You'd have trouble getting a standard TR7 to 60 in 9.6 seconds - much closer to 11. I used to own a 73 Dolomite 1850 - lovely car - and gave me almost 30mpg around town.
People jumped on the bandwagon slagging this car off. It was no worse built than most cars of that era & I actually like the styling. At least it was striking and isn't that why people buy sportscars?
More parrot journalists, the TR7 was ok, styling is subjective but the tr7 handled, gripped well and was modern, brisk and comfortable. The best model to own now would probably be a 5speed sprint engined one with a sunroof, quieter safer and easier to mantain.
I owned a yellow TR-7 convertible for a while when I was 19. I really liked it a lot at the time. Looking back, and comparing it to later cars I have owned, like... BMW 318, Honda Accord, Jeep Cherokee; I am amazed at how bad it really was. Still, I liked it's quirky styling. I liked playing with it's Zenith Stromburg carburetors. I liked push starting it all the time with one foot out the door. I even liked the messy 3 window convertible top that was all cracky and yellow. It had character!
british car ind was let down by our own arrogance we thought people would buy our cars because they were BRITISH .it didn't matter they were ugly stick a union jack on it and a turd still a turd.
his wrong though. in the 50s 60s the uk make the best cars in the world before bl merged all the marques into one disfucntional badly directed co-op. And unions started destroying british industry
love em , love there quirky looks , there handling , the comfort , try one they really are comfortable. i've owned 7 over the years , v8 ones , 2 lt ones , fixed head and drop head , my two fave were a 4.2 v8 drop head the sound :) and the one i have at mo a late model fixed head in black only 400 made for uk market . but has electric windows , full length sunroof , halogen headlamps etc :) if you have'nt driven one , a good one at least then do so . you'll smile :)
I am on my second TR7 at the moment, I can safely say that the looks might not be as good as some other manufactures but they do go and handle extremely well. Please don't put these great little Brit sports cars down until you have driven one. I am currently looking at buying a rally replica,( they do seem to get a lot of attention at car rallies to)
@jsquad192837465 This is the last series before Jeremy Clarkson Returned in 2002 & the Format we all now enjoy came into being.
This stuff from before that point is Generally refered to as "Old Top Gear", that & most of the Presenters from this one now do "Fifth Gear" (which is FAR Worse than this ever was).
Bollocks to all you lot that jump on the band wagon to slag off the TR7 I had one in 1985 it was a lovely 1981 convertible, I cherished it and it was a great car it DIDN'T have a leaking head gasket, it DIDN'T rot in the floor pans/footwells and DIDN'T have any electrical faults, it was my "sunday car" for 14 years and I was sad to sell it when my family got too big to justify owning a 2 seater. Long live the TR7. Especially OWJ 382X if it's still around.
@SteveBZ69 I agree that the TR-7 doesn't deserve all the Abuse that is often Directed at Her
After all there are Four in my home town but only 1 BL Marina (as a Rusting Driveway wreck), & that's inspite of that the Marina was a Mass market car were'as the TR-7 Was not.
If the TR-7 had been fitted with a Jaguar XK Streight 6 or a Rover-Buick V8 from the start (plus all round Disc Brakes like the Jaguar S-Type) she would have done very well.
Similar Story with the "Stag" as well unfortunately.
@Brownalebelly My uncle bought a BMW 6series in 1981...Sold it in mid 90's but it's still driving around in town, almost no repairs in his time of driving and no fire on the autobahn...The reward for buying a proper car....
sorry don't understand, if this is roundabout way of saying don't like the car, that's ok but who cares? of course it was crash tested and for it's day it was as strong as hell, the ugliness had to count for something! personally know of TR7 hardtop hit by oncoming Volvo which landed on it upside down having been launched across central barrier of motorway by an errant truck, combined speed 150+, Volvo driver died (not surprisingly), TR7 driver puller out alive, roof turret basically intact
What does make me laugh is the fact that the front TR7 in the factory at 2:55 is already faulty - one of the sidelights doesn't work! Says a lot about BL reliability and build quality back in the day.
