My TR7 love began in the late 70s. I got to sit in and play with all the buttons in Tony Ponds rally spec TR7, and met his co-driver. How can you not be hooked after that.
What a lot of people do not realise, the wedge shape and the slant 4, was a great innovation. It was designed that upon a front end impact, the engine would slide UNDER the floor, ( years before Mercedes reckon they invented the system ) there fore saving the legs of the occupants. I've had 4 TR7's, my current one is a 1982 convertible, all original ( except for MG TF wheels), and I love it.
Dude. was one of my first cars too. took my road test in a 1980 yellow convertible. felt bad ass in a 2 seater and you won't find a more fun car to drive
I just bought a Barnfind TR7 at 17 yo (my first car), sat in a barn since '88, it has a Jubilee Badge but don't think it's a legit Jubilee. the car is completely rust free on the underside so a very rare find, body is a bit rusty but in decent shape (no dents or serious scratches. I'm restoring the car mostly by myself, with help from my dad who is a Saab specialist and since Saab used the dolomite engine in the early 99 models he knows his way around this engine. he is restoring a 99 with the same engine atm, and teaching me the ways of properly removing rust, going to be a cool car to drive for sure.
I always liked the TR7 and never understood why so many motoring journalists still criticize it today, often for the wrong reasons. The Convertible is lovely, the coupé looks really good and distinctive too.
Thanks for watching! Yeah anything BL did then got a bad rap. The TR7 has come of age though now and is finally appreciated. The coupe does look cool too! More rare as well.
At 1.39 mins , very mellow and pleasing lines !!!,,,,,,, I remember them being launched in 1975 and they were the "in" car -- almost up with Lotus . It was a brilliant design by Harris Mann who pulled British Leyland out of the 60's.
Alan I’ve just bought my very own TR7 after years upon years of drooling over the photos of them!! But unfortunately the headgasket went only two weeks after I bought it which was a big thorn in the side!! But to be expected on a car of this age!! It was in good condition and in Calvary blue and had done 100,000 miles!! I bought it from SS preparations in Lancashire!! (you probably know of it) The former owner was a very vibrant member of the TR drivers club!! HUGH Ps: Silver is one of my favourite colours for a TR7 besides white!!
Thanks for watching Hugh! Sorry just getting a chance to reply now. Shame the head gasket went on yours. Good luck getting it sorted. Summer is around the corner!
Love TR7s. The only one I own is a model! But how I would love the real thing. All my life since they first cam out! My Granddad used to build them and brought the young lads in the family the stickers that would go on the bodywork.
Fiat X1/9. Wow. I was offered the last X1/9 Grande Finale in Mica blue in the Fiat main dealer. it had a price tag on the bonnet of £10,006 . yes ten grand & six pounds in late 89 / 90. The Manager said we need rid, so Bid me & you will own it ! Otherwise they would have had to PAY for IT & Register it due to Legislation at the end of that Month. about a week away. The car was NEW in the showroom. I made a HUGE MOTORING MISTAKE, MY Biggest Regret EVER ! I didn't bid him on it. Not even a silly bid. I was sat at his desk drinking coffee & chatting Trying to buy Used Trade cars. He Begged me to bid him any price, so he could go to the directors with an offer. I could have bid 6 or 7 grand & he would not have been offended. I thought he was just Selling hard. He was actually Dumping unsaleable Metal out via the back door. Next time i went he said i was Crackers not to have bought it. He said I thought you had more sense than to walk away from that car. He was RIGHT ! I had the money, i'd just sold a house.
I had an automatic Borg-warner box with the twist and slide sun roof in red, auto definitely gave an air of refinement to the car performance? Let's not go there but lovely car in its day. Just taking my rose tinted specs off. I liked it it reminds me of my youth.
I owned the 183 from last tr7. Registered 1982. Monza red and i bought it 3 months old, and kept 22 years... where are you now swb107y ? Your silver car is immaculate and look standard. Excellent
It seemed like the TR7 was what the Miata of the 70s. In fact, the two people that I knew that had TR7s later purchased Miatas. I had a chance to purchase a TR7 in the early 90s but I went with the Fiero solely based on availability of parts. This was pre-internet and it was hard to get basic parts for these cars, which required a lot of repairs.
