Welcome to June and at last we have had some summer-like weather over the past couple of days which has been most welcomed by the LBC crowd.
Over the past couple of weekends there have been drives in both the west end and Toronto organised by Terence McKillen and Derek McAllister and these will be reported in our next Ragtop. As it’s been such a long time since our last weekend event I thought I’d cover it in some detail. Here goes:
Last weekend we enjoyed the 28th running of Spring Fling and apart from a damp Friday the weather cooperated nicely. Dianne & Barry O’Rourke together with Dianne & Andre Fleury did a fantastic job of pulling it all together. Well done team! It’s not been easy as there have been lots of COVID-related issues since 2019 which have made the event a little on again / off again but the team worked through all the challenges and made it happen.
The Cambridge-based event kicked-off with a get-together at the hotel on Friday night when we had a chance to get reacquainted with old friends and meet some new ones. The food was very good and the quiz was a lot of fun (I can say that because our table managed to eke out a win albeit by a very small margin).
On Saturday we were up early to dry off our Triumphs and MGs in readiness for our first drive which took us on a circuitous route to the car show in Orangeville. We set off in groups of 7 and we pretty well stayed together all the way – some 65½ miles with one stop along the way on superb country roads. At the show there was lots of interest in our 22 Triumphs and 7 MGs from passers-by as we selected our favourite cars in various categories.
The Orangeville People’s Choice Award was particularly popular and I’m delighted to report that Dianne & Barry O’Rourke’s lovely TR3A took the honours.
After a delicious lunch at one of the many recommended restaurants we were on our way again, this time to the Ontario Steam Heritage Museum outside of Puslinch, a drive of ~50 miles on more excellent back roads. The Museum was outstanding and we were treated to a tour of the premises by our host Wayne Fischer and a spin on a Sawyer-Massey traction engine which was built in Hamilton in 1905. Brilliant!
It was just a short drive back to the hotel to get ready for the banquet – the food was excellent – followed by the awards presentations and some great door prizes.
At breakfast the following morning it was time to say goodbye or carry on with an optional drive of about 50 miles, this time ending at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton; another excellent venue.
In summary a good time was had by all with great roads, excellent facilities, superb venues and of course very good friends. Total distance covered in our TR250 was 220 miles which is the longest trip we’ve undertaken for quite some time. Our TR loved it!
To see more photos of Spring Fling please go to https://torontotriumph.com/spring-fling-27-may-2022/
In June there are a number of events occurring, including:
All British Classic & Antique Car Show – 11th June
- Held at the Caledon Fairgrounds, Hwy 10, Caledon, Ontario and organised by Headwaters British Car Club the admission is $10 and more details can be found at https://www.caledonfair.ca/attractions/classic-and-antique-car-show
VARAC Vintage Grand Prix from 16th to 19th June
- Held at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – for all the details go to https://varac.ca/2022-varac-vintage-grand-prix/
MG 2022 from 19th June to 23rd June
- This National MG event is being held in Peterborough and organised by MGCCT & NAMGB Register. The event will honour the history of MGs, celebrate the future and take in car shows, tech sessions, local rallies, self-directed drives and much more! For all the details please go to https://mgtoronto.com/event/mg2022/
As more events and drives are organised we will advise you through the usual e-blasts, but in the meantime make sure to get out there in your Triumph and enjoy some top-down motoring. If you want to plan a drive on your local patch please let either Rob Ragsdale at rob.ragsdale@bell.net or me know and we’ll set up an invitation which will go to all club members.
On a personal note, Maggie and I travelled out to the west coast in mid-May to enjoy the Pacific Rim National Park. We had a wonderful time and the road to get to Tofino from Victoria was spectacular, especially the section from Port Hardy. Even in a rental it was fun but in the TR it would have been brilliant. One day!
Cheers; Dave
Dave Sims
President, Toronto Triumph Club
905-331-1496