You have to admire someone who's willing to do something with classic cars to help others. And if it means a coast-to-coast drive on an unfamiliar continent, so much the better... better still if it can be fun for the participants. And that's exactly what Britain's John Macartney has in mind as he lays plans for the Triumph Trans-America Charity Drive 2009, intended to raise $100,000 for each of three charities in the U.S., Britain and Canada. Interestingly the cars are not the Triumphs you might expect. Instead of the familiar TR sports cars the two participating cars are a left-hand-drive Triumph Stag and a right-hand-drive Triumph 2500 sedan. They'll be departing from the East Coast in mid-July, 2009, finishing up at Triumphfest in California, with stops at Triumph clubs along the way, including diversions into Canada. Various activities to raise funds will happen at the stopovers, including an opportunity to drive one of the cars in return for a donation.The beneficiaries of the run would be three organizations that specialize in treating people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or ptsd. Visit the Triumph Trans-America site site for more information, and check regularly to see when the run is in your area.

[Photo: TriumphSpitfire.com]