+Marvin Harrison Smith II Very true. Though the TR7 was always compared against the x1/9 even though it was mid-engined. Think it was more the wedge profile. They do say that Mazda saw a gap in the market when the TR7 wasn't replaced. The rest is history. The Fiero has links with the x1/9 too if I remember correctly.
Take to the Road My parents owned both a X1/9 and a 1981 TR7. They never really liked the X1/9 though. Thats why they sold it quite early and still own the TR7! At the moment it is in "storage", but I plan to bring it back on the road very soon!
+MarcChep Cool for your folks to have had both! 😎 Especially as they were often compared together in reviews back then. I can see why they sold it. The TR7 is more comfortable and spacious than the x1/9. Both are very different though despite the wedge similarities. Good luck getting your parents TR7 back on the road!👍
+LAZAROS ANTONIADIS Thanks Lazaros! They are quite rare now as a lot rusted away but there's still a good community out there. You just have to find them in the wild ;)
Indeed the TR7 is a rising star now, especially the TR8. They didn’t get a hugely enthusiastic welcome when launched. That is true. It was probably too radical a step for many die hard TR fans.
Hi,,everyone.I own a tr7 1981,,,,i dont know why it runs very high,,,so because i am not a mechanic i am afraid to open up something where is going to make it worse or it will stop the car from starting up. Also when i bought the car i had a problem with the fuel relay. Could anyone tell me what this fuel relay do for the car? Thanks in advance.
Sorry for the slow reply to this one. It sounds like your TR7 is idling too high. There is an adjustment screw on the carb which you can turn when it is running. You just move it a little bit at a time and the rpm will slow down, which will stop it running high. If you look for instructions for a TR7 carb online you are bound to find pictures showing you what to adjust. The fuel relay helps with the power to the fuel pump. You can swap these out for a replacement if it is giving trouble.
With the continuing enthusiasm for retro cars, its a shame tata or landrover dont come out with a new twist on the tr7 tr8. Shame it suffered the woes of being built like all 1970's/80's BL cars. But the once odd design snd styling actually look really up to date and attractive. Imagine a tr7 based retro tr9 with modern build snd tech and design, together with modern teliability and quality control! It is one of the 3 iconic british sports car-- etype, mgb, tr7. And it would sell.
Thanks for watching Alec 👍 There would be a lot of interest in reviving the TR line and a lot of manufacturers would love to have the rights to a brand like Triumph, especially with it's history. Actually BMW owns the rights to Triumph as it was part of their bundle deal when they acquired Rover. Given their focus on Mini, it looks doubtful Triumph will ever make a come back. Which is a shame. I'm sure they could relaunch but it would have to find a fit in between the main BMW line and Mini. And a reborn TR7 would probably eat into sales of the Z4. But that model in itself could provide a platform for a new TR convertible/coupe. It is nice to dream I guess...
There is something wrong with your car. If you look to the bodywork at the right side, you see that where the "line" passes over in the door, it is not exactly straight. Was the door not closed well, or?
+bombakdik Thanks for watching. I’m trying to remember if the car had any issues with the shut lines. It’s possible the door may not have shut properly.
Yes I see where the line doesn't quite match. The hinge may have dropped slightly with age. Plus Triumph's were built very well at that time, they had a poor reputation. Not always fair. But industrial disputes at the time didn't help with the quality of the TR7 and other Triumphs.
Idk if I should be talking bout this or if anyone cares but a life story of me, My dads brother bought one of these but his wife said "where the kids gunna sit" So he had to sell it, So my dad said hed take it as we alr had a family car but on the day my dad bought it engine shot so he took it to his mate that said he'd repair it and a very long time later he still didnt and when my dad went to check on the car a tree had grown through where the engine was supposed to be, So he took the car to the garage and him and my mum worked on it from nothing, they scrapped it down to the chassis and built it up from nothing and as there was no manual they would have to research where every part would go, Eventually they rebuilt it, It was a Dark blue/ purple pearlescent I was a kid when we had it and always used to sit in the drivers seat and pretend to drive it lmao, Later on when I was about 6/7/8 My dads mate took all the money from his buisness and he had barely anything we had the sherrifs on our door and were in debt so he sole his TR7. I still miss it :(
I had a motor trend magazine with TR7 famous 30th anniversary add where they were giving 900$ of free options and I can’t remember how many nights before I went to sleep I would open that magazine and ogle the car till I doze off. I was 15 then and sadly in Lebanon they only imported 4 which all disappeared by the time I got my license and in those days it was hard to import. I had a few close calls to buy low mileage ones but so far no success. One day….
