Clerk’s notes – May 2025

I was lucky enough to be in the beautiful city of Salzburg over the Bank Holiday weekend. Whilst there, as ever, Coachmaker thoughts were not far from my mind and having absorbed – in more ways than one – the delights of our ‘quirky’ European weather: warm sun, light rain, mild wind, less sun and cold, more rain and lots of wind I thought how could I link my trip (more on this in a moment) to a theme that would interest Coachmakers?

Before I begin to explore this though, I think it would be relevant to explain why I was in Salzburg. During my time in Army Music, I struck up many relationships with various musical organisations across the globe. One of these, much later in my career, was Iowa State University and its Faculty of Music.

Iowa State is known worldwide for its excellence in science and technology, discovery and innovation; and its student-centered culture with faculty and staff who are dedicated to student success. Integrated in this deep-seeded focus, Iowa State’s research enterprise includes nearly 100 centres and institutes, world-class facilities, and award-winning researchers and scholars including in the field of music performance and development. I am sure you will agree these are great principles to govern an educational establishment.

So it came to pass that the ISU Wind Ensemble headed to Europe on a short tour last week and after having the fortune to perform with them last year, I was invited to conduct one of my own compositions – Never Shall Memory Fade (featured in last month’s Coachlines article) – at a concert in Salzburg Cathedral.

To be invited to perform in one of the most prestigious and musically important venues in the world (Mozart having been born in Salzburg, been baptised in the cathedral and spent his formative years playing there as a court musician), this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I could not miss.

Fast forward to last weekend, the performance was simply stunning; everything I had imagined it to be and then some. If you want to hear more about this, I will wax-lyrical on request to anyone who wants to listen!

However, that is not the essence of my report this month but it is connected. Whilst spending time with the staff and students of ISU I met Dr Donald Simonson, Morrill Professor of Voice – Music and Theatre, Emeritus, and what a character and genuinely lovely human being he is. Don, a renowned and respected tenor in the US, has a keen interest in classic cars and indeed has owned some very special, and very British, models.

When he mentioned this there was an immediate connection as we discussed what The Coachmakers does and what my role in the company is. It was a fascinating conversation that led me into his world of motoring. We started with an Austin-Healey 3000, a British sports car built from 1959 until 1967 and the best known of the models. The car’s bodywork was made by Jensen Motors and the vehicles were assembled at BMC’s MG works in Abingdon, alongside the corporation’s MG models.

During its production life, the car changed from an open sports car, albeit with a child-transporting 2+2 option, to a sports convertible. In 1963, 91.5 per cent of all Austin-Healey 3000 cars were exported; mostly to North America. The 3-litre 3000 was a highly successful car, which won its class in many European rallies in its heyday and is still raced in classic car competitions by enthusiasts today.

British Motor Corporation ended manufacture in 1967, filling its place with a car with a new, though similar, engine in a newer monocoque chassis; the MGB variant named the MGC.

Next came a 1965 MGB, a two-door sports car manufactured and marketed from 1962 until 1980 by the British Motor Corporation (BMC), later the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland, as a four-cylinder, soft-top sports car sold under the MG marque, announced in September 1962. Variants include the MGB GT three-door 2+2 coupé (1965–1980), the six-cylinder sports car and coupé MGC (1967–1969), and the eight-cylinder 2+2 coupé, the MGB GT V8 (1973–1976).

Replacing the MGA in 1962, production of the MGB and its variants continued until 1980, though fixed roof GT models ceased export to the US in 1974. Sales for the MGB, MGC and MGB GT V8 combined totalled 523,836 cars. After a 12-year hiatus, the MGB re-entered production as the heavily modified MG RV8 with a limited run of 2,000 cars before its final replacement in 1995 by the MG F.

Don has also owned a 1975 Triumph TR7 and 1975 TR6, both manufactured in the UK. The TR7 was built from September 1974 to October 1981 by British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC), which changed its name to British Leyland (BL) in 1975. The car was launched in the US in January 1975, with its UK home market debut in May 1976. The UK launch was delayed at least twice because of high demand for the vehicle in the US, with final sales of new TR7s continuing into 1982. It was initially produced at the Speke, Liverpool, factory, moving to Canley, Coventry, in 1978 and then finally to the Rover Solihull plant.

The Triumph TR6 was officially introduced in January as a 1969 model year vehicle, and the last TR6 was produced on 20th July 1976 – Don’s was one of the last ones to be made. Of the 91,850 TR6s produced, 83,480 were exported, almost all of them to the US – hence how Don came upon such a talisman of British engineering – while only 8,370 were sold in the UK.

It just goes to prove it’s a small world and the most unlikely of circumstances can still bring so many people together, forge new relationships and explore common ground.

I hope you have enjoyed this article, if not then just think it could have been worse as I had intended to write about the cars featured in The Sound of Music, including the 1939 BMW Sport Kabriolett, the 1948 Citroen11 BL and a 1938 Horch 853 A Sport Cabriolet! Perhaps I will surprise you with this topic in a later edition – beware!

Source: Wikipedia

Dr Simonson with his 1975 Triumph TR6