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My Interest in Wedges..... By
Wyn Davies My interest in TVR's and indeed cars in general began at a very young age. At around age 10 when I started really becoming aware of the different types of car I remember seeing all the wedge shape Lotuses, Ferrari's etc in the magazines and yearning after them. My father was always a big car enthusiast so I was doomed to become a petrol head eventually anyway. He had a wide variety of old and interesting stuff during that time. One of the main memories I have is when we went to collect a big Healy which he had found in a scrap yard in Swansea. The sight of the crane lifting a wrecked Rover P5 off it is a sight that will stay with me for ever. Other interesting stuff that we had over the next few years included Triumph Stag, Bond Equipe GT4S, (fibre glass body on a Herald chassis which he later put a Triumph 2ltr straight six in!!) Lotus Elan +2, (which I learned to drive in on Leo's car park, Pyle!) That was 1982/3 and by then I was hooked. The Tasmin was out by then of course and when I read the 1st autocar road test of the 350i I vowed (as MikeB did) that I would have one one day. At that time I was doing some sketching and I did this from the magazine photo (below).
I was also a big Lotus enthusiast and when the opportunity presented itself in 1993 I took the plunge and bought a metallic blue Lotus Excel from Barry Ely in London. A fine car, amazing handling. Unfortunately only half an engine and a bit fragile, so not the most satisfying of sports cars ultimately. I'd had a couple of Capri 2.8i's and to be honest they felt faster in a straight line. By that time there were many hot hatches and saloon cars which were just as capable in a straight line also. I sold it 10 months and £1200 later, which at the time was not funny. I still hadn't seen
or heard a wedge in the flesh by then, but still yearned after them as
well as the newer Griffs and Chimps. The 90's was spent bringing children
up, doing an old house up moving in to it so practically and financially
it just wasn't possible to even think about cars at all. Finally last year the opportunity came so I grabbed it with both hands and acted quickly. The South Wales TVRCC had organised a run to the National Botanic Gardens near Carmarthen so I tagged along behind. By now I knew it was a wedge I was going to get so it was a great opportunity to meet everyone and pick up some tips and advice. There were four wedges there amongst all the newer curvier kit so there was plenty to look at and compare. When we arrived I said hello to Nigel Hucker with his pristine white 350i and he pointed me in the direction of Mike Bressington, nice chap, you might know him! I had seen the Wedgepages site in the month or two before so it was great to have a good chat with him there. During our conversation he mentioned that he had been thinking of selling and moving on to something more powerful, but that he was thinking of waiting until the New Year. The following weekend we struck a deal and I was the proud owner of a very fine, well sorted Mica Blue TVR 350i!!
The car is truly a
very fine example and since September I have fitted stainless manifolds,
new rear n/s UJ's, nearly completed a chassis rub down and paint and I've
had the engine tuned with the timing adjusted to run Optimax. I can't
help driving it at every opportunity, and at time of writing I've reached
my original 3000 mile limit for my insurance, so that has been increased
to 4500! Even though I haven't had the car that long I've had some great moments already. In the village where I live there's a bunch of boys in their early teens and every time I pass them they shout Rev it Rev it! Wedge converts now me thinks. Then back in November the Rally of Great Britain comes to town and I was passing a local out of town pub with a couple of Imprezzas parked up with what must have been their occupants sat in the front beer garden. When I went back past them a few minutes later they were standing up and waving their hands in circles in the air! So I gave them full throttle in 2nd and 3rd. They must have wanted
to hear what a proper engine sounds like! Of course the best day out so
far was what is now known as the 'Chicken Run' back in January, six wedges
blasting through the Breacon Beacons, pure heaven. I had thought originally
of stretching to an early Griffith of Chimp but I'm truly glad I couldn't
now. Is one Griffith worth two Wedges? No is my answer. They say you either
love em or hate em. Well I love em. The looks, the noise, the whole package.
Long live the wedge. Wyn Davies |
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