Triumph TR8s: missed opportunity

By Simon Hucknall

| 11 Sep 2026

Classic & Sports Car – Triumph TR8s: missed opportunity

‘What’s the matter with Americans? Dammit, their demands have turned this potentially super sports car into just another floppy-handling and riding boulevardmobile.’

After testing a US-bound Triumph TR8 along Britain’s Fosse Way in May 1979, Autocar’s John Miles was not a fan.

He concluded: ‘Tyre squeal, lots of roll… what a frustrating car to drive!’

Horses for courses, though: in July the following year, American title Road Test declared the TR8 ‘nothing less than the reinvention of the sports car’ and awarded it Best New Sports Car of 1980.

Triumph’s TR8 nameplate was rarely seen outside North America

While the ‘English Corvette’, as it was better known Stateside, might have found favour there, it was clear that simply shoehorning a 3.5-litre V8 into Triumph’s two-seater, wedge-shaped sports car would not curry favour with European buyers without some serious development.

That a plan had been hatched to do just that – using, among others, the Poseidon Green car pictured here – before promptly being scuppered by British Leyland’s financial woes, is one of those ‘what might have been’ tales that so often wove their way into the conglomerate’s history.

From the outset, North America had always been Triumph’s target market for the TR7, with the Spitfire – plus internal rival MG’s B and Midget – ageing and not due for replacement.

As a result, the Harris Mann-styled coupé had its US launch in 1975, a year ahead of the UK.

America took the Triumph TR8 (left) to its heart, but a European variant never got a chance

While the shape polarised opinion, plans for a convertible, followed by a US-only TR8 model to be powered by Rover’s ex-Buick V8, kept American buyers keen.

Back in Blighty, those plans were fermenting as part of BL’s rally programme.

Initially powered by the 2-litre, 16-valve engine plucked from the Dolomite Sprint, Triumph’s TR7 was homologated for Group 4 competition with the Rover V8 from 1 April 1978.

Known as the TR7 V8, it proved dramatically fast, particularly on Tarmac sections, where the magnificent bellow from its exhausts was always a firm favourite with spectators.

The Triumph TR8’s fuel-injected V8

Per Eklund was among a raft of star drivers who led the TR7 V8’s charge, but Tony Pond enjoyed the most success in the car, taking victory in 1978’s 24 Hours of Ypres and Manx International Rally, and again in the 1980 Manx Stages.

This development would later be invaluable when it came to making the TR8 palatable for British and European tastes.

Launched Stateside in 1979, not only did the new, Michelotti-styled drophead address criticisms of the fixed-head’s styling, but it was also offered exclusively for US and Canadian buyers as the TR8, fitted with a standard, 135bhp version of Rover’s V8 (or 148bhp with fuel injection).

Triumph revised the subframes, uprated the brakes and added power assistance for the steering. The cooling system was improved with a new radiator, and longer gear ratios matched the V8’s increased torque.

The standard Triumph TR8 is more grand tourer than dyed-in-the-wool sports car

Alas, while the US press and public were warming to the new TR8, industrial relations back at Triumph were turning decidedly cool.

UK production of the standard TR7 coupé had already been hit by five-month strike action at the Speke manufacturing plant as the car went on sale in 1977.

BL’s new chairman, Sir Michael Edwardes, who had been drafted in to extract the company from its spectacular economic mire, didn’t hesitate to close the Liverpool factory, shifting TR7/8 production to Canley, near Coventry, and later to Solihull.

Despite Triumph’s demise looming ever closer, there remained a belief that the TR8 in particular could have a future on this side of the Atlantic.

BL Motorsport added twin Lucas-Stromberg carburettors to the Triumph TR8’s 3528cc V8

A desperate ploy it might have been, but on 16 December 1980, a memo from the BL Motorsport department’s Richard Hurdwell to John Micklewright, the Solihull plant director, stated: ‘A green TR8 from Solihull has been subject to both engine and suspension modifications at BL Motorsport, Abingdon.

‘The purpose of this was to present alternative engine and chassis specifications for the UK and European Sports Car Market.’

The long-lived department, which had latterly been responsible for the works TR7 V8 rally cars, worked very much under the radar on the programme.

According to Denis Chick, who was then product planning manager for the TR7: “The purpose of the RHD [TR8] project, which started in mid-1980, was to create an authentic version of the successful TR7 V8 rally car – we all knew it was happening, on the QT.”

The V8-engined Triumph’s cabin apes the four-cylinder TR7’s interior

The green car with us today, NWK 988W, was the only TR8 used for the development work, which started with comprehensive mechanical revisions.

