1980 Triumph TR7 convertible. Photos by David LaChance.
This week’s piece on the Triumph TR7 drew a surprising amount of commentary from readers. As expected, the penultimate Triumph had its detractors, but it also had a surprisingly large number of fans, too.
Was the car as bad as critics, some who purchased previously owned examples with dubious maintenance histories, made it out to be? Was it as good as champions of the model, many of whom still drive TR7s or TR8s, described? Read on and form your own opinion of the wedge-shaped sports car from across the pond.
Gabriel S:
Had an early model TR-7 that had under 50k on the clock when purchased. For a German car it’s basically breaking the car in but for this one it felt it was on its last legs. Got it for a bargain price with the intent on refurbishing. Any thoughts of a bargain quickly faded as the repairs mounted up. The build quality was questionable to, evident in all the noises the bodywork made. I attempted to align the rear trunk in vain but gave up after seeing other TR-7′s with the same issue, an apparent manufacturing flaw. The car did handle well but unfortunately the power plant wasn’t up to the challenge. Eventually it was traded in for a BMW 320i, a solid and reliable vehicle with build quality the complete opposite of the TR-7. It was a learning experience that helped hone my chops on vehicle repair from then on. My vow was never again a British car…or Italian for that matter, stick to German or Japanese.
Hanno Jaan Niidas:
I have a 1981 TR7 cabriolet with the 16v Sprint engine, rear disc brakes and LSD. My girl friend and I just completed a 1,300km trip from Manchester to our home in centre-east France without serious trouble. The only problem we experienced was a fitting to the oïl cooler became loose. The TR7 suffered from the malaise that affected the British auto industry of the time; limited budgets, unfortunate engineering compromises, labour strife and poor management. It’s as if everybody collaborated to fail! As for the design, there are other cars with a similar profile that history has been much kinder to; the Fiat X1/9 and the Lancia Stratos, for example.
Patrick Curran:
It was a daring departure from the classic British roadster but over time, the classic roadsters have aged better than the wedge. It simply looks dated and cannot be considered a timeless design.
Unfortunately, any link to British Leyland, and in particular, the Speke factory, spelled doom from the get go.
Spitfire74:
My wife has a 1980 TR7, Its not a bad little car and is very reliable as British cars go, It is not as striking as my 1974 Triumph Spitfire or even my C-3, But you have to understand from what time period it came from, The Wedge was very science fictioney or futuristic, Star Wars and other movies showed the future was the wedge shape, The TR7 lacks lots of power but is small a nimble enough for fun back country drive, They seem to be a love it or hate it type classic, As for 50 worst cars, Its Time magazine.
Doug:
I owned a ’79 TR7 from 1980 to 1983 and had some fun with the car but it was very much like owning a boat. The best days are the day you bought it and the day you sell it.
McMac:
I was in college and was surprised to come home to find my mother had purchased a TR7 to commute 30 miles each way to work. Her Pontiac Catalina was just drinking-up her paycheck.
I remember the local mechanic’s repeated frustration; “aluminum head on a cast iron block.”..i.e. lots a blown head gaskets. Naturally, when the TR was available I would drive it, but never punished it, but it just wasn’t made to commute – especially in New England winters.
She traded it in for an ’88 Cutlass Supreme Brougham when her local import mechanic said, :We can’t shave this head anymore.
Today’s gaskets may have helped its cause.
I loved driving it and despite the issues with the electrical system, I have fond memories of the lil’ car.
David:
I swapped a 64 MGB for a 76 TR7. Stripped the paint and gave it a beautiful red paint job. Looked great, but then a head gasket blew. New head! Then it would leave me stranded on hot days – finally found the ballast resistor….then the fan flew into the radiator! Just how does THAT happen? It wasn’t bolted on, it used a pressed fit sleeve! Finally got the AC working that is until the bell housing fell off doing 40 mph due to the crank bolt working free. With some locktite, I “glued” it back in and traded it in on an Olds Calais. Got $3500, I’m sure based on how good it looked.
Wayne Simpson:
I owned a TR8 for 25 years from new until it was rear ended and totaled. Great car, but hard to work on. Later Canley and Solihull built cars were much better in terms of build quality than the Speke built cars. I now own a TR7 convertible which I love just as much, though for slightly different reasons. It’s proven itself to be a comfortable, reliable (yes, I said that) and easy to own classic. I regularly take it on 1500 mile weekends to shows and on rallies.
Jeff:
I worked for a Triumph dealer at the time. The built quality was horrible. Cars would come off the delivery truck with missing main caps and two different color bucket seats. All the British cars were electrical nightmares and replacement parts prices were double the domestic vehicles, if you could get the parts. We alwasy had one or two new vehicles in the back that were stripped out for warranty parts.
Bruce Fahnestock:
I loved to trash the TR7 and TR8. It was so easy. I was a purest. Just old school for me. Until I unexpectedly sold my three year newly restored e-type. I took the plunge and bought a $4100 TR7. I sorted out a few things in the FI and suspension. The wow. This is a cool car. I drove it 700 miles to Amelia Island last weekend. It was comfortable and reliable and got lots of comments. Most of which were put downs.. Then I would ask “have you ever driven one” No was the answer of the day. Hey don’t trash what you do not know. This car us so much fun to drive that I bought a TR8 for $10,000. So for less then the paint job on the e-type my garage is full of fun. These cars handle and run all day at super slab speeds and are easy to fix. Try it you might just like it.
Kurt Zimmerman:
I worked in a triumph dealership when the tr7 was introduced. It was a breath of fresh air for sales. A brown tr6 sat on the showroom floor unsold for many months. I remember a line of ultra-low mileage tr7′s sitting behind the building waiting for unavailable head gaskets-with a corresponding number of unhappy customers. People tend to forget these things 40 years later.
Brian Lanoway:
i have both a 1973 TR6 and a 1980 TR8. I’ve owned the TR6 for 20 years and the TR8 for 3. I’ve used both for long trips. When I go to my garage to drive one of my TR’s, I always seem to pick the TR8. It is a vastly superior sports car in every way.
The live axle set up in the TR8 is a much better system than the crude IRS in the TR6. That sound of that 3.5L aluminum V8 is intoxicating. Even the naysayers who drive my ’8′ always leave with a huge grin.
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