Yay tr7 litteraly the love of my life I would Mary it if I wernt too young and well I would say that it was a car but I fess I will be marrying it when I start myne up for the first time I can't wait to start working on it so excited yay
One thing i've never understood....the assumption that the fixed head is an 'ugly duckling' as Top Gear put it,and the convertible is a big improvement.I think the soft tops hood spoils the look of the original fhc TR7.I've always thought it is a very original and great look,it is definitely ugly.People just jump on the bandwagon though....
triumph actually made some really good car (example: stag spitfire tr7 tr8 dolomite and dolomite sprint ) but bl ruined triumph and triumph were and still are my fav bl company but one thing i really hate was that triumph was founded in 1886 and then it was broken up in 1885 99 years if it werent for bl triumph would have made 100
@bakaguyjean Unfortunately, the Japaneses made quantum leaps in quality and performance in 80s and 90s, the Americans gradually moved from sport cars to SUVs throughout the decades, and the Germans were quickly matching down and expanding throughout the segments. There is simply no way that a nine headed monster carrying a major stubborn union could have survived the onslaught.
I really like the tr7, im glad its not mid engined, or it wud be a poxy MGF and a shit to work on. I think it looks a lot better now with edge and lot more succesful than most of the wedges
i have morris minor 1000 (1958)
kaneperera007 2 months ago
Jesus! Just a sexy little car!! :D
landongendur 5 months ago
You'd have trouble getting a standard TR7 to 60 in 9.6 seconds - much closer to 11. I used to own a 73 Dolomite 1850 - lovely car - and gave me almost 30mpg around town.
Only let me down the once in 7 years.
Sherwoodhoodbud 5 months ago
People jumped on the bandwagon slagging this car off. It was no worse built than most cars of that era & I actually like the styling. At least it was striking and isn't that why people buy sportscars?
whitbyjet65 5 months ago
I had a one in 1980 £6400 I had no problems I must admit but it was my last BL car
so it could not have been that good
nylonTS 5 months ago
SHIT CAR!!!
My uncle had one and it exploded outside his house!
hearts76100 7 months ago
More parrot journalists, the TR7 was ok, styling is subjective but the tr7 handled, gripped well and was modern, brisk and comfortable. The best model to own now would probably be a 5speed sprint engined one with a sunroof, quieter safer and easier to mantain.
bluedick321 7 months ago
I owned a yellow TR-7 convertible for a while when I was 19. I really liked it a lot at the time. Looking back, and comparing it to later cars I have owned, like... BMW 318, Honda Accord, Jeep Cherokee; I am amazed at how bad it really was. Still, I liked it's quirky styling. I liked playing with it's Zenith Stromburg carburetors. I liked push starting it all the time with one foot out the door. I even liked the messy 3 window convertible top that was all cracky and yellow. It had character!
electropunk42 8 months ago
RIP Tony Pond!
malcstag 9 months ago 3
the mgb is faster !
woper1231 9 months ago
what is the music at 1:22
skumanders 10 months ago
Fucking unions, wankers killed our car industry
cableguy786 10 months ago 12
This seems a lot more of a cuting edge design than the maestro.
paulhunter123 11 months ago
@Arrrrbol no nazis were superior egineers to BL
paulhunter123 11 months ago 2
british car ind was let down by our own arrogance we thought people would buy our cars because they were BRITISH .it didn't matter they were ugly stick a union jack on it and a turd still a turd.
blobby1972 11 months ago
I saw a triumph tr 7 with a ford 302 and a c4 tranny sounds like a hand grenade eh?
rodpotatoes19009 1 year ago
British leyland did have some terriable luck, But they also made some terriable decissions,
paulhunter123 1 year ago
his wrong though. in the 50s 60s the uk make the best cars in the world before bl merged all the marques into one disfucntional badly directed co-op. And unions started destroying british industry
paulhunter123 1 year ago
love em , love there quirky looks , there handling , the comfort , try one they really are comfortable. i've owned 7 over the years , v8 ones , 2 lt ones , fixed head and drop head , my two fave were a 4.2 v8 drop head the sound :) and the one i have at mo a late model fixed head in black only 400 made for uk market . but has electric windows , full length sunroof , halogen headlamps etc :) if you have'nt driven one , a good one at least then do so . you'll smile :)
graybo214 1 year ago
"Oddball looks"?
