When a British Manufacturer tries to make an Italian Sports Car
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- čas přidán 10. 01. 2024
- This is the story of the infamous Triumph TR7, one of the last sportscars to come out of Great Britain in the 70s, and a stark departure from previous British Roadster design.
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Sources
www.aronline.co.uk/cars/trium...
www.motor1.com/photos/522424/...
www.retromotor.co.uk/great-mo...
www.thewedgeshop.com/triumph-...
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I do NOT own some or all of the video and photo materials used in this video. In the case of copyright issues, please contact me at bartcyclebusiness@gmail.com for any further action. - Auta a dopravní prostředky
What Giorgetto Giugario was referring to with the "oh no they did it to the other side too" was the fact that clay model designs usually had 2 styling concepts per side before deciding on one to progress with into production, im guessing it was hos disbelief that such a design feature made it all the way through to mass production
I like the TR7. Its polarizing. And the later 3.5L TR8 makes a glorious noise.
What really bothers me is that BL never realized the Triumph Lynx prototype, virtually a TR7 from the front but with a longer wheelbase, 2+2 seating and a fastback body that was aesthetically much more pleasing. And of course the 3.5L Rover engine.
I agree with you regarding the "Lynx prototype". I looked it up at your mention, and it definitely was a foreshadowing of things to come.
Looking at it... 😉 ...I wonder if this is what inspired Honda's mid/late 80s Accord hatchback.
Say what you like... the 7 was a great driving car! My brother picked one up brand spanking new.... a ragtop.... and, while not a fast car, was beyond fun to drive. It was as much fun as a TR6.... an MGB or a Triumph Spitfire.... all of which I've had the pleasure of putting some serious miles on.
My first car at 17 was a 1980 TR7 convertible. Damn thing nearly killed me a dozen times. Being one of the last batch produced by Leyland it´s quality control was, shall we say, spotty. When my brake caliper fell off at 60 mph I realized the rumors about employee sabotage where probably true. What a nightmare. Thanks for taking me back, I think. lol
I loved the look of the TR7 and really wanted one (perhaps influenced by a friend's TR6). Alas, in high school my budget was more "hand-me-down family car" than "brand new British sports car." (First-world problem, I know. And I was happy to have any car, but still).
While I’m partial to my 1969 TR6, the 7 and 8 ragtops have their place. (Not a fan of the fixed head coupes). You listed all the headwinds they had to overcome just to build anything at all and I guess we should celebrate that at least.
I had a 1976 TR7 that I used to get my racing licence in the 70s. It was well balanced car on track with no handling vices and easy to drive. My 1970 Triumph GT6+ was my actual race car, another great one from Triumph, earned a second place in my first race. Later got a 1974 Spitfire. Currently own a 1969 GT6+ and keeping my eye out for a TR6 and a TR8...
I had a yellow convertible back on the late 80s.The TR7 is gorgeous, but we couldn't drive it much because it was in the shop most of its life. The TR6, on the other hand, is nearly perfect in every way. The TR6 is an amazing drivers car and looks almost perfect.
There is no better sounding exhaust note than the inline 6 in the TR6. It's my dream car, too, and I'd like to see a retro version manufactured like the MGB...
The TR6 is a class act. The TR4 is no slouch with beautiful line as well.
Me and my grandpa found one in a guys yard just a frame and assembled the entire car in his garage. They are tight to work on but very simple. Go get one
AROnline is pronounced as: A - R - Online (A for Austin, R for Rover). British Leyland / Leyland Cars etc. was known as Austin-Rover for a time.
The TR3B was about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on. A glance at the pavement over those low-cut doors made it seem like you were going twice as fast as you were.
Really enjoyed this video. The TR7 was coming out around the time I was learning to drive, so it still feels contemporary to me. I know a guy who worked at the factory. He's a big guy. Used to test the cars at random after they came off the production line. Even though a big guy he was always surprised at the pick-up from a standing start. I always wondered how he ever fitted into the car. You're right about the labour unions, though, everything was being done to destroy the industry and therefore jobs, tailing away the British sports car as a concept. Huge numbers of ordinary blue-collar guys lost their jobs at that time.
Well done! Hope you get that TR6!
I had a TR7 convertible. Fun little car.
