Utterly baffles me how the TR7 gets so much derision - I absolutely adored this car growing up as a kid in the 70's.... it looked like a spaceship to me! I still think it looks fantastic - especially when you consider what other dross was being pumped out of production lines back in the 70's.
Most probably it's been slagged off on Top Gear at some point where a huge number of gullible viewers lap up the opinions as fact despite having never driven or owned said car in question. Several perfectly decent cars have suffered this historical revisionism fate.
I'm a 62 year old American and remember the TR7 when it came to the U.S. I was a teen car guy, and had started repairing cars when I was 13 years old. The TR7 was a breath of fresh air to me. The styling was first rate, and especially compared to the boxy ugly American iron of the day. I remember wishing that Chevrolet or Pontiac had ventured into designing a small light weight sports coupe, at the same time. I never owned one or worked on one even though I'd made my trade repairing cars. I do remember the terrible Lucas electrical systems of the MG car line, and had repaired one or two in the day. I actually think that TR7 sales could have been a lot better in the states, if not for the terrible reliability reputation that British Leland cars had gotten for themselves. Even by today's standards, if Triumph were producing a mechanically modern version of the same body design, I'd consider buying one. The sleek wedge shape of the TR7 /TR8 was only rivaled by the Corvette Stingray, and that was in a whole other class of car, that I couldn't have afforded in those days. It's still a sweet looking little coupe, and I think Triumph deserves praise for it. BTW, I never realized that the aluminum Buick v8 was the TR8's prime mover.
I bought my TR7 in 1981. Still have it. Fun car on country roads. It's a car that folks either love or hate. I have great memories with my TR7. Thanks for the nice video.
What can I expect for maintence on these cars? Does it need constant repairs and replacement parts? Im thinking of buying one but I dont want to have to have it in the shop after each use. Id just be using it to go a couple miles (10 max) a couple times a week maybe longer on occassion. THANKS
The TR7 drop head is one of my all time favourite British cars. Pity it didn’t get the Dolly Sprint engine, but the V8 fitted to the short lived TR8 made up for it. I know that the styling is Marmite - but I’ve always loved it. The interior especially was one of BL’s finest. Pity that Triumph ended up as a badge-engineered Honda……….the brand in my opinion could have made a superb BMW rival.
There was a small number of TR7 Sprints made, estimates are that 61 or 62 in two batches. There are arguments as to why no more were made. It's a rare, sought-after model variant. It may have been made as a homolgation special to allow the Sprint-engined cars to enter rallying.
bought a TR8 in 1980 and loved it. fast and glued to the road and i had a six speed gearbox. what a joy to drive. sold it when the wife got pregnant. miss it everyday. would buy another but there are no spare parts.
I bought mine in 1986 and converted it to an uprated TR8 specification 5 years later. It kept up with the TVR’s of the day at a fraction of the price. More smiles per mile than anything else. And I still have it with the burbling V8…
They should have launched the TR8 earlier. There is almost no weight difference between the steel 4-Cyl. and the alloy V8, so it has still his nice driving skills with much more power. Bought a Coupe with a 2.0 16V and instantly swaped it to the 3.5L V8, it is just the perfect engine for this car.
@@dobenfi4743 Over the years there’s been several forum contributions about the Rover V8 being substantially heavier than the Dolly engine resulting in understeer…. I converted mine to TR8 spec using S and S components and never experienced this. The published engine weights are fairly close, aluminium block vs iron block but there’s so much around that conflicts since they don’t state if they’re with or without ancillaries and flywheels etc.
I had a blue TR7 Hardtop. It was my daily driver and commuter car. I bought it for $700 with a blown head gasket. As it turns out this was the first of many. The aluminum head cross bolted to an iron block was just stupid design. I could almost put a head gasket on in the dark I had done it so often. The transmission blew up twice which is unforgivable for a standard box with so little power going through it. I used to leave work and do a walk around the car checking for leaks of one kind or another. I was in the local British Leland parts place and I was talking to the guy behind the counter. I told him that I didn't know what to do with the car, sell it or rebuild it? He asked how my miles did it have and I said 85,000. "That's impossible" he said. He pushed a door open to show me a fenced in paddock behind the shop. There were half a dozen TR7s sitting in the weeds. He said "not one of those has over 30,000 miles on them and they are all dead.
As a youngster I went to a car dealership in Chiswick or Twickenham and looked at a TR7 close up when it had just been launched,it really looked futuristic and that yellow orange colour was great,looking back it was a brave new design as were the Fiat X19 and Lancia Stratos,I recently found a newspaper clipping of a TR7 and still have a Scalextric model of one along with a Corgi one, the plastic Monogram model I had has long since gone it was the same yellow as the one I saw at the dealership,theres even one on the Forza Horizon 4 game and I coloured it in that yellowish colour I loved from the 70s,I never did get a TR7 or ride in one but if I had my time again I'd have one,thank you for a great upload,wishing yourself,family,friends health happiness and happy motoring.