Driving the TR7 where other TR7 owners would flash (lift) the headlights as you pass each other. Known for catching fire, mine did, main harness under the dash shorted. Had to strip out and splice in new wires, then all ok.
Cool! The pop up headlight winking hello 😎 Lucky your TR7 didn't go up in smoke! Not fun when cars do that. Had a close one with my Bertone x19. Melted fuse in the fuse board. Lucky it didn't catch.
My TR7 was a 1978 three speed automatic 2.0 litre. The third ratio was variomatic similar to the Daf automatics of the time. Every few hundred miles one of the headlights would pop up on its own and wink up and down with the bumps in the road. Over time, the linkage to the motor that lifted the lights would unscrew with the vibration. Not very cool, but an easy fix by the side of the road. I remember the Morris Marina/Allegro door handles as well.
But usually only one light popped up. Had a TR7 for two, rebuilt the engine, the box and most things, dreadful brakes and woeful build.....but I really liked it, go figure :)
Yup true story. A real shame what happened to it with those mods as it was such an original car. Haven’t seen it pop up for sale since. Hopefully it’s been looked after properly.
Good luck with your search. I couldn’t do that either. Completely agree with you. Yes ok sure the V8 was always planned for the TR. But if you are doing to do the swap, do it right.
Take to the Road The guy who had the baby blue one bought a pencil yellow 1990 RX-7 convertible, and his wife still has (I think) a pink Cavalier (Chevy not your UK Cavalier) convertible, they like skittles cars it seems. I much prefer the TR7 in grey, but I don't own one so... lol
Just like Americans can't pronounce letter T eg. waer, Waler , it's called an accent many types in the U.K. and where ever English is spoken like any other language.
@@rovingenglish3112 Funny Ive found if you ask for "WaTer" in a US restaurant they just look at you mystified. Then if you change it to "WarDer" that's ok!
Beautiful car, loved these since I saw them new as a kid, always fancied one and now you’ve got me thinking 🚙👍🏻
I once owned a 1980 TR-8 with a 3.5 litre Rover V8 a Buick derived engine from the 60's and boy was it tons of fun!
Nice! The sound must have been glorious 😎👍
My TR7 love began in the late 70s. I got to sit in and play with all the buttons in Tony Ponds rally spec TR7, and met his co-driver. How can you not be hooked after that.
What a lot of people do not realise, the wedge shape and the slant 4, was a great innovation. It was designed that upon a front end impact, the engine would slide UNDER the floor, ( years before Mercedes reckon they invented the system ) there fore saving the legs of the occupants.
I've had 4 TR7's, my current one is a 1982 convertible, all original ( except for MG TF wheels), and I love it.
fred grove I wish I’d fitted Minilite wheels to my car
I can feel the joy you have through the video and what a beautiful car it is, best wishes *
Ny son & I had a '77' TR7 back in the 90s. We won 1st place at the TRF Factory. Properly tuned it was a blast to drive.
This was my first car. For a high school student, this was indeed a cool car to have back in 1986!
Wow! That sure was a cool car to be driving back in high school! Nice one :)
Dude. was one of my first cars too. took my road test in a 1980 yellow convertible. felt bad ass in a 2 seater and you won't find a more fun car to drive
+Will Llewellyn Cool! Nice to know one of your first cars was a TR7😎 And thanks for watching our film👍
I just bought a Barnfind TR7 at 17 yo (my first car), sat in a barn since '88, it has a Jubilee Badge but don't think it's a legit Jubilee. the car is completely rust free on the underside so a very rare find, body is a bit rusty but in decent shape (no dents or serious scratches. I'm restoring the car mostly by myself, with help from my dad who is a Saab specialist and since Saab used the dolomite engine in the early 99 models he knows his way around this engine. he is restoring a 99 with the same engine atm, and teaching me the ways of properly removing rust, going to be a cool car to drive for sure.
My son & I restored a 77 back in 1992 & had a lot of fun driving it.
That’s cool Pete! You restored it at a time the TR7 wasn’t getting much love.