Fuck you, man. Really, fuck you.
SpeedingStudent 1 year ago
my mate had one,an auto, total crap and slow.
chris99140 1 year ago
I am on my second TR7 at the moment, I can safely say that the looks might not be as good as some other manufactures but they do go and handle extremely well. Please don't put these great little Brit sports cars down until you have driven one. I am currently looking at buying a rally replica,( they do seem to get a lot of attention at car rallies to)
TheScammellman 1 year ago
At this time there were a lot worse than B.L. cars. Fiat and Lancia for example.
BillDFC 1 year ago
@BillDFC FIAT: Yes!
Lancia: NO!! (the "Beta" doesn't count since it was nothing more than a Fiat in Drag
[like the "Honda/Triumph Acclaim"]).
No-one call's Lancia's "Deta-HF" / "Gamma" / "O37" or "Stratos" bad do they?
Now if you'd said "Alfa-Romeo" (also owned by FIAT) you'd be bang on they were rubbish, The
"Alfa romeo Arna" is widley regarded as pretty much the Worst car ever Built.
Lancia: 1906-1992 & sorely missed.
(although a Prototype 2nd Gen Stratos was in the New's recently, yay!)
michaelfergusonuk 1 year ago
What the fuck is this shit this is not top gear.
jsquad192837465 1 year ago
@jsquad192837465 old top gear maybe?
im not sure
TheMarkus248 1 year ago
@jsquad192837465 This is the last series before Jeremy Clarkson Returned in 2002 & the Format we all now enjoy came into being.
This stuff from before that point is Generally refered to as "Old Top Gear", that & most of the Presenters from this one now do "Fifth Gear" (which is FAR Worse than this ever was).
michaelfergusonuk 1 year ago
Bollocks to all you lot that jump on the band wagon to slag off the TR7 I had one in 1985 it was a lovely 1981 convertible, I cherished it and it was a great car it DIDN'T have a leaking head gasket, it DIDN'T rot in the floor pans/footwells and DIDN'T have any electrical faults, it was my "sunday car" for 14 years and I was sad to sell it when my family got too big to justify owning a 2 seater. Long live the TR7. Especially OWJ 382X if it's still around.
SteveBZ69 1 year ago 2
@SteveBZ69 Nice one Steve!! Great car. You`re not from Syston are you?
coltsuperocean10 1 year ago
@SteveBZ69 I think this may have been of the road for 3 years. Sorry.
toyotasera55 1 year ago
@SteveBZ69 I agree that the TR-7 doesn't deserve all the Abuse that is often Directed at Her
After all there are Four in my home town but only 1 BL Marina (as a Rusting Driveway wreck), & that's inspite of that the Marina was a Mass market car were'as the TR-7 Was not.
If the TR-7 had been fitted with a Jaguar XK Streight 6 or a Rover-Buick V8 from the start (plus all round Disc Brakes like the Jaguar S-Type) she would have done very well.
Similar Story with the "Stag" as well unfortunately.
michaelfergusonuk 1 year ago
l had tr7 ror17 years, loved it , great fun every ride. looked after they are no problem at all.
nelson1765 1 year ago
My second car was a TR7 bought it in 1981. It was a 1979 version in yellow.
I adored it and everyone in West Berlin thought it was a Ferrari because they didn't know what it was!
Sadly it cost me an arm and a leg in repairs and finally caught fire on the autobahn.
I would still love one again for old times sake, though.
Brownalebelly 1 year ago 10
@Brownalebelly you are insane dude
arospeed169 1 year ago
@Brownalebelly My uncle bought a BMW 6series in 1981...Sold it in mid 90's but it's still driving around in town, almost no repairs in his time of driving and no fire on the autobahn...The reward for buying a proper car....
