The Triumph Mayflower.

[angrydicky]

That is a great looking thing………as you say the styling is subjective but it just looks ‘right’ in terms of condition.

I was given the job of getting one of these running so it could be sent for auction. It had been fitted with a spitfire engine and box. Would have been about 1974/5 (I would have been about 13)….wasnt in bad order but no one wanted them then so they either got scrapped or went the to night time auction at Biggleswade.

Around same time dad took a mk6 Bentley in part exchange against a Hillman Minx

There was one for sale a year or so ago with a Spitfire engine and box which looked well worth doing. Unfortunately no one wanted it even at the very reasonable asking price.
By the sound of it, the poor Mayflower has never been very popular!

[slowanimals]

I watched one going round Mildenhall in the pre-70 about twenty years ago now. Fitted with what I was told was a six-cylinder 1600 out of an early Vitesse,it fucking flew and sounded good as well.

[angrydicky]

A lovely weekend with the Mayflower. Went to stay with my GF and took her out to Mablethorpe in it. She wasn’t expecting much as she didn’t like the styling, but was impressed with how good it felt as a passenger.
No running issues to report, oil used over 50 miles about 1/4 pint. I have no idea if that’s excessive or not but it’s easily topped up and it’s not smoking.
Not all plain sailing though. The carb has started leaking petrol, and the ignition warning light has started glowing. The latter is probably just stuck brushes in the dynamo. I have a new pair of C40 brushes if they need replacing but the chances are they’re just stuck through lack of use.

I also joined the Triumph Mayflower Club’s online committee meeting on Sunday. To cut a long story short the club had been struggling for a while with no Chairman or Vice Chairman. It’s a very small club with circa 150 members so it’s not surprising. A new member (James) joined last year, a very nice chap at a sprightly 32 years of age, and, wanting to get involved, took the Chairman role. He’s a fantastic Chairman, much better at it than I’d ever be but they wanted the VC role filled so I had a chat to James before the meeting and said if he stood again this year I’d stand as VC and give him a hand. I’m 33 by the way so the rest of the committee, and the Chairman were very excited at the thought of two young(ish) members at the helm, as all these old car clubs are struggling with ageing membership and finding people willing to do stuff. I broadcast from the drivers seat of my Mayflower which went down well, and when I said I was standing for VC I practically got a standing ovation! (The position had been vacant for quite a while!) We had members from as far away as Germany and the USA taking part, 16 people joined which goes to show how much better and more accessible these virtual meetings are over a traditional one. I’ve never held a car club committee post before, I’ve only been a member a few weeks, but it was a productive meeting and we’ve started planning a national rally. Hopefully we’ll get a bumper turnout this year as it’s the 75th anniversary of the Mayflower and the 50th anniversary of the TMC. Well a bumper turnout is somewhere in the region of six cars as no one seems to want to drive them very far these days. Last year they only managed two cars which was rather sad.

[angrydicky]

The Mayflower got a lot of attention in Mablethorpe with a couple of people who came to talk about it and a lot of people pointing and smiling. It’s a surprisingly popular little car, for an ugly duckling!

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[mercrocker]

I'm not really a fan of car clubs but do realise that cars such as the Mayflower, Renown etc. are not widely catered for and the need to band together, even if just to exchange information and support, becomes more necessary. So, good work, Mr Angry, new blood is desperately needed and more importantly new blood that understands and appreciates the cars involved.....

[angrydicky]

I'm not really a fan of car clubs but do realise that cars such as the Mayflower, Renown etc. are not widely catered for and the need to band together, even if just to exchange information and support, becomes more necessary. So, good work, Mr Angry, new blood is desperately needed and more importantly new blood that understands and appreciates the cars involved.....

Well said MR. They do seem a friendly bunch from what I’ve seen. Despite being such a tiny club, they have a lot of spares. One of the biggest headaches is finding someone to replace the spares secretary who has just stepped down. Whoever takes it on needs to be within striking distance of the current storage in Market Harborough or have space at home to store all the spares. They also need to be retired ideally as the position takes about 20 hours a week to run so I’m told. I work full time so I can’t commit to it unfortunately. Most people in the club are retired but no one wants to take it on. I understand it is a serious commitment but such an important one.
When the Counties club spares secretary died suddenly, the committee did all they could to immediately sell the spares off to a commercial entity to avoid the additional paperwork and red tape that comes with trading (apparently). They were lucky in that a long established Austin spares supplier was willing to take the spares and add them to his stable, so although he’s more expensive, at least he takes card over the phone which Ray never did so he’s more convenient.
I can’t think of any commercial supplier that would want to take on supplying spares for the Mayflower though.

[LynehamHerc]

I would question the 20 hours a week.
I can understand it if a lot of it is spent trying to source parts but not if it's selling and sending them out.
Maybe the role could be split in two, one sourcing and one selling?
The former could be based anywhere I guess.

[mercrocker]

You would still have to transfer the parts between "posts" In my experience (I've served in major roles with two OCs over the years) these jobs work best when one person has full control and discretion. You of course do need to cover the eventuality that the poor bloke drops dead mid-role (as happened in the Cowley club) but with some background knowledge and basic friendships that effect can be minimised and recovered from.

As regards the time, you can only sell that which you procure and there can be a lot of travelling involved. I also know from my experiences in those Owner's Clubs that there is a fair amount of time wasted on the telephone talking to people whose most pressing need on this planet is the fact that they have an incorrect trim plate on their MkIII pre-deluxe mid-update whatever.

I do exaggerate slightly, admittedly. But not much.....

[LynehamHerc]

Fair enough Merc, as you can tell I've never done this just buying and selling T2 parts where they've just been posted either by or to me.

[mercrocker]

You do not strike me as a time-waster, though! T2 or anything more plentiful would, I guess, be a little easier but the size of the clientele brings its own problems. I know the Minor Club operate two or three paid posts, one of those at least is full time.