Thanks!
I always liked the TR7 and never understood why so many motoring journalists still criticize it today, often for the wrong reasons. The Convertible is lovely, the coupé looks really good and distinctive too.
Thanks for watching! Yeah anything BL did then got a bad rap. The TR7 has come of age though now and is finally appreciated. The coupe does look cool too! More rare as well.
It was prone to myriad problems don't forget, major problems
Lovely cars, I remember them well.
At 1.39 mins , very mellow and pleasing lines !!!,,,,,,, I remember them being launched in 1975 and they were the "in" car -- almost up with Lotus .
It was a brilliant design by Harris Mann who pulled British Leyland out of the 60's.
Thanks for watching Steve glad you enjoyed it😎👍
Alan I’ve just bought my very own TR7 after years upon years of drooling over the photos of them!! But unfortunately the headgasket went only two weeks after I bought it which was a big thorn in the side!! But to be expected on a car of this age!! It was in good condition and in Calvary blue and had done 100,000 miles!! I bought it from SS preparations in Lancashire!! (you probably know of it) The former owner was a very vibrant member of the TR drivers club!!
HUGH
Ps: Silver is one of my favourite colours for a TR7 besides white!!
Thanks for watching Hugh! Sorry just getting a chance to reply now. Shame the head gasket went on yours. Good luck getting it sorted. Summer is around the corner!
What a beautiful car...I always loved tha TR7 design🇬🇧
Thanks for watching! It is one of the great wedge designs👌😎
Love TR7s. The only one I own is a model! But how I would love the real thing. All my life since they first cam out! My Granddad used to build them and brought the young lads in the family the stickers that would go on the bodywork.
There were alot of British cars in Canada in the seventies. They would be hard to start on rainy days which is odd because England is a wet country
Such a well made video 👍
I always loved the TR7 and the Fiat X1/9.
+Quentin Raffensperger They are both cool cars. Similar but also very different.
Fiat X1/9. Wow. I was offered the last X1/9 Grande Finale in Mica blue in the Fiat main dealer.
it had a price tag on the bonnet of £10,006 . yes ten grand & six pounds in late 89 / 90.
The Manager said we need rid, so Bid me & you will own it !
Otherwise they would have had to PAY for IT & Register it due to Legislation at the end of that
Month. about a week away.
The car was NEW in the showroom.
I made a HUGE MOTORING MISTAKE,
MY Biggest Regret EVER !
I didn't bid him on it. Not even a silly bid.
I was sat at his desk drinking coffee & chatting Trying to buy Used Trade cars.
He Begged me to bid him any price, so he could go to the directors with an offer.
I could have bid 6 or 7 grand & he would not have been offended.
I thought he was just Selling hard.
He was actually Dumping unsaleable Metal out via the back door.
Next time i went he said i was Crackers not to have bought it.
He said I thought you had more sense than to walk away from that car.
He was RIGHT !
I had the money, i'd just sold a house.
I had an automatic Borg-warner box with the twist and slide sun roof in red, auto definitely gave an air of refinement to the car performance? Let's not go there but lovely car in its day. Just taking my rose tinted specs off. I liked it it reminds me of my youth.
I owned the 183 from last tr7. Registered 1982. Monza red and i bought it 3 months old, and kept 22 years... where are you now swb107y ? Your silver car is immaculate and look standard. Excellent
You clearly approved of your TR7 David keeping it for 22 years. And one of the last batches too. I hope it has survived.
Yes... lovely car and would take it back in a heartbeat. I now have a 1958 tr3a... now that is old style! Nice mix with some modern exotics
Great I wish I still had my one, hopefully one day 😀
Thanks for watching David! Good look acquiring another TR7 down the road👍
It seemed like the TR7 was what the Miata of the 70s. In fact, the two people that I knew that had TR7s later purchased Miatas. I had a chance to purchase a TR7 in the early 90s but I went with the Fiero solely based on availability of parts. This was pre-internet and it was hard to get basic parts for these cars, which required a lot of repairs.
+Marvin Harrison Smith II Very true. Though the TR7 was always compared against the x1/9 even though it was mid-engined. Think it was more the wedge profile. They do say that Mazda saw a gap in the market when the TR7 wasn't replaced. The rest is history. The Fiero has links with the x1/9 too if I remember correctly.