Engine specialist Cliff Humphries oversaw the modifications, which ultimately involved fitting a WL9 camshaft – as used in the racing Rover SD1 engines – along with uprated valve-spring assemblies.

Rover SD1 Vitesse pistons replaced the low-compression US-spec items, eventually raising the ratio from 8.31:1 to 9.75:1, and Zenith-Stromberg carburettors were employed with a fuel-control needle suitable for the hot camshaft.

In this form, NWK produced an impressive 270bhp at the wheels during a rolling-road test in 2023.

BL Motorsport’s Triumph TR8 has firm dampers which work best on smooth Tarmac

Work on the chassis was equally detailed. With suspension engineer Hurdwell in charge, efforts were made to cure the TR8’s lack of damping and excess pitch on bumpy surfaces.

Tweaked Armstrong shock absorbers were fitted at the front with 25% more bump and 100% extra rebound.

Under braking, dive was countered by revisions to the front anti-roll-bar bushings and caster change was reduced by a polypropylene bush behind the track control arm. At the rear, the coils were lowered by 25mm and Spax adjustable dampers were installed.

Motorsport bushes from a Dolomite replaced the standard items, and the lower trailing-link mounting was raised by 25mm, significantly reducing rear-end squat under hard acceleration; this also improved traction and reduced a tendency for axle tramp.

Externally, the TR7 V8 rally car’s GRP front spoiler was added – after wind-tunnel testing, it was found to reduce lift by up to 30%.

The BL Motorsport-fettled Triumph TR8 makes 270bhp at the wheels

Garry Owen, who managed the right-hand-drive TR8 project at Canley, later recalled: “This would be best described as the nearest thing to a motorbike on four wheels, with stunning performance.

“The suspension modifications provided a car that cornered as if on rails, and it was great fun to drive. On a test run, it was taken up to 150mph with some power left.”

NWK 988W had the chance to prove its mettle sooner than expected, too. In 1980, Triumph was invited to join the Club Triumph Round Britain Reliability Run and, with the very first pre-production, right-hand-drive TR8s then in build, it seemed logical to trial them in a fast-paced, real-world challenge.

There was also a good deal of inter-departmental rivalry at Triumph, so Canley’s group manufacturing director, Brian Fox, and Rover-Triumph plant boss Micklewright each prepared one of the first two cars built for the run.

This hot-rod Triumph TR8 shines only when really pushing hard

Fox’s was RHD TR8 number one, a ‘quality build’ car registered MHP 404V, while Micklewright took NWK.

Inevitably, given the modifications made to the second car, it was by far the faster of the two factory entrants, passing every checkpoint first and beating Fox by a country mile.

But while such engineering-led bravado had been very much part of Triumph’s culture up to that point, the bigger corporate picture was moving in a different direction.

A strong pound sterling had meant that, in the USA, TR8 prices were rising steeply. And, as Denis recalls, after Edwardes was appointed to shore up and restructure British Leyland’s ailing brands, niche products were out and more profitable mainstream models were in.

On 14 May 1981, Denis was asked to issue a product-planning letter calling a halt to the RHD TR8 programme.

The BL Motorsport Triumph TR8 has an excellent driving position

Frustratingly, some 22 development cars – including NWK – plus three experimental vehicles had already been built to prove how successfully the TR8 could be engineered for British and European tastes.

Illustrating how strapped for cash Triumph had become, between August and September 1981 a majority of these were consigned to a British Car Auctions sale at Measham, along with swathes of new Austin Maxis and Ambassadors, and Morris Itals.

Interviewed on television at the time, a BL spokesman explained that the sale was for “reducing our stock, generating some cashflow and to clear factory space at Cowley for the Triumph Acclaim”.

Either way, it brought an ignominious end to such a promising project.

The BL Motorsport Triumph TR8’s fabric trim is a long way from the ‘sidescreen’ TRs

‘Our’ Silver Leaf drophead coupé is a late-1981 example, and one of 2750 LHD TR8s made to North American specification between 1977 and ’81.

Being the 30th-from-last built of these models, it is also one of the final 800 to be supplied with electronic fuel injection, or ‘EFi’ (only Californian TR8s had been fuel-injected before this).

However, LOC 238X was originally ordered by Lt Col Cheryl Ramsay of the US forces based in West Germany, one of around 90 Personal Export Derivatives (PEDs) made for military personnel stationed in Europe.

As such, it lacks the catalytic converter mandated for US-bound cars (which were fitted locally by dealers) and its open-loop ECU was configured for leaded fuel.

Richard Connew, who owns both these TR8s, acquired LOC in 2000 after it was imported from The Netherlands.

