The Triumph TR7 and TR8 inspired tuners, racers and creative free-thinkers
As putdowns go, it was a doozy. As we all know by rote, Giorgetto Giugiaro is said to have been rather less than impressed by the Triumph TR7.
On being confronted by the car at the 1975 Geneva motor show, legend has it that he took his time soaking it all in.
He moved around the car and exclaimed: “Oh my God, they’ve done the same on this side!”
It’s a great story, and one that is probably apocryphal.
Ages ago, we asked Il Maestro about his quip and he looked a mite confused: he clearly had no recollection of ever having uttered it.
The point of mentioning it, though, is that the wedge-shaped sports car and its TR8 sibling have long been the butt of jokes.
Way back when, some of the marque faithful didn’t like the shape – and it didn’t help that it was assembled by British Leyland, hardly a bastion of quality.
Throw in so-so media reports, and it isn’t hard to understand why the TR received a kicking, even if it wasn’t always justified.
Nevertheless, the TR7/8 was but a mere starting point for some.
Gathered here are 10 of our favourite reworked wedges that encompass concept cars, competition weaponry and would-be exotics, plus a few offerings that defy easy categorisation.
1. Eurosport UK TR40
Unveiled at the 1990 East of England Kit Car Show, this TR7-meets-Ferrari-F40 mash-up was much hyped in the specialist press.
Devised by Eurosport UK of Rayleigh, Essex, it was a glassfibre makeover with new wings and lower panel/splitter that were moulded in one piece, plus revised door skins, side sills, a vast rear spoiler and a section that extended the boot rearwards.
This joined a new cropped tail, complete with four circular lights and central dummy exhaust outlets.
Peter Filby landed the scoop and reported in Which Kit? magazine: ‘It’s NOT a replica. Hate to disappoint you, but it’s not… Its front end is smoothly seductive, its rear three-quarter angle aggressive and sensational.’
Prices started at £1400 (plus VAT), with a convertible-based kit following in quick succession.
Project instigator Gerry Brown soon moved on to other projects, though, and the rights passed to parts specialist Rimmer Bros, which still markets the bootlid spoiler.
Anorak fact Eurosport UK also offered a big-winged Fiat X/19 bodykit; the firm later became a Marcos agent
2. TRS
While the Janspeed/ADA Le Mans car (slide five) might have fallen short, it wasn’t without influence.
Ian ‘Del’ Lines of Atlantic Garage had been sufficiently impressed by the car during a visit to Janspeed that he took several photos and picked up a brochure.
He showed these to his chief panelbeater, Dave Bennett, and the kernel of an idea took root.
Bennett decided to build something along similar lines, but for the road.
In May 1979, he acquired a rolling chassis/body that had been half-heartedly prepared for racing, and set to.
Bennett added his own brand of four-link rear end and a mildly tuned Rover V8 engine, while the body received panels akin to those on the racing car (so the wings were wider by 178mm/7in), but they were reworked and blended into place rather than merely pop-riveted on.
Inside, the car gained seats by Recaro, air conditioning, plus electric windows and door mirrors, and the re-minted TRS (S for ‘Special’) was completed early in 1980.
It was at this juncture that thoughts turned to a limited run of replicas, with prices starting at £12,000.
However, no further cars were produced.
Anorak fact By the time Bennett was finished, only the headlights, rear lights, doorhandles, glazing and dashboard remained unaltered
3. IAD TRX
Established in 1976, International Automotive Design (IAD) grew to become a major styling house and engineering consultancy, but much of its OEM work was unacknowledged publicly.
This distinctive device was built primarily as a calling card, albeit one that was first approved by Rover-Triumph.
According to the brochure, it began as: ‘A proposal to facelift a TR7 and to transfer the package in a 2+2 fixed-head coupé with a T-roof.’
It went on to add: ‘Ideally, the purpose was to change the appearance of the vehicle to the maximum but the structure to a minimum.
‘Consequently, the windscreen and front end were unaltered, while the rear-end structure was changed to a 2+2 body style.’
Penned by studio chief Eddie Pepall, the TRX was unveiled at the 1980 British International Motor Show.
Anorak fact The TRX was built in association with General Electric Plastics
4. Janspeed/ADA
The saga behind this would-be endurance weapon was a protracted one.
Born of a TR7 development hack, the original intention had been for Janspeed to transform the car into a ModSports racer.
This subsequently morphed into a plan to build a Group 5 car to compete in the World Championship for Makes, the stop-start project being boosted after London’s ADA Engineering joined the scheme.
Janspeed, for its part, concentrated on the twin-turbo V8 engine thereafter (it produced an alleged 550bhp).
An entry was made for the 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans, with additional backing from the TR Register, but the untested machine failed to qualify.
A repeat visit the following year also ended in ignominy.
Anorak fact According to several sources, Derek Bell tested the car in 1981. When asked about it 44 years later, he replied: “I honestly don’t remember driving that one”
5. Crayford Tracer
This Kent outfit was once a master of the ‘chop’, removing roofs from umpteen mainstream production cars during the 1960s and ’70s.
It also had form creating custom estate cars – witness the TR7 Tracer.