Epik76 2 months ago
@MaralizeLegawana Cars are designed to crumple, you muppet. That's what absorbs the energy of an impact.
whitbyjet65 1 year ago
sorry don't understand, if this is roundabout way of saying don't like the car, that's ok but who cares? of course it was crash tested and for it's day it was as strong as hell, the ugliness had to count for something! personally know of TR7 hardtop hit by oncoming Volvo which landed on it upside down having been launched across central barrier of motorway by an errant truck, combined speed 150+, Volvo driver died (not surprisingly), TR7 driver puller out alive, roof turret basically intact
alanhprice 1 year ago
i like it....
cliffthelightning 1 year ago
Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I bought my my FHC in 1978 and still have it and I love its looks.
amirbagatelle 1 year ago
What does make me laugh is the fact that the front TR7 in the factory at 2:55 is already faulty - one of the sidelights doesn't work! Says a lot about BL reliability and build quality back in the day.
spikypaddy83 2 years ago
TR7 + V8 + No roof = more fun than you can shake a stick at.
wakaday 2 years ago
Yay tr7 litteraly the love of my life I would Mary it if I wernt too young and well I would say that it was a car but I fess I will be marrying it when I start myne up for the first time I can't wait to start working on it so excited yay
swordsman51 2 years ago
One thing i've never understood....the assumption that the fixed head is an 'ugly duckling' as Top Gear put it,and the convertible is a big improvement.I think the soft tops hood spoils the look of the original fhc TR7.I've always thought it is a very original and great look,it is definitely ugly.People just jump on the bandwagon though....
BlueMoonOfKentucky 2 years ago
@BlueMoonOfKentucky Correct. People just follow the herd & think they're clever for repeating a very tired line.
whitbyjet65 1 year ago
btw someone please tell me the name of the song at 1:23
EXTREME4YEARSTOCOME 2 years ago
norman greenbaum - "spirit in the sky"
BOOCAKE4U 2 years ago
thanx man
EXTREME4YEARSTOCOME 2 years ago
triumph actually made some really good car (example: stag spitfire tr7 tr8 dolomite and dolomite sprint ) but bl ruined triumph and triumph were and still are my fav bl company but one thing i really hate was that triumph was founded in 1886 and then it was broken up in 1885 99 years if it werent for bl triumph would have made 100
EXTREME4YEARSTOCOME 2 years ago
why did BL totally disregard the uk market in favour for the us?
paulhunter123 2 years ago 3
Government imposed 'export or die' measures dating from the 50s and 60s. All to get the much needed foreign money rolling in.
Why? Well, blame that Mr H and his war on it.
triumphstagdriver 2 years ago
@paulhunter123 The americans up untill the late 70s had a love affair with british sports cars.
paulhunter123 1 year ago
@paulhunter123 - money
davidnarbett 10 months ago
The US bought something like %75 of Thriump and MG. So naturally the US market was the main target.
bakaguyjean 10 months ago
@bakaguyjean Unfortunately, the Japaneses made quantum leaps in quality and performance in 80s and 90s, the Americans gradually moved from sport cars to SUVs throughout the decades, and the Germans were quickly matching down and expanding throughout the segments. There is simply no way that a nine headed monster carrying a major stubborn union could have survived the onslaught.
mercedescl 9 months ago
if it were amercian it would never have had good handerling.
paulhunter123 2 years ago 2
I really like the tr7, im glad its not mid engined, or it wud be a poxy MGF and a shit to work on. I think it looks a lot better now with edge and lot more succesful than most of the wedges
paulhunter123 2 years ago 2
Poor british leyland everything went wrong for them didnt it
paulhunter123 2 years ago
Would have been a good sports car if it was american powered and had american electrics
markschoices 2 years ago 2
Technically the TR8 was American powered. The Rover V8 was originally the Buick 215. Rover had aquired the rights to build it.
triumphtr779 2 years ago 2
It was actually the Americans who requested a 4 cyl engine..... along with the archaic live axle....
triumphstagdriver 2 years ago
They had a live axle? I thought the TR7 had the Dolly Sprint's double wishbone rear axle...
EccentricRichard 2 years ago
And no corners ;-)
Euro or Jap versus any Yank wank car when corners are present.
Who will win??
superfour72 2 years ago
is it wierd that I find the hard top better looking than the drop top?
triumphtr779 2 years ago
Comment removed
NormallyAspirated 2 years ago
Not at all. I always liked the hardtop more than the convertible. For some reason it just looked better to me.
NormallyAspirated 2 years ago
that tr8 convertable is a sexy beast kinda looks like a big toyota mr2 from the 80s
sportfuryman 2 years ago