I have always loved the TR7, having had a coupe and a drop top when younger. I now have a genuine TR8, and although it isn't running right, and drinks fuel like I do beer, I love it. The last TR, the last car designed by Triumph, and the most modern Triumph ever built. The TR8 was the last mainstream V8 British sports car.
I feel that the TR7 has aged very gracefully. The bumpers are an unfortunate remnant of the era, but were nicely incorporated into the overall design (much better than the rubber bumper MGB's of this period for example). Kudos to you for going top-down! It's always the best way to go whenever weather permits and why I loathe seeing hardtops mounted on roadsters at any time other than in the winter. The TR7 was released here in the States a few years before I received my drivers license. I can recall the design of this car making a positive impression on me at the time. However, I can also remember being disappointed that the TR7 was only offered as a hardtop at first as I really had a thing for roadsters, and British roadsters in particular. While I was happy that Triumph finally introduced a roadster version of the car, the reality was that as a first-time car buyer in the late 70's with a very modest budget, any decent TR7 was well beyond my reach. I wound up with a '72 Spitfire MK IV that I bought in 1979. While then as now I find the MK IV Spitfire to be the better looking car, I love the fact that Triumph had the balls to release the TR7. In hindsight I appreciate the TR7's uniqueness even more now than I did when these cars were new.
Bought a new 1976 TR7 convertible. God I loved that car. Total chic magnet. Drove like a dream. Put 90,000 miles on it . Completely fell apart and had to sell it for pennies on the dollar. Had tears in my eyes when it was towed away. I am now driving a Porsche 987 and having a blast.
It actually looks great in gold. My uncle had a new mint green metallic TR8 convertible. Cool looking car that my German car loving father gave him a lot of grief about.
Previous TR(6) fan here: I actually agree with you. At the time, I hated it as it wasn't 'proper' but it had potential - shame they didn't carry on with it. I was wrong!
What ultimately killed off the TR8 was the very high pound to dollar exchange rate as Sterling became a petro currency as a result of North sea oil. The price of the US TR7/8 went through the roof making it completely uncompetitive. British Leyland were very unlucky these were circumstances completely beyond their control.
Harris Mann and Spen King did a great job on this car. Despite Mann's original sketch being something of a cartoon, management liked it. With the roof off, you could see where the design was going, instead of that awkward turret design. King managed to get the 5 speed and rear diff in from the big Rover's, changing its behaviour significantly from the Marina's notchy 4 speed. With the V8, you effectively had SD1 running gear, from front to back, in a light(er) weight, two seater sports car. What wasn't there to like about that? Well; rust, electrics, reliability, quality control - usual BL traits. It wasn't the car's fault...
I owned one for a number of years, 1990-97 IIRC. It was a lot better made, and more reliable than I expected (mine was an X-reg, like the one in the video). The steering was a little too low-geared and too light for my tastes, but it did its job. It was comfortable, the hood was easy to put up - and didn't leak! It was a good long-distance cruiser. Even the pop-up headlights never let me down! Yes it could have used a bit more power, but I think the Dolly Sprint would have made it a better car than the Rover V8. The rustproofing could have been better, and by the time I sold it, it had had a full re-spray! The biggest problem was the brakes! Don't get me wrong, they stopped the car just fine. The problem was that the front discs weren't really big enough. I'm normally very light on brake pads, but I couldn't make the front pads on on the TR last the 6000 mile service intervals. By around 5000 miles, they were worn out! I seemed to be forever changing front pads on it! Its a shame the build quality of the early models got it such a bad reputation . It really was a nice, reliable little fun car. The one I had is still on the road today!
re. the original brakes you are right, they were abysmal, eating brake pads, and there was frightening overheating and fading ... I fitted an upgrade brake kit (Ford Escort calipers with vented Capri 3.0 discs) and I am very happy with my TR7 now
@@Thomas_2705 Did that manage to keep the original wheels? I looked into brake upgrades, but they all seemed to require a wheel change, and i didn't want to have to carry two spares! (this is before the era of aerosol sealant! ;) )
@@Thomas_2705 I did the same. Ford Capri 2.8i discs and callipers with S&S hub adaptors inside std steel wheels with 4mm spacers. No spacers required with std alloy wheels but many have changed to 14 or 15” alloy wheels as the choice of 13” tyres is limited now.
I had a yellow coupe in the early 80’s, green tartan interior, I even fitted a graphic equaliser (remember them?) in to the centre console. I absolutely loved the car. I seem to remember a story that BL killed off the MGB to keep the TR7 alive, maybe an urban myth but….. ……will never forget my TR7 overheating once on the M62, as I sat there on the hard shoulder, bonnet up, steam bellowing out, an MGB went passed slowly, as if it was going to come to my aid, instead the driver beeped his horn, shouted ‘wanker’ and sped off!! 😂
I had a hard top in blue, then this model with this colour. I loved it. It was so fun and looked great in a soft top. The pop up lights made it an 80s ‘bird puller’ 🤣🤣
I owned a '74 TR6 and an 80 TR7. Both were unreliable, but the 7 was basically unusable. Things that would last a million miles on a typical American car would fail regularly on this. Things like the door handles, where the entire assembly would become disconnected from the door and come off in your hand as you pulled it. Or the drive shaft, which became rusted and snapped. The engine was feeble and sounded like garbage, the AC never worked, the engine overheated and caused the head gasket to fail. The interior was made of the absolute cheapest materials. I thought it was a gorgeous design, but I unloaded it in 1995. As much as I tried to love it, owning the 7 was an abusive relationship. It was always a problem and I never enjoyed driving it. I was never so glad to get rid of a car. I bought both TR's in the late 80s, and kept the gorgeous little TR6 until 2019.
