Triumph TR-7 First Car - Eric's Story - Daily Driving a British Classic

Eric’s car stories span continents and eras, offering a fun and nostalgic tour of automotive history. A self-described “legal eagle,” Eric starts by recounting his first conquest: a British Racing Green Triumph TR-7 that would make James Bond green with envy. He then takes us into the quirky world of the Porsche 914 – the original VW-Porsche crossover – sharing how that mid-engine gem stole his heart and taught him about classic sports car engineering. Finally, Eric brings us stateside with a Cadillac CTS, reflecting on why “never trust a lawyer not in a Caddy” became his tongue-in-cheek motto.

Eric loves this old school episode - "From Ford Tempo to Flux Capacitor – Brian’s High-Octane Car History" https://pod.link/1733902541/episode/21d79744e55c1253139f92207c9bba70

Throughout his tales, Eric sprinkles in automotive trivia and witty anecdotes from the courtroom to the open road. This episode blends humor and insight, delivering a “best in class” experience for listeners who love diverse classic cars, a bit of luxury, and the life lessons that come with each ride.

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Listen on your favorite platform and visit https://carsloved.com for full episodes, our automotive blog, Guest Road Trip Playlist and our new CAR-ousel of Memories photo archive.

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Transcript

00:00.32
Christian
Ah, welcome back America this is to all the cars I've loved before the podcast where american history and automotive history meet your history. We have another very special guest this evening. Well you can't it is evening and you can't see me but I am it's very close to mardi gras season down here on the Gulf Coast I am wearing my Marty Graw crown purple golden green for those in the know so welcome back. You'll want to check us out online at cars. Loved Dotcom again cars loved dotcom in the conversation see pictures of cars of previous guests meet previous guests see pictures of them. And hey join the conversation. There's a form for if you would like to be a guest you can meet us see pictures of us be part of um what we espouse and what we like to get into which is your stories. Everybody has a story of cars they grew up in took road trips in with their parents. Their first cars second cars third cars. Some guests even our previous guest last week's episode had talked about the most recent car his wife got so hey we all have stories so before we get into it I'm gonna kick it off to my somewhat esteemed co-host and senior automotive reporter. For this very podcast Doug I'm Christian by the way and this is Doug. That's where yeah there we he's not asleep.

01:20.68
Doug
Thank you Christian for that wonderful intro. Yeah I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Yeah, everybody welcome to carslove.com or as it's better known as to all the cars I've loved before on your favorite podcast platform and in. automotive news not too much going on today. Everybody knows but sure everybody knows that this tesla cybertruck launched ah late November people are finally getting their cybertrucks that are no that are not Tesla employees and.

01:40.93
Christian
We got to be quick because we have a very interesting guest. Very interesting. Okay.

01:51.35
Christian
Right.

01:59.14
Doug
There's lots of speculation out there also just for what it's worth around the same time. The Epa changed how they verify mileage of ah electric cars or or range if you will So that's ah impacted pretty much every automaker in their claims of what the ranges your range may vary.

02:13.61
Christian
Indeed at the same time that they're cutting production Ford is cutting production of lightning trucks. So it's it's a very curious dynamic as we move forward in this in this early time. Yeah.

02:17.57
Doug
Depending on many conditions. Ah as we always say.

02:24.90
Doug
It it. It is and well the department of energy is really pushing hard us department of energy is pushing hard to get those chargers out there Tesla is actually opening up their charging network to other companies like Ford.

02:38.25
Christian
Um, opening its network right right.

02:43.85
Doug
Ah, Ford and others. Um, starting this year so we'll see how that impacts that might impact a Tesla owner in a negative way certainly positive way for other scv ah other electric owners. But if you if you have some thoughts.

02:59.37
Christian
Absolutely yeah, hey, good stuff. Thanks for sharing that? Yeah, we have all kind of ways for you to join the conversation and you can be 1 of our guests and I am very pleased to present this this week's guest who is a.

02:59.53
Doug
Ah, hit the contact us form on our website. Yeah.

