On 10 February 1895, John Paul Black was born in Kingston-Upon-Thames, England. Following service with the Royal Tank Regiment in The Great War, he joined the Hillman Motor Car Company as a sales manager, followed bhy a 1919 promotion to director. He left Hillman in July 1929 and in September, took a position as Joint Managing Director at Standard Motor Company.

And, at the end of World War II, Black – who was knighted in 1943 – put together Standard’s acquisition of the ruined Triumph company, thus saving the Triumph name. He subsequently led the charge which resulted in the production of the Triumph 1800 and 2000, followed by the TR2. Forced into retirement in 1954 (officially for health reasons), Sir John eventually took up farming. He passed in Cheadle, Cheshire, on 24 December 1965 at age 70.

In honor of the man who saved Triumph and put it in the position to successfully produce sports cars and saloons for an additional 35 years, today was the annual Sir John Black Birthday Drive. Obviously, we lucked out here in St Louis: clear and temperature pushing 70; I managed to get the HSD out for a few minutes without dumping any fluid (trust me, the radiator will get swapped out) and generally had a high old time.

Others around the country (world?) are sending their photos in of their drives (or, photos of their Triumphs buried in snow) for publication in a future issue of The Vintage Triumph.

Now, I wonder if anyone else in SLTOA managed to get their TRs out for an excursion today…