Great video sir, yes I can’t understand why people didn’t really go for the TR7, considering it was made in the later 70’s it’s a good looking car. But from your comments and the fact that BL axed the last TR before the TR8 could go on sale in the uk tells us that BL weren’t all that interested in their British customers.
FYI the T-bar in the Stag wasn't added primarily because of US regs, it was added because after cutting off the roof of a 2000 saloon and shortening it to make the Stag, the body had all the rigidity of a recently-dunked Rich Tea biscuit and something had to be done to address that.
I had a TR7 a few years ago. Loved it. Engine is fine for europe, but abysmal by american standards, traffic is faster over here, more aggressive, and the American consumer was used to a bit more oomphf
My dad had a TR7 coupe in period and said he really wanted one but looking back he always says that it's like driving a skateboard. In fact the 7 gets a lot of bad press so earlier this year I went and reviewed one at the Great British Car Journey. It ended up being my favourite car of the day. It drove really well and that cabin must have felt futuristic back in the day with that deep dash. Though the V8 was a must for America I think the car that would have cemented its place in history here in the UK would have been the sprint. I think the driving dynamics may have even detracted from the divisive styling.
My Coupe had a 2.0L 16V Sprint engine an I swapped it for a 3.5L V8, this is the engine this car needs. So much more fun/power. Perhaps it would get more love if they started production with the V8 instead of the 2.0L 8V.
I've had a few 7's over the years. I even went for a Grinnal V8 in the late 80's, toured France in it. Only let down was the quality of some of the welding Grinnal had done, it rotted inside out. I have a W reg TR7 atm I've owned from 2007. It was 'Zeebarted' from new which has saved 90% of the car, never been welded. It needs a respray tbh. Driving the car now you do realise how poor the braking is, you have to use the gears to slow down, but the turning circle on it is amazing! compared to modern cars. Always been a fan, was never into Fords from the era, much is the pity due to seeing how much they are now going for!!
Back in the Good Old 80's I brought a TR7 mainly because of it's looks something different but its funny how the Fiat X1/9 and the Toyota MR2 (mk1) had similar (Well to me) looks too. I found the car to be reliable as long as you didn't thrash it (My mate had his for 10 year's never broke down once!) Sadly the gear box gave in on mine (4-Speed I had useless) but apart from that it really was great fun to drive. The other thing appealing with the TR7 back then was you could afford to buy one, even Today you still can! You look at the price of a TR6 or 5, I couldn't afford one back then as for Today No-chance. The reason why I ended up selling mine was because it started to rot and was unable to get any body panels, when I win the Lottery it's on my list of car's to buy again!
Its quite sad that the last car sold in the Uk under a triumph badge was the Acclaim.Hardly sporty and essentially a Honda running gear machine.They rotted at the sight of a puddle as much as a Mini.My dad could not believe it when it came to market wearing that famous badge.
3:30 Giugiaro "My god, they have done the same thing on this side as well" Years later there were plans to delete the curved swage line along the sides, but it never happened. Look for the Lynx 2+2 variant to see what it would have looked like
I was working at BL Cars at the time. Had 2 TR7s. 1st one was Canley built fixed head. Not great quality. Vermilion red paintwork bad, and leaks from the coolant hoses the dealer never really fixed. Traded that in for a Solihull built drop head, in a darker red. Mine had the proper ceramic badge on the bonnet instead of the large "Triumph" transfer . Broke down in the dark on the Oxford bypass when an LT lead in the distributor shorted out. Then the synchro on 3rd gear started wearing our after 30K miles. I'd left B by then, so traded it for an Escort XR3i. It desperately needed a more powerful engine.
It actually was fairly heavy for it's size. My recollection = over 2000 lbs. while a Civic of that era was under 2K maybe 1700lbs. It was quite a solid car. Plenty of metal.
@@burtreynolds3143 My Austin A35 is only about 1500 lbs. Its light weight and skinny tyres make it easy to push to the side of the road, during the rush hour at nightfall and at a busy roundabout. Been there, suffered that.
The biggest mistake I ever made was trading in a delightful and somewhat fettled Spitfire on a 1980 TR7 convertible. Wonderful to drive at first but rusted out very quickly and the electrics were abominable.
I always thought the styling to be ok. However I'm surprised they didn't still try and stick that troublesome Triumph V8 into it, just for good measure!
Could never understand why the dolomite 1850 cc 8 valve engine was bored out to 2000cc and used in the tr7.This engine was dull and not very flexible,it produced105 bhp. They could have just put the dolomite sprint 2000 cc 16 valve engine in which produced 127 bhp, i think these engines were then supplied to saab who fitted a turbo to them to increase power further in their 900 series.