03:16.61
Christian
Close personal family family friend of mine. Ah, we hang out together. Our kids hang out together I go over to his house and eat his food and um, he doesn't I go over to his house and eat his food. Let's just leave it there but my good friend Eric welcome to the show.

03:34.59
Doug
Welcome Eric.

03:35.90
 Christian/Eric
 Hello and thank you for having me and neighbor neighbor we live in the same extremely exclusive except for me enclave near the water in in the gulf coast of our fair United States well welcome to the podcast and as we were talking. This is where you get to choose right? Your conversation about some cars that you've had in your life that have been that have been important to you and and what what cars spring to mind good fellow weller based on what we were discussing before we went live I thought I would talk about my first 2 cars first 2 and my most recent car I dig it I did it are we gonna take him in reverse or order. Do you want to do when I want to start so was the fer to start with my first. Love how how how old how old were you I was 16 when I got this car I had learned to who's got better life than this guy I had learned to drive on my. Father's work truck. He had purchased a dotson if you remember that I do. There were a little a blue dotson standard mini truck from a painter holy crow and he let me go out into the woods her. Yeah.
 
 04:38.94
 Doug
 Sure.
 
 04:53.61
 Christian/Eric
 Rural areas where we live and run into trees. Yes, and no trees were harmed in the making of that film in Oklahoma where we lived, you know all the yeah I rose are in Oklahoma. But yeah, that believe it's where you grew up right? Alllthough I'm a native floridian I spent most of my childhood and. Teen years in Oklahoma and all the roads there are on a grid pattern. So every mile you have a road going. that's easy. north south or East West yeah that's easy so not far from the house where we lived were a lot of fields and field fences but paved roads. So he let me drive there. So I was really excited to get my first car it which was it was for sale just down the road a place where people park their cars this guy and he I had my eye on another type of car. But I wound up with the 1977 trial. Ah oh. It kills me my heart t r seven no my hard top. Oh.
 
 05:56.91
 Doug
 To your 7 tell tell it tell us about it what what color Christian/Erics overwhelm right now. But ah I'm gonna take control here.
 
 06:00.31
 Christian/Eric
 I am overwhelmed the color. The color was british racing green I mean this is a car James Bond would drive my first car was a Turd Brown buick from the early 80 s I mean squarely on the fece side of the color wheel. It was awful.
 
 06:18.97
 Doug
 Because okay, well I want to I want to hear more about this British Racing Green T R seven.
 
 06:19.14
 Christian/Eric
 It was awful I would killed for that as a first car so you quarter would just like James Bond licensed to kill I would killed somebody I wouldve killed you for your car I think Jim Bond Jim Brown might have driven that car it was it was as I recall it was around the $2500 mark to pull perfect. We probably didn't pay that car and it was an awesome car except for the need to double clutch. The transmission had some issues well may have been soft, perfect and then the it's it had a bad shaking problem at fifty five miles per hour well you know, but it was a great car I wish I still had it. It had an interesting provenance.
 
 06:49.32
 Doug
 No no Synchros Synchros get beaten up. They're optional.
 
 07:07.57
 Christian/Eric
 When we got it and especially when we got rid of it. Great word french word. Go ahead right? Well you're you're steeped in fringe new more rules so that was a fun car to drive around. Um one of my most memorable times and it was driving in an ice storm. And learning not to drive in an ice storm because I connected with a curb. So what like I cannot imagine that car in an ice storm. Why can not imagine driving that car. There had been an ice storm. There was ice on the road. Wasn't active ices almost even worse. That's almost even worse because you know if there's sleep coming or snow coming you. You're not overconfident but when you hit that black ice. You're cooked I don't know I would be overconfident. That's that's the problem with ice on the roads. You'll do that when you're young I don't do that anymore. And don't go out in those kind of conditions. We don't have them often here but you recall 2014 we just celebrated the ten years of of the great ice storm that shut down I ten the major eastwest artery here along the Gulf Coast yes and we had ice here in our little almost beach community.
 
 08:12.34
 Doug
 Yes.
 
