Joining the TR SDF

For the time being, the TR SDF is closed to new memberships, but we anticipate that this will change in the near future. You can register your interest in joining, by using our Contact Form now, and we will contact you when we are accepting new members again.

How does membership work?

Membership, when available, is open to owners of Triumph TRs and derivatives such as Italia, Peerless and Swallow Doretti, who may join the TR SDF upon payment of the single Contribution of £50. There’s no annual subscription, but members can top-up their subscription to a maximum of £100. Why a maximum? Because we don’t want Mister Loads-of-money coming in and trying to dictate to the rest of us! Once you have subscribed, you are a member of the TR SDF, but should you leave the TR SDF, your Executors (surely you wouldn't want to leave the TR SDF whilst still alive!) could apply for your contribution to be returned to your Estate. Over the years, very few have reclaimed their original contribution – the majority of leavers have left the money in the pot for the common good.

What do TR SDF members get in exchange for their contribution? Gone are the days when the Fund was known as the New Spares Fund (NSF), with Cox & Buckles (C&B) using the Fund to purchase parts which Triumph and its suppliers were selling as scrap. C&B had two prices for any item: a low price for members of the NSF, a higher price for others – in fact, one would have been an idiot not to join!

One could think of the TR SDF as a pump-priming fund, there to bridge the gap between what we as owners might desire and what is commercially justifiable for the TR suppliers.

In the early days, members of the TR Register (TRR) created the New Spares Fund (NSF) in order to provide funding for C&B. Membership of the NSF grew rapidly as the main benefit was the extremely attractive prices which C&B charged NSF members – nowadays, it is the altruistic feeling that one might be helping owners of TRs to keep their cars on the road and running well, and sometimes it might be one's own car. Over time, some 2000 members of the TRR joined the NSF, and over the years, the majority of these shed their TRs, but left their contributions in the Fund, thus accounting for the NSF holding quite a sizeable cash balance by the time C&B became a full-time business, no longer needed the NSF’s cash, and the Fund morphed into the SDF in the 1990s and is now the TR SDF.

Although it was members of the TRR who created the NSF, the Fund has always operated separately from the TRR, and one does not need to be a member of the TRR in order to join the TR SDF.

Membership of the TR SDF currently stands at some 240.

TR SPARES DEVELOPMENT FUND (SDF)

Rules

1. OBJECTIVES & MODUS OPERANDI

1.1 To take actions which will assist in the preservation, maintenance and restoration of all models and derivatives of the Triumph TR range. Such actions shall include (but shall not be exclusive):

(a) The purchase and preservation of original parts and tools, for use as patterns in the reproduction of such items.

(b) The loan of original parts and tools for the production of pattern items.

(d) The funding of experimental or other work which might prolong or enhance the useful life of the cars represented.

1.2 Monies which have accumulated as a result of the failure of lapsed SDF members to withdraw their Contributions, may be used to further the general objectives of the SDF.

1.3 Monies received from royalties on parts, from interest on loans provided by the SDF, or from sale of unwanted parts, shall be reinvested to further the SDF’s objectives.

1.4 Projects may be proposed for investigation by any suppliers or TR owner.

2. MEMBERSHIP

2.1 Membership is open to all owners of Triumph TRs and TR derivatives such as Doretti, Peerless and Italia. Individuals may join the SDF upon agreeing to the terms and conditions of the SDF, and payment of the specified Contribution. Membership of the SDF is cancelled immediately if the member's Contribution is withdrawn.

2.2 On giving notice to the SDF of wishing to cease being a member, the member shall be given the option to withdraw the Contribution he/she has invested in the SDF, or of gifting the monies to the SDF. The choice of withdrawal must be made within six months of notification; thereafter, his/her residual Contribution automatically becomes the property of the SDF.

2.3 The Contribution from new members shall be £50. A member may, at any time, increase his/her existing Contribution, provided that the member’s total Contribution then does not exceed £100.

3. MEETINGS

3.1 The General Meeting of the SDF shall be held at a time and date to be fixed by the Management Committee of the SDF. Such meetings shall be convened triennially, or sooner if deemed necessary. The quorum for such meeting shall be 10 members.

3.2 The notice for convening a General Meeting shall be a minimum of 30 days.

3.3 The notice for a resolution for a General Meeting shall be a minimum of 15 days.

4. MANAGEMENT

4.1 The SDF shall have a Management Committee of five Administrators: the SDF Treasurer and four General members, each of whom must be a member of the SDF, and each of whom shall be appointed by the members of the SDF.

4.2 General Members of the SDF Management Committee shall be appointed by the votes of the members of the SDF at its General Meeting. General Members shall hold office for three years, but are not disqualified from being elected or co-opted to office for further terms. Any Director or member of the Management Committee of a car club is disbarred from being a General Member or Treasurer of the SDF Management Committee.

4.3 If there is a vacancy on the SDF Management Committee, the members of that Committee may appoint a member of the SDF to fill the vacancy until the next Meeting of the SDF’s members.

4.4 The quorum for a meeting of the Management Committee shall be three.

4.5 The notice for a nomination to the Management Committee shall be a minimum of 15 days prior to a General Meeting.

4.6 The Management Committee shall ensure that no single transaction or enterprise shall be of such magnitude as to endanger the total assets of the SDF.

5. FINANCE

5.1 The monies and the Accounts of the SDF are independent from any other organisation.

5.2 All interest, profits (and losses) on deals, and residual funds from lapsed members shall accrue to the benefit of the SDF.

5.3 In pursuit of its Objectives, the SDF may make loans of cash or parts to other parties. The SDF Management Committee shall ensure that any such loan shall be made on a sound commercial basis, protecting the interests and assets of the SDF as far as possible. No loan to any third party shall exceed 70% of the cash assets of the SDF. The SDF may not borrow money in order to finance any such loan.

5.4 If the SDF Management Committee considers that the funds in the SDF are becoming too great for perceived needs, the SDF Management Committee may close the SDF to further membership either for a specified length of time, or until there is a perceived need for greater funds or new members, or until the level of funds decreases below a level specified by the SDF Management Committee.

6. DISSOLUTION

6.1 The members of the SDF, in General Meeting of the SDF, or by email/post, may call for the dissolution of the SDF, with the decision requiring a simple majority.

6.2 In dissolving the SDF, the SDF Management Committee shall remain cognisant of the aims of the SDF, and shall dispose of assets (other than cash) in ways which should bring the greatest benefit to all TR owners and to members of the SDF.

6.3 Cash arising from such a dissolution shall be distributed to the remaining members of the SDF in proportion to the individual Contribution of each of the remaining members of the SDF.

7. OTHER MATTERS

Although the SDF is not a Company Limited by Guarantee, Disclosure of Interests and Disqualification of Members of the Committee shall be as described in the Companies Act 2006, and as applicable to an organisation as small as the SDF.