There was a small number of TR7 cars made with the Sprint engine, probably 61. After a few years, SAAB manufactured the engine themselves, and altered a number of detail features - such as eliminating the angled cylinder head studs. These engines were tougher than the Triumph-made ones
Because as the reviewer in the video said, the American market didn't want complexity. They wanted a straightforward four-pot, two litre that could be worked on by any dealership service department. They didn't want sixteen valves. They didn't want independent rear suspension so were never enamoured with the TR4A, TR5 and TR6. They didn't want fuel injection, or at least not the fussy Lucas system used in the European TR5 and TR6. In effect they just wanted another TR4, which is the package that BL gave them, albeit styled for the era.
My Coupe was swapped to a 2L 16V and I instantly swapped it to the 3.5L V8. That's the engine the car really needs, same handling but much more fun/power.
@@SOTM73 I owned a TR7 for a good few years and have owned and still do a couple of MX5’s. The TR7 was a great looking thing and gave that space age feel in an era of bland cars, sadly it ends there, reliability and performance were pretty grim in my experience. The MX5 is so superior in every way it’s absolutely streets ahead of the TR7, even comparing the early NA MX5 to the later, better TR7’s. The MX5, as so often quoted, is the sports car the British car industry was incapable of building, that is an absolute travesty but it’s true.
@@markl5681 I cannot argue with that, except to say that the UK was capable of building quality cars, but chose not to. Workers here, particularly in the 1970's thought the world owed them a living, shame. But comparing which car is superior, is like comparing wives. Its the imperfections that make them special, and love is blind.
@@SOTM73 you’re absolutely right, I left school and took up an apprenticeship as a toolmaker, time served in the early 80’s, the skills on that shop floor were incredible, yet we all went home in unreliable British cars after work, just didn’t make sense. And I agree wholeheartedly, it’s all about character, I have a few collectible Italian and Japanese motorcycles, but the one everyone admires most is the 1960 Triumph Tiger Cub, the only one may I say that has the need for a drip tray.
Yes it is. I had an ‘80 TR7 as a daily that I bought new. Drove it everywhere, including long trips for 4 years no issues. I own a 1982 TR8, which is one of the 69 cars bound for Canada. It was manufactured at Solihull and dispatched on Oct. 20, 1981. VIN ending in 408405 and is the last Triumph sports car to be manufactured by date. It is the very last of the great line of TR cars, pushed out of the factory by a skeleton crew two weeks after it shut down.
Utterly baffles me how the TR7 gets so much derision - I absolutely adored this car growing up as a kid in the 70's.... it looked like a spaceship to me! I still think it looks fantastic - especially when you consider what other dross was being pumped out of production lines back in the 70's.
Most probably it's been slagged off on Top Gear at some point where a huge number of gullible viewers lap up the opinions as fact despite having never driven or owned said car in question. Several perfectly decent cars have suffered this historical revisionism fate.
It got tarred with the stinky BL brush. I always thought the convertible was a nice 80s wedge of a car.
Those Morris Ital wheel trims on some models really set it apart
Big black bumper period for a lot of cars back then. They don't age as well as classics. I loved all the TRs up to the 7
Me too - absolutely loved it
I'm a 62 year old American and remember the TR7 when it came to the U.S. I was a teen car guy, and had started repairing cars when I was 13 years old. The TR7 was a breath of fresh air to me. The styling was first rate, and especially compared to the boxy ugly American iron of the day. I remember wishing that Chevrolet or Pontiac had ventured into designing a small light weight sports coupe, at the same time. I never owned one or worked on one even though I'd made my trade repairing cars. I do remember the terrible Lucas electrical systems of the MG car line, and had repaired one or two in the day. I actually think that TR7 sales could have been a lot better in the states, if not for the terrible reliability reputation that British Leland cars had gotten for themselves. Even by today's standards, if Triumph were producing a mechanically modern version of the same body design, I'd consider buying one. The sleek wedge shape of the TR7 /TR8 was only rivaled by the Corvette Stingray, and that was in a whole other class of car, that I couldn't have afforded in those days.
It's still a sweet looking little coupe, and I think Triumph deserves praise for it. BTW, I never realized that the aluminum Buick v8 was the TR8's prime mover.
I bought my TR7 in 1981. Still have it.
Fun car on country roads.
It's a car that folks either love or hate. I have great memories with my TR7.
Thanks for the nice video.
What can I expect for maintence on these cars? Does it need constant repairs and replacement parts? Im thinking of buying one but I dont want to have to have it in the shop after each use. Id just be using it to go a couple miles (10 max) a couple times a week maybe longer on occassion. THANKS
The TR7 drop head is one of my all time favourite British cars. Pity it didn’t get the Dolly Sprint engine, but the V8 fitted to the short lived TR8 made up for it. I know that the styling is Marmite - but I’ve always loved it. The interior especially was one of BL’s finest. Pity that Triumph ended up as a badge-engineered Honda……….the brand in my opinion could have made a superb BMW rival.