 08:18.61
 Christian/Eric
 And no one knows how to drive in and I stayed home. The government was shut down for three days I was working for the government at the time and I was happy to stay home I knew people right? and people in my family who went out but that's that and the the great gar flood that was about a year before or after that. Five hundred year Thousand Thousand year flood that was April that was mid-april of 2014 the ice storm was january twenty ninth of 2014 yeah, thought it was a year apart. But yeah, we had ice. No one was 24 and flooding and that's when I decided I need to have a a 4 wheel drive in the family smart. I think that's always smart. No matter where you live you know what up north it's it's it's compulsory. Let me just squeeze in here I owned a ford expedition for that. Very reason when I lived in the I lived in the dc area for 20 years and it was just a dream in the snow big heavy fourwheel drive surefooted.
 
 08:56.40
 Doug
 1
 
 09:13.10
 Christian/Eric
 You know if you forgot to put it in Fourw Wheel drive and tried to drive in the Se and two-w wheel drive. It was a nightmare but boy you slip it into fourwhe drive anywhere just like the commercials where it's bursting through through through snowbanks just go s slowm just go s slowm.
 
 09:25.22
 Doug
 so so um on ah back to the back back to Eric's car if you will Christian/Eric so any you know we know is a convertible. It was a british car right? Oh you had the.
 
 09:32.38
 Christian/Eric
 Um, yes, oh so Jealous. It was a hard top even more rare than one. Yeah yeah, no, no, it's great because you don't have to worry about the canvas falling apart which is the which is the you know? yeah you know.
 
 09:45.90
 Doug
 Hard top version. For correct any any redeeming qualities. Obviously this is a sporty car young young man go into high school driving to high school the ladies the the you know.
 
 09:58.54
 Christian/Eric
 Wow just wow. Well they go crazy about this guy anyway. But throw in the car Jimmy Criggets that didn't hit until the next car but the fun thing about the triumph was the manual transmission even with the double clutching.
 
 10:04.20
 Doug
 Yeah, had to be pretty popular driving a cool car like that.
 
 10:18.21
 Christian/Eric
 Um, it was ah it was fun to drive. You know as I get older I realize now only 3% of cars manufactured in the world even have a manual transmission huh and the ability to drive such a car is getting more and more scarce i. Put my older son on dirt bikes. So he would learn manual transmissions and then I had a jeep that he drove around and really liked it because it had a manual transmission's a life skill. It is a life skill yeah, speaking of James Bond you know you don't just jump in a car and that's the first time you've ever driven a stick. No.
 
 10:53.54
 Doug
 No.
 
 10:54.84
 Christian/Eric
 Or hop on a motor. Well he could do it James Bond could do it I mean nobody else could do or but he's had the training. He's had the training he did they that first thing they cover in spy school is deusing nuclear bombs and then driving a standard transmission.
 
 10:59.50
 Doug
 Well well.
 
 11:09.47
 Christian/Eric
 I mean I think that's it's on the syllabus that it's pre prerequisite you standard transmission also known as millennial theft deterrent for that Very reason anyway, always good to get a chuckle from the guest ladies and gentlemen. We're filmed before a live studio audience which is asleep go ahead.
 
 11:09.80
 Doug
 Um, well let's let.
 
 11:18.48
 Doug
 Ah, you each you took you took it I more you you took it from me or I I won so one time I was joking around with somebody at the Honda dealer and I wanted to drive a wasn't a Honda but a car they had there. And I said hey what's the sales guy was kind of annoying I'm like hey what's this third pedal for and he's like get out of the car I said just kidding course I started the car drove it away I think my second car was a stick shift. My first one was not but I had some friends who.
 
 11:49.50
 Christian/Eric
 That's a good story.
 
 11:56.30
 Doug
 Head stick shift cars and there was no stopping me from there still have 2 stick shift cars. So I'm a I'm a big fan. It's not fun in traffic but it is it is an art a lost art.
 
 12:00.99
 Christian/Eric
 Amen He's Amen Amen look I understand but but you know what our guest did. He's a very experienced podcaster because he teased the second car. So now we have to move with.
 
