CC Outtake: English Garden Party

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– Posted on October 14, 2018

On the first dry day this week, I spotted these classy English ladies in a “garden” I was driving past.  I elected to peek over the hedge that curiously had no foliage and just some thick round branches and then decided to be even ruder and take photographs.  The nerve!  Obviously they noticed me as they are all looking at me, the interloper.  So who exactly do we have here?  Let’s take a closer look…

With demurely dipped eyes, this is the youngest of the bunch, a Triumph TR-7 Drophead Coupe.   That wedge shape, so avant garde and somewhat controversial when it debuted, has aged quite well to my eyes.  The modern silver color probably helps in that regard, but the little stock wheels don’t.

Next up is clearly the matron and host of this gathering.  Also silver, this Series II XJ looks quite good in this color although it seems to be a relatively rare shade on it.  Maybe I’m partial to it having had a bit of a fling with a younger member of the family with the same coloring some years ago but she’s still beautiful and seductive after all these years, perhaps her name would Mrs. Robinson if she were American instead.  Then I guess mine would have been Elaine…But I digress.

This little Spitfire may be the older Triumph family cousin to TR-7 on the left.  A little (or a lot) worse for wear, this one seems to have led a rough life with a fair amount of scabs still showing.  Hopefully they’ll heal quick but I daren’t hold out any great hope for that.

Obviously the sister of the other Spitfire as the family resemblance is uncanny, the biggest difference being up top of course, this one is a little more developed.  No, not that, I mean even higher up!  Something around the jawline is slightly different too as is her coloring, perhaps she’s a little shier and more self-conscious about her shabby (but still always chic) appearance, hence the flush…I believe she’s slightly older than her paler sister though.

Of course MG from the Abingdon area has to be at the party too, it wouldn’t be any fun otherwise.  Frisky and pretty with lots of highlights in her younger days, she isn’t aging too gracefully but the original beauty is still visible (with some imagination).  Perhaps a little too much of a drinking habit in regards to the ol’ 30-weight…

Aww, don’t turn away!  We never see GT6 from the Triumph family around these parts.  I guess this one has gotten herself into a right state, it’s going to take more than a little powdering and buffing to pretty that up again to match her younger days.  Beauty may be only skin deep but here that’s pretty much all that’s left.

I did notice that an American yard boy seemed to be sniffing around the ladies’ party and trying to (unsuccessfully) blend in.  Hopefully he remains respectful, perhaps he is merely there to tend to the shrubbery but he doesn’t seek to be making himself useful today.   Hey, yard boy, your kind really isn’t welcome at this fancy gathering of fine ladies, so why don’t you just go back to the shed, alright?

Weld County, Colorado, October 11, 2018