Vintage Triumphs

Dave's Vintage Triumph Spitfire

Dave Podolske profile from Feb 96 Coventry Comentator

 DuraFix     -     Aluminum
welding aluminum welding with propane DuraFix
Welding with Propane
I grew up in Mequon, Wisconsin. My parents owned a Triumph Herald in the early 60s, when I was born. I think this may have had some subliminal influence. I have been a car and motorcycle nut since childhood. In high school all my efforts were spent on a cafe customized Kawasaki 750 2-stroke triple. I was also pit crew on my friend's drag racing Kaw triple. I became a big fan of Peter Egan's articles and columns in Cycle World and Road & Track. This is where I discovered the existence of interesting British cars.

The transition to cars came in 1986 when, after researching various marquees, I bought a 1975 Triumph Spitfire (I love the way the bonnet hinges at the front ). The car was in sad shape. The Lucas electrics made every start a roll of the dice. The plastic windows were nearly opaque. The floor boards were literally wooden boards. With the rotted floor and frame, the car had a way of doing the Cha -Cha on every upshift. I gradually fixed it up while using it as a daily driver.

In 1987 I drove the car down to Gainesville Georgia for the VTR National Convention. There I found out about the Vintage Triumphs of Wisconsin and met Reg Barden. I was impressed that the club had a guy actually from England and joined. It's been well worth it for me as I enjoy tours and rallies. In 1989 I won the VTOW gimmick rally, ironically in Jim Matthews' Austin Healy Sprite, as navigator.

Over the years I replaced the frame and body shell with nice solid ones from Chris Mills' salvage yard. The wiring harness was replaced with one from British Wiring. I did all of the mechanical work, and some minor body work, myself. I had the more involved body work, and paint job, done by Amports.

In 1990 I graduated from MSOE with a degree in Computer Science & Engineering and moved to Illinois to work for Motorola in the Cellular division as a CAD Network Administrator. (But if your cell phone breaks, don't ask me to fix it!) I was briefly a member of the Illinois Sports Owners Association, ISOA, but their main emphasis on autocrossing was not really of interest to me. During the early 90's the Spitfire was at Amports, or in storage, so I temporarily dropped out of most club activities. I was busy buying a house in Round Lake Beach and getting married to Lanore (nurse, costume designer and Ringling Bros. College-trained clown, an all around renaissance woman).

Lanore and I went to England on our honeymoon and saw some historically significant Triumphs at the National Motor Museum. We also toured the Morgan car factory in Malvern. In England I realized a long-time dream of driving on the left side of the road from a right hand drive car. (Fortunately the pedals are the same!)

In addition to Triumphs, I collect old radios, do a little woodworking (but not on my Spitfire's floor anymore!) and built a short-wave radio (with tubes!) from a kit.

I am looking forward to many more good times with VTOW.

Coventry Comentator is the newsletter of the Vintage Triumphs of Wisconsin, a club devoted to the enjoyment and preservation of Triumph sports cars. A club member is profiled in every issue.
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