 12:17.72
 Doug
 We you? we we do we do? Yeah I I you know I mean I I think Eric shared some good good stuff. Not it's awesome first car.
 
 12:18.14
 Christian/Eric
 Some expedition to the second car. Oh. Are you done? Are we done fawning over the triumph I mean we're we're we're Jealous. That's obvious good. Love it. How heavy was a hard top before we Move. Ah how how heavy was the the hard top I know it wasn't a target top. It was a a coop that the top was fixed top.
 
 12:39.35
 Doug
 It was the fixed top Chris.
 
 12:44.53
 Christian/Eric
 The next car has the target. Oh that's all let me let me be quiet, not tip the hand sorry second car. Well I I have to tell you that the post provenance of the the T R seven its it's a short aside my.
 
 12:48.41
 Doug
 Yes, please let let error continue.
 
 12:58.27
 Doug
 Please.
 
 13:00.84
 Christian/Eric
 Author and I traded it to a professor that he worked with at a junior college. The the art professor the bohemian art professor needed a car that his girlfriend did know or his wife didn't know about his ex-wife. So we traded that car for an acre of land on highway 82 no north of tallahno. That's not the land use tallah you know, um I still own it. No I would love to put a triumph on post so that for a landmark so I can find the darn thing it shall be done highway 82 is a motorcyclist. Um, highway they like to ride it because it's near the tallama scenic drive which goes from tallahna Oklahoma to Mea Arkansas and has beautiful what they call mountains are really big hills but the season changed and the leafs. So. You know that's part of the interesting post provenance of the triumph that is a great story. Nice postscript. Nice postscript. Yes, very good. The follow up car with the one that I really wanted. Um, was a porsche 9 fourteen signal orange my god it had a two liter engine not the 6 cylinder because in Germany they rolled them down the same production line as the nine eleven but it also had a Mano transmission.
 
 14:11.90
 Doug
 Ah.
 
 14:19.87
 Christian/Eric
 Very fun car. Very awesome to drive pulled plenty of girlfriends into the Portia. Um, and it has an interesting postscript also but that was had for the princely sum of three thousand two hundred and fifty dollars which was part of some money I earned from one of my father's oil speculation companies. Whoa yeah I love it. Yeah I see I see where the kids your kids get their or their workc ethic starting companies, etc, etc. Yes, that's ah.
 
 14:47.41
 Doug
 Why I was going to get that. Maybe they struck oil on that piece of land that they traded the triumph for who knows might be oil there.
 
 14:54.86
 Christian/Eric
 No, no, not quite I yeah, you know the the only acre in Oklahoma that doesn't yield oil is this guy here. Oh no, it may yield oil I had twenty acres that were nearby that an oil company did pay me royalty to put a road on. But. A lot of times you don't get the meneral right yeah right that's exactly right so that's right I don't believe I own the mineral rights on the acre and no one's offered me a check yet, but they can certainly call any time and offer we need to check look into that and if they're listening to this podcast. We're coming after you Exon Obel
 
 15:23.32
 Doug
 Yeah, we we'll share your contact info. You heard it here.
 
 15:29.22
 Christian/Eric
 Need to be shad so the 1974 portion nine fourteen had a target top that's the removable top. Yeah, it went in the back trunk because it was midi engine and it also had a front trunk where the gas tank was so it's kind of was kind of weird to open the front. Trunk or boot to fill up I dig it the gasoline which was less than a dollar a gallon and well yeah, Oklahoma's an oil producing state. Oh yeah, it went over a dollar a gallon while I was driving it and it actually made the move with me here to Florida.
 
 15:58.49
 Doug
 Um, it is.
 
 16:05.39
 Christian/Eric
 Um I drove it I drove it from Oklahoma city to the fabulous Gulf Coast of Florida how long did you have that one. The I didn't have it that long I I think I sold it I think I sold it in the summer of 1988 it was very expensive to maintain I can imagine it had a problem vapor locking. Oh yeah I got some tickets and insurance got expensive. Oh and I had some other cars to drive so that's for another podcast I think but.
 
