Triumph sports cars forged a legendary reputation in the early 12 Hours of Sebring and the Daytona Continental races. In the mid-1950s, rugged TR2s frequently won their class and achieved high overall finishes against larger, more powerful competitors, cementing the marque’s reputation in the crucial American market.
By 1963, Standard Triumph’s US Competition Manager, Kas Kastner, elevated this presence by preparing three stock TR4s for the 12 Hours of Sebring. They finished first, second, and fourth in the 2.5 GT class. Kastner backed this success by supporting privateers with factory sponsorship and a dedicated catalog of specialized racing parts. Joe Hines Jr. was one of the competitive independent owners who capitalized on this factory-backed dealer network.
Operating out of Augusta, Georgia, Hines prepared his TR4 (VIN CT3500L) for the grueling 1967 endurance season. Because most private entry teams ran without sponsorship, Hines funded the operation by selling seat time to notable regional drivers eager to compete in major endurance races. That year, the TR4 tackled the Daytona 24 Hours as #45 and the Sebring 12 Hours as #27, driven by Hines alongside his team of drivers: Wilbur Pickett, C.C. Canada, Whit Tharin, and T.J. Kelly. Hines also campaigned the car in regional SCCA events as #67, qualifying for the prestigious American Road Race of Champions (the “Run-Offs”) at Daytona, where he finished an impressive 9th in D-Production.
In 1969, Robert Johnson took over the wheel, completing his SCCA driver school at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) while still carrying the #67 designation. The TR4 remained in the Washington, D.C. area until the early 1980s, when Ott Jenson purchased the car and moved it to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Securing oil company sponsorship through his father’s corporate position, Jenson liveried the car in iconic Gulf Oil colors. Later that decade, Kodak engineer Dennis Shea bought the vehicle, meticulously restoring it to its 1967 endurance specification. Shea campaigned the TR4 in Northeast vintage racing until his untimely passing in the mid-2000s. The historic racer sat neglected for several years until I purchased it from Shea’s widow. Though she was unaware of its pedigree, it didn’t take long to trace the vehicle’s lineage back to Joe Hines Jr.
Shortly after uncovering its history, I tracked down Hines and spoke with him by phone. He generously mailed me original photographs and documentation. I promised to bring the car east so he could see it on the track once more, but sadly, he passed away before we could reunite. During our talk, Hines revealed that the TR4 had been a pure race car from day one, purchased from its original owner, a dentist in Jacksonville, Florida—a fascinating chapter of the car’s early life I am still trying to document.
Another compelling mystery remains: official records show a Triumph TR4 wearing #67 competed in the inaugural IMSA GT race—the 1971 Danville 300 at VIR. Driven by Derek Sims and Howard Smith, it finished 19th overall. While photographic proof has proven elusive, the matching car number, model, and geographic timeline strongly suggest this very chassis competed in that historic, first-ever IMSA event. Smith returned to race a TR4 there the following year in the Danville 250.
My own chapter with the car began as a family affair. I originally bought it so my son, then a student at Texas A&M, could race alongside me at Texas World Speedway.
We later campaigned it at several Kastner Cup events, forging lifelong father-son memories on the track. After he graduated, I sold my TR4A to focus entirely on racing #67. Over the years, I have sorted out numerous mechanical challenges left behind by previous eras. I like to joke that Kodak engineering doesn’t translate well to a race car. Today, sixty years after it first turned a wheel in anger, the car is faster than ever when everything comes together, standing as a living reminder that the cars of Standard Triumph once ruled the sports car world.
Submitted by Bob Kramer
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