There was a small number of TR7 Sprints made, estimates are that 61 or 62 in two batches. There are arguments as to why no more were made. It's a rare, sought-after model variant. It may have been made as a homolgation special to allow the Sprint-engined cars to enter rallying.
bought a TR8 in 1980 and loved it. fast and glued to the road and i had a six speed gearbox. what a joy to drive. sold it when the wife got pregnant. miss it everyday. would buy another but there are no spare parts.
My Dad was an experimental driver for BL. He test drive the TR7, and the TR8.
That's fantastic!
I bought mine in 1986 and converted it to an uprated TR8 specification 5 years later. It kept up with the TVR’s of the day at a fraction of the price. More smiles per mile than anything else. And I still have it with the burbling V8…
They should have launched the TR8 earlier. There is almost no weight difference between the steel 4-Cyl. and the alloy V8, so it has still his nice driving skills with much more power. Bought a Coupe with a 2.0 16V and instantly swaped it to the 3.5L V8, it is just the perfect engine for this car.
@@dobenfi4743 Over the years there’s been several forum contributions about the Rover V8 being substantially heavier than the Dolly engine resulting in understeer…. I converted mine to TR8 spec using S and S components and never experienced this. The published engine weights are fairly close, aluminium block vs iron block but there’s so much around that conflicts since they don’t state if they’re with or without ancillaries and flywheels etc.
Sadly, my dad's TR8 was the last TR. I loved that 3.5 V8 and miss it.
I had a blue TR7 Hardtop. It was my daily driver and commuter car. I bought it for $700 with a blown head gasket. As it turns out this was the first of many. The aluminum head cross bolted to an iron block was just stupid design. I could almost put a head gasket on in the dark I had done it so often. The transmission blew up twice which is unforgivable for a standard box with so little power going through it. I used to leave work and do a walk around the car checking for leaks of one kind or another. I was in the local British Leland parts place and I was talking to the guy behind the counter. I told him that I didn't know what to do with the car, sell it or rebuild it? He asked how my miles did it have and I said 85,000. "That's impossible" he said. He pushed a door open to show me a fenced in paddock behind the shop. There were half a dozen TR7s sitting in the weeds. He said "not one of those has over 30,000 miles on them and they are all dead.
As a youngster I went to a car dealership in Chiswick or Twickenham and looked at a TR7 close up when it had just been launched,it really looked futuristic and that yellow orange colour was great,looking back it was a brave new design as were the Fiat X19 and Lancia Stratos,I recently found a newspaper clipping of a TR7 and still have a Scalextric model of one along with a Corgi one, the plastic Monogram model I had has long since gone it was the same yellow as the one I saw at the dealership,theres even one on the Forza Horizon 4 game and I coloured it in that yellowish colour I loved from the 70s,I never did get a TR7 or ride in one but if I had my time again I'd have one,thank you for a great upload,wishing yourself,family,friends health happiness and happy motoring.
I have always loved the TR7, having had a coupe and a drop top when younger. I now have a genuine TR8, and although it isn't running right, and drinks fuel like I do beer, I love it. The last TR, the last car designed by Triumph, and the most modern Triumph ever built. The TR8 was the last mainstream V8 British sports car.
I feel that the TR7 has aged very gracefully. The bumpers are an unfortunate remnant of the era, but were nicely incorporated into the overall design (much better than the rubber bumper MGB's of this period for example). Kudos to you for going top-down! It's always the best way to go whenever weather permits and why I loathe seeing hardtops mounted on roadsters at any time other than in the winter.
The TR7 was released here in the States a few years before I received my drivers license. I can recall the design of this car making a positive impression on me at the time. However, I can also remember being disappointed that the TR7 was only offered as a hardtop at first as I really had a thing for roadsters, and British roadsters in particular. While I was happy that Triumph finally introduced a roadster version of the car, the reality was that as a first-time car buyer in the late 70's with a very modest budget, any decent TR7 was well beyond my reach. I wound up with a '72 Spitfire MK IV that I bought in 1979. While then as now I find the MK IV Spitfire to be the better looking car, I love the fact that Triumph had the balls to release the TR7. In hindsight I appreciate the TR7's uniqueness even more now than I did when these cars were new.
Bought a new 1976 TR7 convertible. God I loved that car. Total chic magnet. Drove like a dream. Put 90,000 miles on it . Completely fell apart and had to sell it for pennies on the dollar. Had tears in my eyes when it was towed away.
I am now driving a Porsche 987 and having a blast.
Had hours/years of fun driving the convertible version
It actually looks great in gold. My uncle had a new mint green metallic TR8 convertible. Cool looking car that my German car loving father gave him a lot of grief about.
My dad just picked one up a week ago, for $4500. I love it!
Enjoy!
Good to see an honest appraisal of the car after decades of worthless drivel aimed at it by previous TR fans.
Previous TR(6) fan here: I actually agree with you. At the time, I hated it as it wasn't 'proper' but it had potential - shame they didn't carry on with it. I was wrong!
Most of them don't like the fact that it out sold every other TR model and in fact it sold more than the TR2 to the TR5 combined.
