Summer party 2009

SUMMER PARTY 2009—A BRITISH CAR SAFARI

“Includes Autocross, Drag Racing, Poker Rallyes, Parties, Car Show, Much More...”

The 22nd Annual Summer Party will be held this year on Friday, August 7th and 8th at The Roadster Factory and other locations around Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Summer Party 2009 is part of a tradition that dates back to a legendary field party held at TRF in 1986 as a part of The Vintage Triumph Register National Convention when more than one-thousand enthusiasts feasted on roast pig and emptied a truck load of beer kegs.

We’ve tamed down a bit over the past twenty-two years, but we still know how to have a great time with British Cars here in the Laurel Mountains of Western Pennsylvania. Some years, we’ve filled every motel for many miles around, and hundreds of participants have camped in the fields around The Roadster Factory which is located on a two-hundred acre farm owned by the Runyan family.

In 2009, Summer Party stands to be the biggest venue for Triumph enthusiasts east of the Mississippi. The VTR will be held in California in October this year, but TRF’s location in Pennsylvania is a fun drive from New England, the Southeast, the East Coast, the Midwest, and Eastern Canada.

The theme of Summer Party 2009 is “A British Car Safari,” and participants are invited to dress in safari clothes, to set up safari camp sites, and to enhance the theme in every way possible over the weekend. When we used the safari theme at Summer Party ten years ago, one participant drove from Florida in a TR6 painted with black and white zebra stripes. In keeping with the safari theme, BB gun shooting contests will be held. Prizes will be awarded for the best safari campsite, the best safari outfit, both male and female, and the most creative use of the safari theme at the participants’ choice concours.

In anticipation of a large turn-out in 2009, Summer Party will offer a full slate of driving events as enjoyed by so many in years gone by. This year’s events will include drag racing, autocross, mountain tours, poker rallyes, and a LeMans start contest. For concours enthusiasts, a participants’ choice show will be presented on the streets of Downtown Indiana, Pennsylvania, the location of TRF’s own English pub known as The Coventry Inn.

On Friday night, August 7th, the action will be at TRF with a field party to include music, picnic food, and a bed sheet drive-in movie, a vestige of an event held at a local drive-in theatre during Summer Parties of the past. Campers are invited to hold safari parties at their campsites in the paddock of the TRF compound. By late evening a huge bonfire will be lit in the centre of the camp to keep lions, leopards, and jackals far away in the bush.

Driving events will begin on Friday afternoon with drag racing at Pittsburgh Raceway Park about twenty miles west of TRF’s location on U.S. Route 22 near Armagh. The LeMans Start Contest will take place during the drag racing, and other driving events are scheduled during the day on Saturday. A new law prohibits events such as autocross at our local airport, and we are looking for an alternative site, possibly on the campus of the local university. Beautiful drives for poker runs and mountain tours are not difficult to find here in the mountains of Western Pennsylvania.

The Participants’ Choice Concours is the highlight of Summer Party for many, and large numbers of fine cars have attended Summer Party over the years. There have been times when six-hundred cars appeared on the street, including more examples of certain models than we have ever seen in one place before. Along with the car show, we plan to serve a meal of some sort. Exactly what it will be will be determined by the response we receive. We have served sit down meals inside The Coventry Inn for smaller Summer Parties, and we have set up tables in the street for others. Whatever we do, you may be sure that we will make it something special.

The Coventry Inn will be a part of Summer Party again this year, as it has been for many years now. Even when it was being constructed, we held Summer Party events inside the bare frame. More than a thousand brass plates remain screwed to beams inside The Coventry Inn to honour the charter members of CMAS, The Coventry Motoring & Aviation Society, a club formed many years ago to help to finance the pub’s construction. A new T-shirt will be designed for CMAS members attending Summer Party 2009, and these will be provided as a part of the original charter membership. The Coventry Inn will be open each evening, beginning on Thursday or possibly on Wednesday, and it is likely to be packed every night.

We wish to thank Tim Lanocha, President of The Triumph Wedge Owner’s Association, who encouraged us to hold Summer Party in 2009 and to offer drag racing as a Summer Party event again this year as we have done many times in the past. Certain TR8 enthusiasts enjoy testing their cars against one another, as do many Summer Party participants of all persuasions. I myself have been known to enjoy drag racing at Summer Party, and I have found that I can run a few quarter miles without risking any mechanical damage to my cars. In addition to the Wedge Owners, we would like to invite other British car clubs, both local and national, to attend Summer Party as a group this year. No one knows what will happen with regard to economic issues and with issues relating to the driving of old cars in years to come. We will have to deal with such issues as a group in their time, but for now, we have a summer to enjoy, and we would be foolish to let this one pass without taking full advantage of what it has to offer. And one thing it has to offer is The Roadster Factory Summer Party 2009. You won’t want to miss it...

You’re invited to attend Summer Party 2009, along with all British car owners and British car enthusiasts. The cost of registration is just $79.95 per adult through the end of May. After that, it is just $99.95 through June 30th and $119.95 thereafter. These prices include all scheduled events, including two meals. Camping is only an additional $15.00 for the weekend. Register for Summer Party 2009 online, by phone, by mail, or by fax. You will find a registration form on the web site, and one is included herewith. Keep up with Summer Party information and other TRF news by subscribing to our weekly e-mail newsletter. To subscribe, simply follow the directions on our home page.

Sincere regards,

Charles A. Runyan

Proprietor

© 1996 - 2010 The Roadster Factory - All Rights Reserved
Site Contact:  trfpublications@aol.com