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Best of the Worst Cars to Collect |
High Bid $2,000 in October 2013 1,998 cc eight-valve four-cylinder engine 5-Speed Transmission Front independent suspension Oil spring and damper struts at the front Disc Brakes at the front, Rear Drums 28,000 TR7 Convertibles made |
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1980 Triumph TR7 Convertible |
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"The shape of things to come" quickly became
the shape that came and went, in a great cloud of "good riddance." The
doorstop-shaped TR7, and its rare V8-powered sibling TR8, were the last
Triumphs sold in America and among the last the company made before it
folded its tents in 1984. The trouble was not necessarily the
engineering, or even the peculiar design, which looked fit to split
firewood. It was that the cars were so horribly made. The thing had more
short-circuits than a mixing board with a bong spilled on it. The
carburetors had to be constantly romanced to stay in balance. Timing
chains snapped. Oil and water pumps refused to pump, only suck. The
sunroof leaked and the concealable headlights refused to open their
peepers. One owner reports that the rear axle fell out. How does that
happen? It was as if British Leyland's workers were trying to sabotage
the country's balance of trade. The car was characterized by its "wedge" shape, which was commonly advertised as: "The Shape of Things to Come", and by a swage line sweeping down from the rear wing to just behind the front wheel. The design was penned by Harris Mann who also designed the wedge-shaped Princess. The car had an overall length of 160 inches (406 cm), width of 66 inches (168 cm), wheelbase of 85 inches (216 cm) and height of 49.5 inches (126 cm). The coupé had a kerbside weight of 2205 pounds (1000 kg). During development, the TR7 was referred to by the code name "Bullet". Original full size model wore MG logos because it was styled at Longbridge, which was not a Triumph factory[citation needed]. Power was provided by a 105 bhp (78 kW) (92 bhp or 69 kW in the North American version) 1,998 cc eight-valve four-cylinder engine that shared the same basic design as the Triumph Dolomite Sprint engine, mounted in-line at the front of the car. Drive was to the rear wheels via a four-speed gearbox initially with optional five-speed manual gearbox, or three-speed automatic from 1976. The front independent suspension used coil spring and damper struts and lower single link at the front, and at the rear was a four-link system, again with coil springs. There were front and rear anti roll bars, with disc brakes at the front and drums at the rear. The development of the convertible version of the TR7 required the interior light, which was in the headlining, to be removed. This was replaced by lights with integral switches in each of the door cards. A map light, mounted between the seats on the back panel below the rear parcel shelf, was deleted. The convertible also required a smaller fuel filler cap, as the deck area in front of the boot lid was reduced to allow for the stowage of the hood. These modifications were also applied to the hard top for the 1978 year model (starting after the factory summer shutdown in 1977),presumably to maintain commonality of parts on the assembly line. The wheel trims were also changed at this time, from smaller black trims that covered only the center of the wheels, to larger silver ones, covering the whole wheel. However, only a small number of 1978 year model cars, with the smaller filler cap and lights in the door cards, were produced at Speke, due to the industrial action there in 1977-8 |