What ultimately killed off the TR8 was the very high pound to dollar exchange rate as Sterling became a petro currency as a result of North sea oil. The price of the US TR7/8 went through the roof making it completely uncompetitive. British Leyland were very unlucky these were circumstances completely beyond their control.
The convertible is a fantastic looking car
Harris Mann and Spen King did a great job on this car. Despite Mann's original sketch being something of a cartoon, management liked it. With the roof off, you could see where the design was going, instead of that awkward turret design. King managed to get the 5 speed and rear diff in from the big Rover's, changing its behaviour significantly from the Marina's notchy 4 speed. With the V8, you effectively had SD1 running gear, from front to back, in a light(er) weight, two seater sports car. What wasn't there to like about that? Well; rust, electrics, reliability, quality control - usual BL traits. It wasn't the car's fault...
I owned one for a number of years, 1990-97 IIRC. It was a lot better made, and more reliable than I expected (mine was an X-reg, like the one in the video). The steering was a little too low-geared and too light for my tastes, but it did its job. It was comfortable, the hood was easy to put up - and didn't leak! It was a good long-distance cruiser. Even the pop-up headlights never let me down! Yes it could have used a bit more power, but I think the Dolly Sprint would have made it a better car than the Rover V8. The rustproofing could have been better, and by the time I sold it, it had had a full re-spray! The biggest problem was the brakes! Don't get me wrong, they stopped the car just fine. The problem was that the front discs weren't really big enough. I'm normally very light on brake pads, but I couldn't make the front pads on on the TR last the 6000 mile service intervals. By around 5000 miles, they were worn out! I seemed to be forever changing front pads on it! Its a shame the build quality of the early models got it such a bad reputation . It really was a nice, reliable little fun car. The one I had is still on the road today!
re. the original brakes you are right, they were abysmal, eating brake pads, and there was frightening overheating and fading ... I fitted an upgrade brake kit (Ford Escort calipers with vented Capri 3.0 discs) and I am very happy with my TR7 now
@@Thomas_2705 Did that manage to keep the original wheels? I looked into brake upgrades, but they all seemed to require a wheel change, and i didn't want to have to carry two spares! (this is before the era of aerosol sealant! ;) )
Yes. It is a kit from 'S & S Preparations', also bought a new servo. Thin spacers are required when used with original 13 inch wheels
@@Thomas_2705 I did the same. Ford Capri 2.8i discs and callipers with S&S hub adaptors inside std steel wheels with 4mm spacers. No spacers required with std alloy wheels but many have changed to 14 or 15” alloy wheels as the choice of 13” tyres is limited now.
When I was about 8 years old I remember seeing the adverts for the TR7'S. I wanted one so badly, but couldn't drive till I turned 16!
I had a yellow coupe in the early 80’s, green tartan interior, I even fitted a graphic equaliser (remember them?) in to the centre console.
I absolutely loved the car.
I seem to remember a story that BL killed off the MGB to keep the TR7 alive, maybe an urban myth but…..
……will never forget my TR7 overheating once on the M62, as I sat there on the hard shoulder, bonnet up, steam bellowing out, an MGB went passed slowly, as if it was going to come to my aid, instead the driver beeped his horn, shouted ‘wanker’ and sped off!! 😂
I had a hard top in blue, then this model with this colour. I loved it. It was so fun and looked great in a soft top. The pop up lights made it an 80s ‘bird puller’ 🤣🤣
Still got the 1976 coupe I bought in 1978
Nice going.
I owned a '74 TR6 and an 80 TR7. Both were unreliable, but the 7 was basically unusable. Things that would last a million miles on a typical American car would fail regularly on this. Things like the door handles, where the entire assembly would become disconnected from the door and come off in your hand as you pulled it. Or the drive shaft, which became rusted and snapped. The engine was feeble and sounded like garbage, the AC never worked, the engine overheated and caused the head gasket to fail. The interior was made of the absolute cheapest materials. I thought it was a gorgeous design, but I unloaded it in 1995. As much as I tried to love it, owning the 7 was an abusive relationship. It was always a problem and I never enjoyed driving it. I was never so glad to get rid of a car. I bought both TR's in the late 80s, and kept the gorgeous little TR6 until 2019.
I. Love the tr7, remember when a company director bought one in 1980 W reg I was in love with it.
Not for nothing but the TR7 was NOT the last Triumph TR - That honor goes to the TR8.
True 🎉 ❤
The 3.5 liter engine totally transformed this car into the TR8 which has never gotten the respect and admiration it deserves - drive one - you'll see
The last was indeed the TR-8....Mine is one of the very last, built in August of 1981 and sold as a 1982 model. And it is easily faster than a TR-6
Great video sir, yes I can’t understand why people didn’t really go for the TR7, considering it was made in the later 70’s it’s a good looking car.
But from your comments and the fact that BL axed the last TR before the TR8 could go on sale in the uk tells us that BL weren’t all that interested in their British customers.
I had a Dinky rally one.And Tony Pond is still a rallying hero to me.I think it looks amazing even now,Just like the Acclaim they get some hate....
