Vehicles representing all eras of Triumph production were to be seen at Club Triumph's Millenium Picnic held in the grounds of Chatsworth House on the 2nd July.
For the first time owners of Triumph Motorcycles were invited to attend alongside cars of all eras. The Triumph Owners (motorcycle) Club and The Vintage Motorcycle Club were well represented and the event was also well supported by the pre-1940 Triumph Owners Club who brought a wide selection of cars.
Post war Standard Triumph cars too were well represented with with some excellent examples brought by Club Triumph members as well as others including members of the Triumph Dolomite Club and the TR Register. The final phase of Triumph car production, the Honda-Triumphs were represented by a couple of well preserved Acclaims
The event had an informal picnic format with no formal events other than a presentation for 'favourite' cars at the end of the day. The weather conditions on the day were far from ideal for a picnic but as well as viewing the cars and bikes visiters were able to view the magnificent interiors of Chatsworth House at reduced rates.
At the end of the day awards were presented for 'favourite' vehicles as judged by club officials. The best Motorcycle award went to Barry Crier for his immaculate Tiger Cub. The standard in the pre war class was very high, after deliberation the award went to Barry Ambrose for his Gloria Southern Cross.
The post war awards were divided into two categories, one for Club Triumph members and one for all others.
In both categories there was a great variety of well turned out vehicles, but two cars that stood out were both brought by members of the Triumph Dolomite Club. They were a Dolomite Sprint and 1300TC both in immaculate origonal condition. By a very narrow margin the award for the best non-CT members car went to the 1300TC of John Bailey.
In the Club Triumph members category the Spitfire mk2 of Philip Johnson was in class of its own and was awarded the Harris cup for best post war members car. Runner up was awarded to Annis Green and Peter Willey for their nicely restored and well used Vitesse mk2, which is regularly used to tow a caravan!
Thanks must go to Bill Bolton for conceiving and organising the event, to the many club officials who helped out, to Rimmer Bros for sponsoring the programme and awards and to all the Triumph owners who brought their vehicles along and made the event successful.
Next years event will be held at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu on 5th August 2001.