My oldest son Rowan and I have been working on a full nut-and-bolt restoration of a 1973 Triumph GT-6 for the past four years. When we finally finished the last piece, all 9,300 pieces of this fantastic little British machine had been removed, catalogued, restored, remade, electroplated, powder-coated, or, as a last resort, replaced, over 1,500+ hours spent together.

I love this car most of all because of the wonderful experiences Rowan and I had together as we brought it back from the dead, but also because of its story. I found this car buried in the back of a barn. It had been there 16 years. Someone owned it who had an emotional connection to it – and dreamed of a restoration –

  but did not have the time and skill to make it happen. He was the first to drive it when it was finished, and I shed a tear watching it happen. And – I’ll have that memory to enjoy every time I get behind the wheel from now until it’s time for me to pass the car down to Rowan. What’s more, I’ve developed a wonderful friendship with the prior owner as he watched it slowly but steadily come together through more than 1,400 pictures in a shared photo album. I thought you all might enjoy the story behind this wonderful little machine.

About the  Triumph GT6 (1966 to 1973)

Based on their popular Triumph Spitfire convertible, the Triumph GT6 is a sports coupé built by Standard-Triumph. Production ran from 1966 to 1974. These cars were only available in a coupe body style and were powered by a 2.0L inline-six paired with a 4-speed manual to send drive to the rear wheels. Alongside the Base Model, a range of Race Cars were also built.