 16:33.24
 Doug
 Know.
 
 16:41.93
 Christian/Eric
 The 149 went to a nice young man from the northeast who was here with his family on vacation and they had enough cash to put together come on the $3250 that I sold it to him for with cash and and travelers' checks. Wait a minute that's more than you paid? No I think we're just I think I got out even you but I I learned how to do some mechanic work. Um with german the most insulting in the world. Yeah, that love it and you know the problem really with that car was the vapor locking. It's not a problem in in Munich. Yeah, where it stays pretty cool but down here in the heat. It was. It was a problem. Yeah, right? Um, right? because the the fuel injection that they used had a problem when the when the engine air cooled engine got hot. So a lot of people did a carburetor conversion on that. Um. But I I had not done that and although I wish I still had that car I'm glad I don't it became that? yes.
 
 17:39.10
 Doug
 No and under under understand. So so Eric was that just make sure I understood was that the 9 fourteen six or it was the two li for the bigger of the 4 buners. Okay.
 
 17:53.42
 Christian/Eric
 It was a two liter two liter 4 cylinder now. My my father had an investor and friend who was a veterinarian and I think he had 7 porsches or maybe eleven he had a we had a stable full of um, that's when you have a problem. Oh he had a solution to his but he advised my dad not to get me the 6 cylinder because I was going to die and I I drove the 4 cylinder fast enough. Um I don't I don't I don't drive those speeds anymore I just don't enjoy the. Parasympathetic nerve response coming down from it but it was ah it was a really fun car. You know it handled like it was on rails to car movie because of that mid you know, mid-engine placement. Just super fun. Sounds fine.
 
 18:25.20
 Doug
 So so.
 
 18:40.74
 Christian/Eric
 You know? Yeah I was a lot skinnier so I could fit in it. Um, the target top was fun to take off and on I would like to have another target top car but there are lots of cars. My card car has something like a target top but hang on one of our fans is ono is just my co-host. I have a quick fun fact to share. Let's hear it. We're 19 we're 19 minutes into this epic voyage. So we need to skip along briskly to the third car only after yeah let's do it.
 
 19:07.94
 Doug
 Yeah, so yeah, we just need you to we just need you to stop talking so we can do it so it if you will so um, Eric I'm a car connoisseur so fan a fan of Porsches as well. So wanted to see if you probably do know this so the nine fourteen came out after the 119 and part of the reasoning for it was volt actually it was made by Volkswagen. It was sold as a volkswagen in Germany. But sold as a porsche in the United States I don't know if you knew that? yeah and when it first came out. It had the same engine as the porsche 356 I think it was a sixteen one point six liter if you will.
 
 19:42.22
 Christian/Eric
 I did not know that.
 
 19:53.17
 Christian/Eric
 Right.
 
 19:58.71
 Doug
 That's why I asked about the 2 leader and the reason they slotted it in is because the nine eleven went so upscale in cost they needed something else kind of in the middle and even along the way or at the low end even along the way they had a portion nine twelve they actually offered it twice.
 
 20:06.48
 Christian/Eric
 Right.
 
 20:18.39
 Doug
 Which had that similar engine probably to which you had to leader 4 cylinder from. Yep yep, ah, just a super car.
 
 20:21.89
 Christian/Eric
 It was a it was a great little car. You know I've heard it referred to as a super volks wagon to super vw and I've seen in California where they make electric conversions and that seems to solve the vapor lock issue I think it would be an awesome car to have as an electric conversion. But. They are very low to the ground. They're very low, very very small cars. Yeah I think it? Yeah I think it weighed one thousand four hundred and fifty three pounds if I'm remembering correctly. Yeah, very light car very late boy a boy 2 seatter 2 seatter 2.
 
 20:43.99
 Doug
 This.
 
 20:53.93
 Doug
 Yeah, very very light. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and really, ah, awesome car air coololed Engine Vapor Lock Under Understandable Um, like.
 