Take to the Road My parents owned both a X1/9 and a 1981 TR7. They never really liked the X1/9 though. Thats why they sold it quite early and still own the TR7! At the moment it is in "storage", but I plan to bring it back on the road very soon!
+MarcChep Cool for your folks to have had both! 😎 Especially as they were often compared together in reviews back then. I can see why they sold it. The TR7 is more comfortable and spacious than the x1/9. Both are very different though despite the wedge similarities. Good luck getting your parents TR7 back on the road!👍
Nice looking car. Never seen one when i was living in Australia nore one in Greece...
+LAZAROS ANTONIADIS Thanks Lazaros! They are quite rare now as a lot rusted away but there's still a good community out there. You just have to find them in the wild ;)
Lots in Canada and the States
Thge odometer turns over at 100k right?
Nice to read the nostalgic comments here, as I remember it the people who bought these cars when they came out were not that enthusiastic.
Indeed the TR7 is a rising star now, especially the TR8. They didn’t get a hugely enthusiastic welcome when launched. That is true. It was probably too radical a step for many die hard TR fans.
Beautiful car always loved the shape. Rule Britania
Thanks for watching Darren! 😎 👍
Hi,,everyone.I own a tr7 1981,,,,i dont know why it runs very high,,,so because i am not a mechanic i am afraid to open up something where is going to make it worse or it will stop the car from starting up.
Also when i bought the car i had a problem with the fuel relay. Could anyone tell me what this fuel relay do for the car?
Thanks in advance.
Sorry for the slow reply to this one. It sounds like your TR7 is idling too high. There is an adjustment screw on the carb which you can turn when it is running. You just move it a little bit at a time and the rpm will slow down, which will stop it running high. If you look for instructions for a TR7 carb online you are bound to find pictures showing you what to adjust. The fuel relay helps with the power to the fuel pump. You can swap these out for a replacement if it is giving trouble.
Nice car mate..!! Take care of her...
Thanks for watching Steven! Glad you enjoyed the TR7👍
I loved my tr7, I still mis driving it
Cool! Maybe one day you’ll own another.
I,m from Holland and drive a cabriolet tr7 1980
I have a soft spot for the Triumph TR7, I would love to drive a shit brown one around Blackpool where I Iive for fun.
With the continuing enthusiasm for retro cars, its a shame tata or landrover dont come out with a new twist on the tr7 tr8.
Shame it suffered the woes of being built like all 1970's/80's BL cars.
But the once odd design snd styling actually look really up to date and attractive. Imagine a tr7 based retro tr9 with modern build snd tech and design, together with modern teliability and quality control!
It is one of the 3 iconic british sports car-- etype, mgb, tr7.
And it would sell.
Thanks for watching Alec 👍 There would be a lot of interest in reviving the TR line and a lot of manufacturers would love to have the rights to a brand like Triumph, especially with it's history. Actually BMW owns the rights to Triumph as it was part of their bundle deal when they acquired Rover. Given their focus on Mini, it looks doubtful Triumph will ever make a come back. Which is a shame. I'm sure they could relaunch but it would have to find a fit in between the main BMW line and Mini. And a reborn TR7 would probably eat into sales of the Z4. But that model in itself could provide a platform for a new TR convertible/coupe. It is nice to dream I guess...
very nice , do you still own it
Sorry, no I don’t
@@alangleaves7405 thanks for the reply mate x
There is something wrong with your car. If you look to the bodywork at the right side, you see that where the "line" passes over in the door, it is not exactly straight. Was the door not closed well, or?
+bombakdik Thanks for watching. I’m trying to remember if the car had any issues with the shut lines. It’s possible the door may not have shut properly.
Take to the Road thanks! Do you see what I mean? It was not easy for me to make myself clear...
Yes I see where the line doesn't quite match. The hinge may have dropped slightly with age. Plus Triumph's were built very well at that time, they had a poor reputation. Not always fair. But industrial disputes at the time didn't help with the quality of the TR7 and other Triumphs.
Yes I’ve heard that from others as well. They weren’t really put together that well. I say take it for what it is and enjoy it.
Nice👍
Very good condition - i will look!