The electrics worked, but I had the head off tons. Had to rebuild the trans cause it ate itself on the way from one end of VA to the other for drill weekend.
Didn't have the 'heart' that my MG Midget had tho
Problems from the Dolomite 4? Why I, I don´t believe it. That´s a joke.
@10:12. It was a joke! He didn't literally mean that he didn't expect the crease line to be on the other side, but to point out the absurdity (as he saw it) of having a crease line like that on the car at all. I know you Americans often don't get the dryness of UK or European humour, but it's pretty well understood that he was making a joke rather than directly criticising the design. The criticism behind it was perfectly conveyed however.
The Brits really lost the plot in the 70s and it was extremely sad when you think of what was lost. I would love to hear your take on the disaster that was British Leyland! Would be an interesting video for sure.
Current 73 TR6 owner here..........The TR7 is UGLY UGLY UGLY..............
I own a late production TR-8 and the car is comfortable, quick and handles well. Better performance than a TR-6, but with effective ventilation, heating and a snug and well fitted convertible top. A test drive put me off the TR-6 when new....like driving a race car on the street. Tiring and noisy when the novelty wore off
I always loved the TR6, it was so beautiful
Great video, I'm an MG guy (hence the channel name lol) but a lover of British cars in general. Keep up the good work, your videos are great!
I'm an MG guy as well! I've got an old project midget that I'm selling but I'd love to get an MGA at some point. Not sure why but I'm just not a big fan of the B. Don't hate me...
@@bartscarstories no worries, no hate here! Mine is a 1974.5, sold as a 1975. First year of the rubber bumper, but prior to January 1975 still had the dual carbs and less emission controls. You wanna talk hate? Ask "chrome bumper" guys what they think of the rubber bumper. I just tell them I bought it to drive and can't see the bumpers when I'm driving it!
My father had a TR7. Actually, my brother inherited it, but a little bit ago he lost his storage space for it. He tried to get me to take it, and I would have liked to, but he is on the East Coast, and I am in the Chicago area. I do have room for it (a three-car attached garage) so that was no problem. On the other hand, it had not run for well over a decade. I wasn't sure I wanted to take on the project. Now I regret not doing it.
My father bought it in 1980, but it was a 1979 model. You are probably too young to remember, but inflation, and thus interest rates, were MUCH higher than the recent inflation we have experienced. Twice as much, basically. My brother and I had always had sports cars (Austin Healey Sprite, MGB, Triumph GT6, Alfa Romeo Giulletta) and I think my father always wanted one, seeing how much fun we were having (too much, really). So, he wouldn't buy one until he retired. There is a whole story behind that. I mention the interest rates because of how he bought the car. It listed for $20K, but he went to the dealership and offered $10K CASH. SOLD!
That drawing of a wedge shaped car at about 4:20 looks like a Bond Bug.
I was a teenager & in love with British cars at the the time that the TR7 came out. I remember thinking, 'yuck'. It was nothing like the classic British sports car.
I have always really liked the TR7. But when it became the TR8 I really wanted one!
Why do so many people pan the TR7? It seemed like a nice enough car to me when it came out. (Yes, I am that old). The V8 TR8 was even better.
Its slated by many because it didn't fit the stereotypical image of Triumph sportscars, snobbery was its main problem.
Apart from the engine which was an oddball it was a pretty conventional car underneath and handled well, the TR8 just added a decent engine with very lttle weight penalty.
Wen I arrived in the USA , I saw a tr7 in a dealer, and I felt in love with it, I used to go to that dealer just to look at that car, thanks for the video 👏👏👏👏👏
In the 70's safety hawks were coming after convertibles as unsafe. Many manufacturers stopped making them. The 1976 Cadillac Eldorado was marketed as the "last" convertible. Laws never got enacted but the threat of lawsuits scared many manufacturers.
Then or now, I never once thought of the 7/8 as being particularly Italian influenced. Even the DeTomaso was a flattened pancake more so than it was a wedge. That's why that one is mostly known for the rear louvers, an unfortunate trend years later!
The 7/8 still looks modern. It's just a good design. In later years when the 2nd and 3rd generations Preludes arrived (83-91) they just looked so right because of this car.
