I worked at a British Leland dealer in the mid-'70s as a teenager when the TR6 was new. I was there when the TR7 arrived. The TR6 was always considered one of the best and most reliable British sports cars, (a relative thing, I know). They are decent cars, lots of torque compared to the 4-cyl. sports cars.

The TR7, I'm pretty sure, won the International Society of Automotive Engineers malpractice award for the entire 20th century and the presumptive award for the 21st and 22nd century. Beating out such worthy contenders as the Chevy Chevette, Ford Pinto, Mustang II, AMC Pacer, Renault Alliance and Jeep Grand Wagoneer, ownership was described at the time as "like paying monthly for some bizarre, untreatable disease that has one spending all waking hours in the waiting room of a car dealer listening to men in white coats explain how they 'think they got it' this time."

I don't think that anyone ever got 1000 miles on their new TR7. I saw one take a schit in the dealer's driveway during new car delivery. Really inspiring. They made the worst V-12 Jags look like Toyota trucks in comparative reliability. And they were almost purposely ugly and non-functional looking, the Brit's attempt at faux aerodynamics instead looked like it was meant to hold a giant door open.

British leland was having huge organizational problems in the mid-'70s that resulted in labor strikes and plant closings. We always surmised that maybe the managers recruited their gardeners and maybe street hookers to assemble the TR7s. In the entire automotive POS Hall of Fame, you would be extremely hard-pressed to find a more hideous and defective vehicle. The absolute worst of the worst.

Other than that, I guess they're OK.

^^^Love this^^^


Very well written Denis!

Zeke. Some think of it as character.
The sweet TR3 that our neighbor at the
Mitty was showing. We signed on to help with the clean up.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1339088314.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1339088381.jpg

My brother still has a tr6 its fun to drive, but seems of an older generation compared to 911s

Cheers Richard

I've owned a TR4 and a TR250. Crude, but fun. Not especially fast, or good handling.

I'm not nostalgic for re-entry into that club, but I will say, the look of the TR-6 is a good look indeed. That red (burgandy) one someone posted is very very nice.

No love lost here for the TR 7 or TR 8.

Had a TR6 a few years ago, white with light blue interior. Came from Clearwater FL, so it had factory A/C. Loved it and still miss it to this day. Also had a TR8 liked it, nice engine, a friend purchased it and now it's in Vancouver. The body style was off, guess they intended to build mid-engined cars (TR7 & TR8) but didn't work out. TR4's were my favourite but never quite got around to owning one.

The 912 was quick compared to a TR6?? :confused:

I love them all but a TR6 in proper running condition would walk all over a 912 in an acceleration contest. I agree with the rest of your observations, a Porsche was German compared to British and the quality and engineering are on an entirely different plane.

Dennis tell us what you really think! LOL post of the week :-)

Cheers Rich

Well, if you are really objective, it's true. With the Astons, Healeys, Jags and even the MG's, the Triumph was just not a pretty car. The TR3 evolution to the TR4 was the most drastic, but things didn't change much after that.

Car designers have a way of massaging the design to the point of refinement and to present something relevant to the current market. I can only say that Triumph gave it their best.

My brother had a TR6... seemed like every weekend he was working on it.

YMMV

My buddy had pretty good luck with his TR250, but then I didn't live with him so don't really know how much maintenance it required.

Me, I'm more of a driver than a mechanic... Thus not too interested in Brit sports cars. My 944 is the most fun to drive car I have ever driven... but it is such a PITA to work on it sits in the garage not running and unused. When/if I get the money together probably sell it off :( and get a Miata or something similar.

I like the one I drive. I have had it 5 or 6 years. body off restoration. '74http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1339089762.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1339089793.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1339089842.jpg

I like the road you drive on. Looks like England, but the wheel is on the wrong side.

That road is my driveway.

Well okay. Maybe the 912 wasn't quite as quick. But it was very close. Probably indistinguishably close for most drivers. The souces I checked show 0-60 times of 10.7 for the TR6 and 11.5 for the 912. But the top speed of the 912 was 116 whereas the TR6 was 109. And when compared with the 911, the TR6 was no match in any category, but it was also much cheaper. I do recall that under hard acceleration, the rear end of the TR6 would squat on those lever shocks and would porpoise up and down with every shift. Amusing, maybe, but not good.

I don't want to rain on the TR6 too much. I loved mine and really appreciate seeing them now. But the handling was really funky and contrary to what Road and Track said about it back then, it did not feel to me like it was "carved from a single block of steel." Especially after riding in the 912. To me, the TR6 felt like a bucket of bolts (fine thread bolts, at that) compared to the 912. In contrast, the 912 felt like it was carved from a single block of aluminum. Which really surprised me at the time. I couldn't believe how solid it felt.

And with all due respect to the long-hood lovers here, which includes me, I now think that those early 911s and 912s (in stock form) feel spooky compared to the the 80s-vintage 911s, and the 80s 911s feel clumsy when compared with Porsche 911s of the last decade. Technology marches on.

There is a car show in metro Detroit called; The Battle of the Brits.

Photos from 2011:
2011 Battle of the Brits - Auto Show pictures by kach22i - Photobucket
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...w/DSCF3373.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...w/DSCF3374.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...w/DSCF3380.jpg

I must have a hundred pictures in that album, and not one of them is a TR6.:p

What was the difference between the TR6 and the TR250? They sure looked alike.

I believe that was a transitional model using the TR 4 body and the six cylinder engine that was to go into the TR 6. I'm a little fuzzy on this, any one know for sure?

Cheers Rich

Yes, Rich, that's it. The TR250 was the US legal version of the TR5, which never made it to our shores. It was essentially a TR4 (or 4A) with a TR6 drivetrain. The TR5 was fuel injected, whereas the TR250 had carburetors. The TR250 bridged the gap (1968) between the TR4 and the TR6.

I have had two TR-3's, one I painted bright yellow! Fun cars but no TR-6! I had a 75' TR-6 with both the factory steel hardtop and the conv. top. Had all the paint stripped off and repainted the original British racing green. Was a real fun car and I wish I would have kept it, but you can't keep them all! I think I sold that one to buy a Jag E-type. But I still have my first car, the 59' Austin Healey 100-6 two seater!

one of the fears i live with, on a daily basis, is that i'll have too much to drink one evening, and will wake up the following morning with an email from ebay confirming that i purchased a bugeye sprite, tr4a or mgbgt the night before.

having owned a brit car in the past (for 6 months), i should know better, but too much beer often prefers passion to reason.

i've printed some of the posts above and taped them to my monitor, and hopefully they'll help keep me out of trouble.

Miss my bastard TR-6
 

I had a 1973 TR-6. During my "first" mid-life crisis, I decided to rebuild the engine. After managing to pull the engine w/ relatively little damage to myself, I realized I was in over my head as far as my mechanical skills go. I found a guy who built drag cars who put a Chevy 350 in it. It turned out to be a great combination of classic British sports car looks w/ serious power. Of course the problems of a serious lack of brakes and a flexible frame w/ that much torque were never solved. I still miss that car.