Thanks for watching Stefan! 😎👍
Idk if I should be talking bout this or if anyone cares but a life story of me, My dads brother bought one of these but his wife said "where the kids gunna sit" So he had to sell it, So my dad said hed take it as we alr had a family car but on the day my dad bought it engine shot so he took it to his mate that said he'd repair it and a very long time later he still didnt and when my dad went to check on the car a tree had grown through where the engine was supposed to be, So he took the car to the garage and him and my mum worked on it from nothing, they scrapped it down to the chassis and built it up from nothing and as there was no manual they would have to research where every part would go, Eventually they rebuilt it, It was a Dark blue/ purple pearlescent I was a kid when we had it and always used to sit in the drivers seat and pretend to drive it lmao, Later on when I was about 6/7/8 My dads mate took all the money from his buisness and he had barely anything we had the sherrifs on our door and were in debt so he sole his TR7. I still miss it :(
I had a motor trend magazine with TR7 famous 30th anniversary add where they were giving 900$ of free options and I can’t remember how many nights before I went to sleep I would open that magazine and ogle the car till I doze off. I was 15 then and sadly in Lebanon they only imported 4 which all disappeared by the time I got my license and in those days it was hard to import. I had a few close calls to buy low mileage ones but so far no success. One day….
Driving the TR7 where other TR7 owners would flash (lift) the headlights as you pass each other.
Known for catching fire, mine did, main harness under the dash shorted. Had to strip out and splice in new wires, then all ok.
Cool! The pop up headlight winking hello 😎 Lucky your TR7 didn't go up in smoke! Not fun when cars do that. Had a close one with my Bertone x19. Melted fuse in the fuse board. Lucky it didn't catch.
My TR7 was a 1978 three speed automatic 2.0 litre. The third ratio was variomatic similar to the Daf automatics of the time. Every few hundred miles one of the headlights would pop up on its own and wink up and down with the bumps in the road. Over time, the linkage to the motor that lifted the lights would unscrew with the vibration. Not very cool, but an easy fix by the side of the road. I remember the Morris Marina/Allegro door handles as well.
But usually only one light popped up. Had a TR7 for two, rebuilt the engine, the box and most things, dreadful brakes and woeful build.....but I really liked it, go figure :)
He still has it and its taxed and MOT'd
Actually Alan ended up selling his TR7. To someone who converted it to a V8, stuck modern seats in it and put ugly alloys on it. Ruined the car sadly.
Yup true story. A real shame what happened to it with those mods as it was such an original car. Haven’t seen it pop up for sale since. Hopefully it’s been looked after properly.
Good luck with your search. I couldn’t do that either. Completely agree with you. Yes ok sure the V8 was always planned for the TR. But if you are doing to do the swap, do it right.
Clean car, I've only seen a baby blue one before this superb example, baby blue wasn't sexy at all on that car hehe.
Yeah they had some shall we say interesting colours on the TR7 and baby blue was one of them ;)
Take to the Road The guy who had the baby blue one bought a pencil yellow 1990 RX-7 convertible, and his wife still has (I think) a pink Cavalier (Chevy not your UK Cavalier) convertible, they like skittles cars it seems.
I much prefer the TR7 in grey, but I don't own one so... lol
+L-Renaud T. Drev Ha! Good one! Definitely liked their colours then :)
Aquamarine is a great colour for a TR7. i had one.
The sevens were cool looking but needed a V8 in Canada and the US.
BLs "don't give a shit" build quality is standard !
A rep they could never shake in the end
Why do some Brits say things like "desigm", and "sevemties", is there something wrong with the letter"n"?
Regional dialects and accents I would assume
Just like Americans can't pronounce letter T eg. waer, Waler , it's called an accent many types in the U.K. and where ever English is spoken like any other language.
@@rovingenglish3112 Funny Ive found if you ask for "WaTer" in a US restaurant they just look at you mystified. Then if you change it to "WarDer" that's ok!
Was the TR7 an X19 rip off???
Just got rid of my gold 1
I see someone has converted it into a 3500 V8 know. Shame.
They were the wrist car ever built .if it had been a Alfa I might have liked it much more.
Wedgie
It’s a pitty it was badly built and being a rot box
Not a bad car at all if you send it to the crusher and recycle it into something useful like a toaster..
Undoubtedly the worst car I ever owned, and that includes an AMC Hornet