I think they are a beautiful car!
I loved my TR7 even after the two transmission blow ups.
Same happened to mine 😢
A few of my friends here in upstate New York drove their TR7s to school daily all year round!
That is until the salted, snow covered road consumed them…
FYI the T-bar in the Stag wasn't added primarily because of US regs, it was added because after cutting off the roof of a 2000 saloon and shortening it to make the Stag, the body had all the rigidity of a recently-dunked Rich Tea biscuit and something had to be done to address that.
Nice looking car, shame that BL shot itself in the foot again. See if you can drive the TR8. Well done.
Had mine for 15 years, threw the electronic ignition in the bin and fitted points, smooth sailing after that. Did 180000 km!
Nice one!
I had one of these great when it was going … Modern lubricants and coolants should help.Great drive ..
Mazda looked at the TR7 for inspiration as well as the Lotus Elan. Ideas were taken from both vehicles to create what we all love now as the MX5
I wanted one when I was in high school!
I had a TR7 a few years ago. Loved it. Engine is fine for europe, but abysmal by american standards, traffic is faster over here, more aggressive, and the American consumer was used to a bit more oomphf
I always liked the TR7 ...I'd love one now !
Start a wedge fund, Jason! 😉
My dad had a TR7 coupe in period and said he really wanted one but looking back he always says that it's like driving a skateboard. In fact the 7 gets a lot of bad press so earlier this year I went and reviewed one at the Great British Car Journey. It ended up being my favourite car of the day. It drove really well and that cabin must have felt futuristic back in the day with that deep dash.
Though the V8 was a must for America I think the car that would have cemented its place in history here in the UK would have been the sprint. I think the driving dynamics may have even detracted from the divisive styling.
My Coupe had a 2.0L 16V Sprint engine an I swapped it for a 3.5L V8, this is the engine this car needs. So much more fun/power. Perhaps it would get more love if they started production with the V8 instead of the 2.0L 8V.
@@dobenfi4743 Perhaps so. I suspect the V8 was always intended to join the range.
I think that the sprint would have been really good.
I've had a few 7's over the years. I even went for a Grinnal V8 in the late 80's, toured France in it. Only let down was the quality of some of the welding Grinnal had done, it rotted inside out. I have a W reg TR7 atm I've owned from 2007. It was 'Zeebarted' from new which has saved 90% of the car, never been welded. It needs a respray tbh. Driving the car now you do realise how poor the braking is, you have to use the gears to slow down, but the turning circle on it is amazing! compared to modern cars. Always been a fan, was never into Fords from the era, much is the pity due to seeing how much they are now going for!!
Given the wedge shape, I’m surprised the TR7 was not designed as a mid-engine model, like the Lotus Esprit and the Fiat X1/9.
Back in the Good Old 80's I brought a TR7 mainly because of it's looks something different but its funny how the Fiat X1/9 and the Toyota MR2 (mk1) had similar (Well to me) looks too. I found the car to be reliable as long as you didn't thrash it (My mate had his for 10 year's never broke down once!) Sadly the gear box gave in on mine (4-Speed I had useless) but apart from that it really was great fun to drive. The other thing appealing with the TR7 back then was you could afford to buy one, even Today you still can! You look at the price of a TR6 or 5, I couldn't afford one back then as for Today No-chance. The reason why I ended up selling mine was because it started to rot and was unable to get any body panels, when I win the Lottery it's on my list of car's to buy again!
Any car developer who takes this design ad makes it with modern parts will be on to a winner
Don't ignore the TR-8
Its quite sad that the last car sold in the Uk under a triumph badge was the Acclaim.Hardly sporty and essentially a Honda running gear machine.They rotted at the sight of a puddle as much as a Mini.My dad could not believe it when it came to market wearing that famous badge.
I had tr7 in 1983-84,i regret selling it as I left UK, I wish I would get one again preferably to accommodate 4,so my wife and children can join me
3:30 Giugiaro "My god, they have done the same thing on this side as well"
Years later there were plans to delete the curved swage line along the sides, but it never happened. Look for the Lynx 2+2 variant to see what it would have looked like
I was working at BL Cars at the time. Had 2 TR7s. 1st one was Canley built fixed head. Not great quality. Vermilion red paintwork bad, and leaks from the coolant hoses the dealer never really fixed. Traded that in for a Solihull built drop head, in a darker red. Mine had the proper ceramic badge on the bonnet instead of the large "Triumph" transfer . Broke down in the dark on the Oxford bypass when an LT lead in the distributor shorted out. Then the synchro on 3rd gear started wearing our after 30K miles. I'd left B by then, so traded it for an Escort XR3i. It desperately needed a more powerful engine.
A more powerful engine like the TR8?
I'd love to see more Super Seicento videos! And the bike two;)
The good news is that the TR7 wasn't particularly heavy.
Makes it easy to push.
It actually was fairly heavy for it's size.
My recollection = over 2000 lbs.
while a Civic of that era was under 2K maybe 1700lbs.
It was quite a solid car.
Plenty of metal.
@@burtreynolds3143 My Austin A35 is only about 1500 lbs.