10:58 "Maybe hippies liked it, I don't know" - er, no, we didn't, mate.
I've never driven a British roadster. I remember seeing them at the Chicago auto show and did sit in several, including an MG Midget. When I tried to get out I found that my knees were wedged under the dashboard and I couldn't get my 6' frame out. After much squirming and pulling I extracted myself. That was enough English design for me. It's been German and Japanese ever since😂
Giorgetto Giugiaro
His last name is ‘Zseh, Zsar-Oh’
(think of the “Zs” sound as if you’re saying “Zsa Zsa” Gabor)
I named my cat, Giugiaro.
He’s a grey, Russian blue, named after an Italian man who designed a American stainless steel sports car, built in Northern Ireland. (The DeLorean)
It's not the same sound in Zsa Zsa, that's like a French 'j', rather the 'gi' in Italian is like the English 'j', it's a much harder sound. If you can read ipa: [dʒorˈdʒetto dʒuˈdʒaːro].
Also Bart got Bertone wrong, Americans really seem to hate pronouncing the e on the end of Italian names, it's Bertone, not Bertohn. (I've heard it when they say names like Salvatore)
A co-worker of mine, some 40 years ago, had a TR6 that he claimed he transplanted a Plymouth flathead 6 into.
Liked this vid, especially the Royal Enfield motorbike masquerading as a Triumph....
M.G.,s proposal, ADO21, a mid engine, was passed over for this lump, trying to look like a mid engine.
I was starting to drive at the time, and bought my first British roadster in 1979 used. What the TR7 really did is sell MGBs. MGBs became much more common sight in the US after 1974 and used ones well into the 80s.
TR7s not as much and like the Australian Capri roadster vs the Miata...by the second year you saw many more Fiats and Mazda wedge cars on the common roads...and the Ferrari was the real wedge car of the era. Mustached driver or not.
Too bad the 16v Dolomite "Sprint" cylinder head was never offered in the TR7.
It was. Well, sort of. The TR7 Sprint was produced in small numbers, but BL managed to b0rk it up. There's a wiki page on it which covers most of it.
Largely done to homologate for rally. The TR7 *should* have had the Dolomite engine and transmission from the outset, but BL wanted to bean-count and not compete internally with the Dolomite Sprint, their flagship. Reason, foresight and planning were words BL were aware of, but didn't like the use of.
I briefly thought about buying one of these in 1980 but I bought an RX7 instead.
Great channel but I would say us Brits were the first to design and build 2 seater lightweight sports cars and in the post war era were the benchmark… I’m not defending late Triumphs though, to be clear
i agree with Giugiaro was that awful side slash and the ford anglia roof line awful im sure mann did not have any of them in mind the best thing they did with it was drop in the rover v8 lump . a wider lower stance no slash and a better roof line and the car would have been amazing oh well all history now
Michelotti is my favorite car designer...Harris Mann was a good designer thoroughly constrained by BL corporate squabbling nonsense.
This was the worst car I ever owned. Bought it new in 75 and sold it back to the dealer 18 months later.
I think it's pronounced A-R-Online
Yes... British and Great Car... An oxymoron. LOL
I had two MG's a Midget & MGB-GT. Besides fact they literally were magnets for rust & rot, there was endless oil leaks. Shoxs of course being the worst.
The bodies hold up well in CA.
Insurance regulations
In my humble opinion, the tr7 was absolute rubbish, ugly, unreliable, slow and here in Australia unloved.
So this car is essentially a Disney kid star, say Miley Cyrus, trying to distinguish itself from its former identity by being the opposite of what they previously were. I think that's what I have a problem with. There were well-proportioned wedge cars of this era- x19 comes to mind. I feel like this is a teenager rebelling by giving themselves a bad haircut and drinking.
🤣 I like your take
It was a horrible car! I repaired and drove them at the beginning of their launch in the USA. The car was lacking in every way.
Awful pronunciation
I always thought it was very similar to the FIAT X-19 stylewise, but for me, the FIAT is prettier? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_X1/9#/media/File:Nationale_oldtimerdag_Zandvoort_2010,_1978_FIAT_X1-9,_51-VV-18_pic2.JPG
But FIAT means "Fix It Again Tony". The TR7 can be fixed.