 21:00.95
 Christian/Eric
 Roadsters. Yeah yeah, which led him to ride off into the sunset into the third act of this voyage which was the well I'm going to skip ahead. Oh that's right, we decided to.
 
 21:10.90
 Doug
 The current part.
 
 21:18.99
 Christian/Eric
 <unk> ahead almost three decades to the current car. Yes, but which is special because my wife bought it for me. It's the white haddac cts beautiful with a beautiful with a two liter turbo charged engine and a sunroof.
 
 21:23.86
 Doug
 Oh very special.
 
 21:37.58
 Christian/Eric
 And the you know all the windows roll down and roll up with a punch of a but you know touch the button one I like that feature I like it notger I didn't know it was a sports car a sporty car until my nephew and my son told me it's fast I said what do you mean? It's fast I bought it for the ride because it. It does have a Cadillac ride so most comfortable seat I own um including my reclining couch at home. Um, but that's that's just a great car because it has all the modern features and amenatees I don't have lane departure warning. What years is. It's a 2019? Yeah fewer than thirty Thousand miles so I really like that um I got it because ah it's predecessor Cadillac had of real it someone had smoked it smoked in it. So I got this I got both of them I remembered. Yeah yeah, but. That it's it's a white kind of a perlescent white. So it's it's beautiful. Beautiful I have dreams of a red escalade. But this one is just so nice and you know traveling on the highway in it is ah is is just beautiful. You know friend of mine who's a car fictionionado that I'm gonna try to get on with you told me that. You know they're doing the turbo small displacement engines to meet some of the mileage requirements and it makes sense because that joker gets thirty miles to the gallon exactly highway but sporty fast wonderful and it fits into that cafe average of the entire car manufacturer's portfolio in a.
 
 23:05.96
 Doug
 Well said.
 
 23:07.81
 Christian/Eric
 I think it's ruining me for other car brands. Yeah yeah, hey that's that's really good. It is I've driven it I've driven his car. Beautiful car. Very fast, very wellappointed on the inside. Um very good. We're at 23 minutes into the voyage here. So we probably need to wrap this up. Um, as I said Eric the most interesting man in the world. His stories have stories. We'll have him back in season 2 that I promise so as we wrap up here any any parting thoughts on your on your part so to speak. Um, if anybody needs an attorney in the Gulf Coast Florida area.
 
 23:33.29
 Doug
 Can't wait.
 
 23:45.94
 Christian/Eric
 Ah I I'll take cars for fees Asking. So Love that contact me through the podcast I'm certainly glad you had me on I Enjoy these stories I think you and your boys and my boys have heard some of them but not all of them. You know we got to talk about pawpaws cars exactly exactly you know all the all the interesting Journeys from parents to children to their children to you know and I hope to have my father here on the podcast here at some point so you are a great guest.. Thank you so much for coming in on short notice. Thanks for having me.
 
 24:04.13
 Doug
 Um, yeah season 2 season 3
 
 24:19.33
 Doug
 Thank you Eric.
 
 24:21.20
 Christian/Eric
 Yeah, thank you and um, as always catch us online at carslove.comcarslove.com join the story meet more about Eric meet more about us join the millions of americans who've never heard of this podcast before there you will find archived editions pictures of us pictures of. Of of other cars. Doug do you have anything to to add in before we close out here.
 
 24:44.80
 Doug
 No I think I think I just want to thank Eric you know there's some great stories I wish we had more time but we do have more episodes and more seasons coming up so find us on your favorite podcast platform and just remember to all the cars I've loved before carslove.com
 
 24:47.25
 Christian/Eric
 Always it.
 
 24:54.36
 Christian/Eric
 Moving.
 
 25:03.49
 Doug
 We have a intake form as my co-host would say drop some ideas out there tell us about your car if you want to be on the podcast and love to have you.
 
 25:10.00
 Christian/Eric
 It's your show america not really love it. Thank you all right? See you next week guys take care. Love you see ah cars. love.com cars love.com cars. love.com
 
 25:15.76
 Doug
 See you next week.