Its light weight and skinny tyres make it easy to push to the side of the road, during the rush hour at nightfall and at a busy roundabout.
Been there, suffered that.
According to Triumph magazine, dealers in the US wanted more TR6s even after the TR7 launch they asked Canley to manufacture them alongside the TR7
Not very likely. The TR7, despite its build issues, still outsold the TR6.
That was no different to other TR models as they rolled over…
Fun video!
The biggest mistake I ever made was trading in a delightful and somewhat fettled Spitfire on a 1980 TR7 convertible. Wonderful to drive at first but rusted out very quickly and the electrics were abominable.
Whilst it wasn’t bad, the TR5 was a lovely car. It was like The BeeGees…. With Barry’s looks, the others didn’t have a chance.
I always thought the styling to be ok. However I'm surprised they didn't still try and stick that troublesome Triumph V8 into it, just for good measure!
Would have been a bit too heavy and they already had the lightweight Rover V8 available.
@@RussellCooper please take my comment as a tounge-in-cheek one.
Could never understand why the dolomite 1850 cc 8 valve engine was bored out to 2000cc and used in the tr7.This engine was dull and not very flexible,it produced105 bhp. They could have just put the dolomite sprint 2000 cc 16 valve engine in which produced 127 bhp, i think these engines were then supplied to saab who fitted a turbo to them to increase power further in their 900 series.
There was a small number of TR7 cars made with the Sprint engine, probably 61.
After a few years, SAAB manufactured the engine themselves, and altered a number of detail features - such as eliminating the angled cylinder head studs. These engines were tougher than the Triumph-made ones
Because as the reviewer in the video said, the American market didn't want complexity. They wanted a straightforward four-pot, two litre that could be worked on by any dealership service department. They didn't want sixteen valves. They didn't want independent rear suspension so were never enamoured with the TR4A, TR5 and TR6. They didn't want fuel injection, or at least not the fussy Lucas system used in the European TR5 and TR6. In effect they just wanted another TR4, which is the package that BL gave them, albeit styled for the era.
My Coupe was swapped to a 2L 16V and I instantly swapped it to the 3.5L V8. That's the engine the car really needs, same handling but much more fun/power.
The original design of the TR7 looks similar to the Porsche 914?
The BL designers at that time couldn't have drawn a house brick!
Like the 6 and 7.
I honestly don't get the issue with the line down the side 🤔 maybe it's an " of its time"thing.
It seems to have lost a couple of letters from it's name TuRd7.
A few years later you could buy the vastly superior MX5
Don't you mean 'vastly blander?'
@@SOTM73 I owned a TR7 for a good few years and have owned and still do a couple of MX5’s.
The TR7 was a great looking thing and gave that space age feel in an era of bland cars, sadly it ends there, reliability and performance were pretty grim in my experience.
The MX5 is so superior in every way it’s absolutely streets ahead of the TR7, even comparing the early NA MX5 to the later, better TR7’s.
The MX5, as so often quoted, is the sports car the British car industry was incapable of building, that is an absolute travesty but it’s true.
@@markl5681 I cannot argue with that, except to say that the UK was capable of building quality cars, but chose not to. Workers here, particularly in the 1970's thought the world owed them a living, shame. But comparing which car is superior, is like comparing wives. Its the imperfections that make them special, and love is blind.
@@SOTM73 you’re absolutely right, I left school and took up an apprenticeship as a toolmaker, time served in the early 80’s, the skills on that shop floor were incredible, yet we all went home in unreliable British cars after work, just didn’t make sense.
And I agree wholeheartedly, it’s all about character, I have a few collectible Italian and Japanese motorcycles, but the one everyone admires most is the 1960 Triumph Tiger Cub, the only one may I say that has the need for a drip tray.
Triumph should have tried the Saab 99 Turbo's 2-litre engine.
That would have been interesting.
Er, they were already Cousins ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_B_engine
Another good video 🚘🚙🚗👍👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Safe? I flipped one, barrel rolled 7 times and came out with a broken finger from the steering wheel...Definitely a safe car
Should have had the Dolomite Sprint engine.
The TR8 was the last one
What about the TR8
My father had a black coupe, I did actually get to drive it too. It was ok but the interior was pretty awful, a symphony of cheap plastic and vinyl.
Welcome to the late 70's / 1980s. Black plastic and vinyl was seen to be futuristic.
Start a wedge fund! I'd rather have an elan plan......
I thought the TR 8 was the last.
You thought correctly. Many people seem to consider the TR8 as a V8 version of the TR7, which I suppose it was.
Yes it is. I had an ‘80 TR7 as a daily that I bought new. Drove it everywhere, including long trips for 4 years no issues. I own a 1982 TR8, which is one of the 69 cars bound for Canada. It was manufactured at Solihull and dispatched on Oct. 20, 1981. VIN ending in 408405 and is the last Triumph sports car to be manufactured by date. It is the very last of the great line of TR cars, pushed out of the factory by a skeleton crew two weeks after it shut down.
I could go for it if it were reliable.
TR8????????
What a plug ugly car.