarised in the strap line "Preserving the marque and keeping TRs on the road".  We take action to assist in the preservation and restoration of all TR marques, including derivatives such as Italia, Peerless and Swallow Doretti. Such actions include:

• The purchase and preservation of original parts and tools, for use as patterns in the reproduction of such items
• The loan of original parts and tools for the production of pattern items
• The reproduction of parts and tools which are no longer available
• The funding of experimental or other work which might prolong or enhance the useful life of the cars represented

Note: The TR SDF is a non-trading, not for profit organisation.

History

The Problem in the 1970s

By 1970, Triumph, its suppliers (such as Beans Industries and Mulliner) and its agents were no longer interested in the early, 4-cylinder, cars, and vast quantities of parts were being chucked into skips and sold as scrap metal. In Birmingham, where Pete Cox lived, and in the factory base at Coventry, the disposal was of epic proportions and was such as to make TR owners weep, go mad or rob a bank to obtain funds!

 The Origins of the Fund

Pete Cox was operating in the Birmingham area and Pete Buckles in London, both on a part-time basis, as each had a full-time job. What these two stalwarts needed was cash in order to purchase parts before these were lost to the scrap merchants – sad to say, despite all their efforts, a vast amount of valuable (to us, as owners of TRs) stock still was lost for ever. In 1970, membership of the TR Register (TRR) was heading towards 400, meetings were still being held at Hopcroft’s Holt, and it was at the September meeting that the “New Spares Fund” (NSF) was born out of the membership’s wish to help fund the enterprising work being done by the two Petes.  At that time, they were operating separately; later they joined forces as Cox & Buckles (C&B). Entirely voluntary contributions were fixed at a minimum of £3 (soon raised to £5) and a maximum of £50, so as to prevent any individual having too great an influence. NSF monies were held and administered completely apart from those of the TRR, and an NSF member was free to withdraw the contribution at any time. In recognition of their role as subscribers to the NSF, members were able to purchase parts at exceptionally favourable prices.

When C&B turned their “hobby” into a business, the relationship between the NSF and Cox and Buckles Ltd had to and was changed. They did not look to the NSF to finance their business, but the cash remained available to them and was used as and when required. In effect, they had a semi-permanent loan of around £6,000 which enabled them to give a general discount to NSF contributors. As their business grew rapidly, this loan became less significant and was eventually repaid, special prices to NSF members ceased, and the Fund’s monies then became used as they are today. 

The NSF was never intended to act as a manufacturer nor as a rival to C&B - nor to the many other suppliers which have come along subsequently. It has been a conduit for ideas on things which were needed and a means of facilitating production, usually through a loan to assist with the tooling and/or guaranteeing the purchase of a sufficient quantity to make tooling worthwhile.

During the 1990s, it was recognised that the name "New Spares Fund" did not really describe the role that the Fund was by then taking in assisting with the availability of TR spares. Therefore the name was changed from NSF to the “Spares Development Fund” (SDF) in 1995, and three of the current TR SDF committee and advisers were in post at that time (Messrs Cornish, Gibson and Graham). 

Recent History

Early in 2016, the then Chairman of the TR Register (TRR) notified the SDF that as a result of the Board realigning the constitution and governance of the TRR, the Board had identified that the SDF presented “the club” with a conundrum in relation to the financial audit trails, insurance and the storage of SDF parts accumulated in Didcot.

There followed a series of meetings and document exchanges that validated the SDF’s integrity and status, and acknowledged that the TRR had retained several thousands of pounds of SDF monies for a considerable period of time. Eventually, an agreement was reached which released all the monies owed to the SDF, and a motion at the subsequent AGM of the TRR acknowledged the complete separation of the accounts.

The members of the SDF were balloted regarding the future options available to them, and the overwhelming majority voted for the continuation of the stated objectives of the SDF, completely separate from the TRR and under the SDF’s own management. At that point, the SDF became known by its current name, the "TR SDF".

Like the SDF and the NSF before it, the TR SDF has no premises, no staff, is not a registered business, and has no wish to concern itself with purchase, stock control, shipping, guarantees, warranty, manufacturer’s liability, VAT and all the other paraphernalia and obligations which necessarily attach to a business. The experts in those matters are the established suppliers. 

There is no annual subscription to the TR SDF, there is a single payment which is, in effect, a loan to the Fund. If a member of the TR SDF decides to leave, s/he is given the opportunity to withdraw the money subscribed originally to the NSF / SDF / TR SDF. In fact, the vast majority of leavers have not withdrawn their funding, hence bequeathing a legacy for the greater good – something for which we should be profoundly grateful. This is the main reason that the Fund has quite a reasonable overall value, even if at certain times a substantial proportion of that has been in the form of loans to suppliers. As was said by one member, “the attitude from the start was more altruistic than mercenary - we were all more concerned with keeping TRs on the road, as opposed to just saving a few bob individually”. The real benefit is that, without the backing of the NSF / SDF / TR SDF, certain items might never be – nor have been - produced at all, might take considerably longer to be produced and/or might be more expensive.

The term "TR" in our name is deemed to include not just Triumph TRs, but also derivatives such as Italia, Peerless and Swallow Doretti.

What has the NSF / SDF / TR SDF done for us?

Accumulated parts as patterns for future use:  When the original Cox & Buckles (C&B) loan had been repaid to the NSF, attention turned to the long term benefits to all TR owners that might accrue from these funds, and original panels and parts were starting to be acquired for potential future use, if needed, as patterns for reproduction purposes at some point in the future. Owing to the manner in which the first major collection of parts were acquired, the name Alannid’s Cave was given to the SDF’s important and occasionally growing collection.