Built at the behest of Page Motors of Epsom, the car was exhibited on Crayford’s stand at the 1978 British International Motor Show.
In addition to the extended roof and rear hatch, this distinctive variant also gained a fold-down rear seat for 2+2 practicality, but this three-door TR7 failed to attract a single order.
As an aside, it was the first and last Triumph ever modified by Crayford Engineering.
Anorak fact The sole prototype was originally Inca Yellow with a black vinyl roof, but it was later sold to a doctor who had it resprayed red. He also added a roll-back Webasto sunroof. The car has been recently restored
6. Group 44 Inc
Bob Tullius raised the bar for presentation with his Group 44 Inc racers, which were invariably the class of any field Stateside.
He began campaigning a TR7 as early as 1976, claiming five Sports Car Club of America D Production wins in succession.
Scroll forward to 1979, and his Virginia-based squad fielded something a bit more hardcore.
Two of these steroidal TR8s were constructed, although little was standard fore of the bulkhead, while the rear suspension was also largely new.
Engine guru Brian Fuerstenau, meanwhile, retained only the block and heads of the stock Rover V8.
Tullius and Fuerstenau won their class and finished seventh on the road in the 1979 Watkins Glen 6 Hours.
It was a bit too successful in SCCA Trans-Am events, though, to the point that a 181kg (400lb) weight penalty was imposed in a bid to even the score.
Tullius was incensed, telling Road & Track: “Our car entered competition at 90% of its development capacity; the cars we were running against were only doing 60% of theirs. All you’ve got to do is look at their specifications and potential numbers and look at ours.”
He went on to add: “If you were going to choose a race car to run, which would you rather have: 454cu in, 2900lb and easy availability of parts right off the shelf, or pick some oddball car with 244cu in and 2550lb that no one had ever run before?”
Hence the decision to up sticks and move over to IMSA, with Tullius finishing second in the 1979 GTO standings.
Anorak fact The highlight of Group 44’s TR8 campaign was a class win and sixth overall in the 1980 Sebring 12 Hours (above)
7. Sheaffer TRZ
This intriguing curio was conceived by the marketing people at the Sheaffer Pen Corporation.
The firm launched a new ballpoint in 1981, and the creative types couldn’t help but notice that its TRZ designation was visually similar to TR7.
Et voilà, a promotional competition was devised, the winner of which would receive a Triumph customised by Wood & Pickett.
The upgrade comprised Sheaffer and TRZ graphics over a silver-and-black two-tone base, plus Wolfrace wheels and a cabin trimmed in silver-fox Dralon.
The standout features, however, were the Crown 150 on-board computer and Blaupunkt Berlin stereo radio-cassette player, complete with stalk-mounted remote control.
Anorak fact The build price was reputedly £12,500, roughly twice that of a regular TR7
8. Bennis
This extravagantly gilded car was built by Ray Bennis, who bought a nearly new Triumph in 1978.
The physically standard TR wore murals of Lord Nelson and battle scenes over a white base, but a dent to the rear wing gave Bennis the excuse to redo the car.
The body was extensively restyled by Nick Orme, who transformed it into a fastback while losing the distinctive swage lines.
The Triumph was then painted dark blue, with a mural depicting the flag-raising scene at the Battle of Iwo Jima being airbrushed on the bootlid.
Named ‘Old Glory’, it did the rounds before Bennis remodelled the car again, with sculpted flanks, a multi-hued paintjob and an interior retrimmed in white leather with blue Dralon inserts.
In its final ‘Seventh Heaven’ guise, the car appeared on umpteen magazine covers in 1981.
Anorak fact Bennis sold the TR7 in 1982, the final year it was taxed. It has since disappeared
9. Strange Rover
This Alvin Smith-devised oddball was built to contest All Wheel Drive Club speed events.
If the notion of a TR7-bodied Range Rover wasn’t improbable enough, its 3.5-litre V8 sat in the rear, with power fed through a five-speed gearbox to a Land-Rover transfer case.
With the engine and transmission mounted about face, so was the shift pattern (the diff ring-gears were transposed to avoid having five reverse gears).
The so-called ‘Strange Rover’ was later sold to Land-Rover specialist Keith Gott.
It was road-legal, too, and apparently a handful on-road above 50mph.
Hot Car reported in August 1981: ‘The car was surprisingly quiet from the outside. It was a different story on the inside as the air intake for the twin Strombergs is between the seats!’
Anorak fact Smith ran the car on the 1980 Welsh Rally and the 1981 Mintex International Rally, crashing out of the latter
10. Grinnall
A raft of firms offered V8-engined TRs in period, Ian ‘Del’ Lines’ Atlantic Garage and S&S among them.
One of the most prolific, though, was former motocross racer Mark Grinnall.
He began converting cars after retiring from competition in 1981, gradually developing his offerings to the point where they featured a bespoke power-steering set-up and own-brand suspension.
Some cars also boasted glassfibre trinkets and large-horsepower engines tuned by John Eales.
Grinnall converted as many as 350 cars into the early 1990s, no two appearing the same, before he changed tack and introduced the Scorpion three-wheeler.
Anorak fact Grinnall built a TR7 with an over-bored Jaguar V12 unit as a testbed for a TVR-esque sports-car project that sadly never materialised