The Triumph TR8’s exhaust note charms at any pace

In need of a restoration, which was carried out by S&S Preparations of Lancashire, the car returned to the road in 2002, but has since been subtly upgraded.

As standard, this later car’s engine was rated at 148bhp, but Hurdwell has installed a piggyback ECU that boosts output to 166bhp at the rear wheels.

Taking a leaf from NWK’s book, the suspension has also been uprated, with 195lb coils versus the original 165lb items, while four-piston calipers and ventilated discs can now be found on the front axle.

All of which, I think, would have answered some of Miles’ reservations about the TR8.

The Triumph TR8’s seats are comfortable

Having only driven a UK-registered Triumph TR7 dhc before today, I can only guess how much the US-spec TR8 was set up for comfort.

Given that the 105bhp UK car was already quite softly sprung, when infused with V8 power and driven with gusto on very un-American roads, that Autocar TR8 test car must have been a handful.

This one, however, is most certainly not, evidenced by a brisk and bracing roof-down blast across some demanding moors roads.

Inside, the cabin is pure GT: its cloth-trimmed seats are broad and comfortable, the driving position is excellent, and the boxy, businesslike dashboard is generously equipped, with a six-dial instrument binnacle.

The Triumph TR8’s neatly arranged dashboard has the full complement of dials

Even if the TR8 was substandard in every other respect, its exhaust note would do much to compensate.

This surely has to be one of the fruitiest-sounding applications of Rover’s venerable V8, its crisp, vibrant warble spiking the North Yorkshire air and encouraging you to work hard the precise and mechanical-feeling, long-throw five-speed ’box.

As you’d expect, the car thrives on a wave of torque from 2500-4500rpm, and while its performance is far from ballistic, it suits the TR8’s grand-tourer remit.

There’s some body shake over less than smooth surfaces, but the suspension remains pliant overall, despite this car’s more aggressive spring rates.

Crucially, control is markedly improved, even compared to the four-cylinder TR7, helped by the excellent, sensibly geared power steering never offered for UK cars.

The Triumph TR8’s stitched cloth upholstery

So, would BL Motorsport’s take on a British/European TR8 really have cut it with buyers over here?

The clue to that is in how hard you have to exercise NWK 988W to reveal its true depths.

Initial impressions are that it is less easy to live with at a moderate cruise, its more focused springing and damping exciting the car’s structure more over uneven surfaces, which in turn creates greater reaction through the power-assisted steering.

That glorious soundtrack still fills your ears, but it offers something decidedly hardcore when you start to extend this TR8’s performance envelope – and that means pushing beyond 5000rpm, where the standard car begins to tail off.

Triumph's development TR8 (behind) echoes the works rally car underneath, but looks almost identical to the standard model

At this point, the Humphries and Hurdwell engine and chassis revisions make more sense. The V8 finds a second wind in its upper reaches, although relatively tall gearing means it takes a while to get there.

The exhaust note hardens to a titanic roar, transforming the TR8 from cruiser to projectile.

The more relaxed gait of the silver car is replaced by one that is more exacting the harder you drive.

Braking – which is excellent on both cars – now results in less pitch and more control as you enter a bend; roll is better contained and, as long as the road is smooth, the rear tyres offer more grip (though I still found that LOC inspired more confidence when pressing on over broken asphalt).

If BL had been serious about producing this car, it might have needed to wind it back a touch – perhaps to somewhere between the US-spec TR8 and the Motorsport car, with a less radical cam and a ride/handling balance that could be enjoyed at more moderate speeds.

But sometimes a more extreme approach is needed to make the point, and there is no doubt that NWK 988W does just that.

Images: Jack Harrison

Thanks to: Richard Connew (triumphtr8.com); Martin Murray

Factfiles

Triumph TR8

Sold/number built 1979-‘81/c2400
Construction steel monocoque
Engine all-alloy, ohv 3528cc V8, Lucas-Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection
Max power 148bhp @ 5000rpm
Max torque 165lb ft @ 3200rpm
Transmission five-speed manual, RWD
Suspension: front independent, by MacPherson struts rear live axle, radius arms, coil springs, telescopic dampers; anti-roll bar f/r
Steering power-assisted rack and pinion
Brakes discs, with servo
Length 13ft 8½in (4178mm)
Width 5ft 6¼in (1681mm)
Height 4ft 1½in (1257mm)
Wheelbase 7ft 1in (2159mm)
Weight 2662lb (1207kg)
0-60mph 7.7 secs
Top speed 135mph
Mpg 18
Price new $13,920 (1981)
Price now £8-30,000*