Assisted the finances of the TR Register (TRR):  On a number of occasions, the financial problems encountered by the TRR have been resolved by loans from the SDF, each of which have been repaid.  On one occasion in order to meet an unexpected TRR VAT demand, and against the wishes of the NSF/SDF’s administrators, the TRR sold rare OE panels to BMH (Heritage at Gaydon), ostensibly for BMH to use as patterns. However, BMH later sold the panels without undertaking the agreed work and without informing the TRR. Hence, these rare original panels “went missing” for ever!

Supported TS2:  £1000 was donated to the funds for the restoration of TS2, the first righthand drive TR, along with a loan of £5000 (since repaid) to ensure the restoration process was completed.

Assisted the remanufacture of NLA parts: The SDF has achieved considerable successes in this endeavour, and can justifiably claim that without its efforts, there would be fewer of the TR2-TR4A 4-cylinder TRs on the road today. In addition, it is likely that a number of other useful parts would never have been made available to owners. See our Projects section.

Assisted other projects: There is considerable expertise amongst members of the TR SDF’s committee and its advisers, and this has been brought to bear in the analysis of materials, scanning of parts, production of engineering drawings, acquisition of original parts, and the reproduction of TR5 Owner Handbooks. See our Projects section.

Fostered a great working relationship with all suppliers:  TR owners enjoy an enviable situation regarding parts availability, and this is due in no small measure to the respect and close relationship fostered with the major suppliers over many years.  The TR SDF does not compete with them, and assists where possible with issues they themselves have with their parts, and sometimes with owners of TRs.  Under the umbrella of the TR SDF, the Parts Quality Initiative (PQI) has been created in order to try and resolve such issues in an amicable fashion, and considerable success has been achieved.

Acted directly for the benefit of ALL TR owners:  The NSF / SDF achieved this without management or political direction from the management of the TRR or any other organisation. As the TR SDF, we continue as an independent entity, acting on behalf of all in the TR community.

Liaison with Registrars: The TRR has a Registrar for each of the model types (including derivatives) and the SDF liaises closely with these Registrars when investigating parts, production, likely sales, etc. There is liaison, too, with the TR Drivers Club and it is anticipated that there will be similar contact with other Triumph clubs in the future.

TR SDF’s Management, Assets etc.

• The SDF always acted directly for the benefit of ALL TR owners without management or political direction from the TR Register (TRR) or any other organisation. As it did under its former names, the TR SDF continues to operate autonomously and act for the benefit of all TR owners and suppliers. To show this, we adopted the strapline, once used by the TRR - “Preserving the marque and keeping TRs on the road”.

• The TR SDF’s assets consist of original parts, known as Alannid’s Cave, and cash, some of which from time to time may be in the form of repayable loans to suppliers undertaking the reproduction of parts. Alan Robinson, who was the TRR's Honorary Secretary in the 1970s, had been living and working in Hong Kong for years, and decided in 2007 that it was time to sort out his TR3 and his collection of genuine Stanpart items. Alan asked Alec Pringle to undertake this task on his behalf and, at Alec’s suggestion, agreed to sell to the SDF those parts which were deemed so important and rare that they should be kept as patterns.  The SDF, and the whole TR movement, is indebted to Alan for sanctioning this transaction, on advantageous terms, - no one can say what these items might have fetched on eBay, but it is certain that it would have exceeded by far the amount paid by the SDF. The SDF is indebted, too, to Alec and Diane Pringle (like Alan, both no longer with us) and their helpers, and to Mike Ellis and Pete Buckles, for making it all happen – there was a very great deal of purely voluntary time and effort put into all this. Since then, the SDF has been offered and has purchased many TR parts. In each case, the prices paid were negotiated and were below market value. In addition, Tony Sheach has donated some small, but not unimportant, parts – and donations are always welcome. All the items have been securely packed, recorded and are held in secure storage. These parts are NOT held in order to sell at a profit, they are held in perpetuity as patterns. See list of items below.
  

• Finances & Management: The TR SDF fund still exists as loans, repayable on request to the members of the TR SDF, and the TR SDF’s management act to protect that integrity, and to ensure the funds are used for the purposes specified by its membership in its Rules. The administrators of the fund each have been members of the TRR for more than 20 years, some holding office within the club for many more years.  The TR SDF and PQI are fortunate in having a group of extremely knowledgeable and altruistic members who have promoted its aims for many decades and have ensured that, despite the problems which came to a head in 2016, the Fund now stands alone, is secure from interference, has its parts (Alannid’s Cave) stored securely and at no charge, and is continuing to pursue its stated aims.
  

Ian Cornish - TR SDF Chairman

Chartered Electrical Engineer. First TR in 1963, 2^nd in 1964. Ex-Works TR4 Rally car, 4VC, from 1969.

Joined TR Register (TRR, member 152) at creation in 1970, founder member of the club’s first Local Group (Thames Valley) June 1970.  Joined New Spares Fund at start (later NSF became TR Spares Development Fund [TR SDF]). TRR Technical Editor 1971-1986, created Technicalities booklet 1976. TRR Chairman 1983-1985, appointed TRR Honorary member 1995, then first Honorary Vice President 2005. Organised “The Works Triumphs” event for 2005 International Weekend (IWE).  Co-organiser of “TR4@50” event for 2011 IWE.  Organised “Competition Triumphs” event for 2015 IWE.  

Created presentation “The Works’ TR4 Rally cars”, and has delivered on 15 occasions.  Wrote definitive article on “The TR 4-pot Engine” (2010). Co-author with Tony Sheach of “Basic Maintenance” document, and co-presenter at 2014 IWE seminar.

TR SDF Chairman since 1995.