Unsung heroes: Triumph TR7

British Leyland have far more than their fair share of unsung heroes, being the car company everyone loves to hate, and today's subject is the second Triumph-badged car to feature in this series. The Triumph TR7 is practically guaranteed to feature in all those lists of the world's worst cars that keep appearing, especially those compiled by Americans, who really seem to hate it with a passion. That's quite ironic really as it was designed specifically to appeal to the US market and the Americans mostly have themselves to blame for the way it turned out. Was it really that bad though? Yes, it suffered its share of issues and its story is one of missed opportunities and unrealised potential, but it's a surprisingly contradictory yet true fact that the TR7 is somehow both the least loved and simultaneously also the most successful member of the TR series.

Is it really fair to class this as one of the world's worst cars?

The TR7 came as quite a shock when it was unveiled in 1974, a dramatic wedge-shaped coupe that was completely unlike the TR6 it was intended to replace. Whereas the TR6 was the archetypal "hairy chested" British sports car, the TR7 was comparatively puny with its four-cylinder engine, but in this respect really harked back to the early days of the TR2 and 3, small and relatively low-powered cars that were nonetheless fun to drive. It may look dated now, but Harris Mann's sharp wedgy styling was bang on the 1970s trend for futurism and was quite well received at the time. All initial production went to North America and it was actually in very high demand there at first, so much so that the UK launch was pushed back twice and it didn't go on sale in its home country until May 1976.

6 of one, 7 of the other. Two very different cars.

One of the biggest criticisms of the TR7 was the fact it was a hardtop, which didn't really make sense as the TR initials historically stood for Triumph Roadster and all previous TRs had been soft-tops only, but this was a sign of the American market's importance to BL. Strong rumours began circulating in the mid-seventies that new federal safety standards to be introduced in 1976 would outlaw all open-topped cars, which not only caused the American marques to discontinue all their convertibles but also forced the TR7 to be developed as a coupe. As it turned out, the new legislation didn't go that far but by then it was too late and it wasn't until 1979 that the more desirable TR7 convertible appeared.

Early TR7s were all coupes thanks to the Americans. This one has had a V8 transplant.

All production TR7s were powered by an eight-valve version of the two-litre slant-four engine from the Dolomite Sprint, which was adequate in Europe but the air conditioning and emissions control equipment added to US models sapped all the power and its lack of performance was heavily criticised by the Americans. The obvious solution was to fit the 16-valve head and a fleet of TR7 Sprint press cars were built, but there is much speculation over whether this model was genuinely intended for production or simply to homologate the engine for rallying as it was said not to meet American emissions standards. Shortly afterwards the Speke factory closed and by the time production resumed at Canley there was such a backlog of orders for standard TR7s that any plans there may have been for the Sprint were quietly dropped. Not producing it was a missed opportunity to easily do something about the disappointing performance, whatever the reason may be.

The TR7 Sprint, an easy way to get more power so why wasn't it produced?

That brings me neatly on to one of the most infamous facts about the TR7: it was built in three different factories during its short life, which really didn't help its reputation. In 1970 BL had spent £10.5 million building an all-new second plant at their Speke site on Merseyside capable of producing 100,000 cars a year, and this is where TR7 production began in 1974. The Midlands factories may be notorious for strikes and quality problems, but Speke was even worse and things got so bad by 1978 that BL made the drastic decision to close the eight-year old plant completely and transfer the TR7 production line to Canley. Rationalisation in 1980 saw the closure of Canley and it was proposed that the TR7 could be moved to Abingdon and rebadged as an MG to replace the ageing MGB. In the event Abingdon closed too, the TR7 remained a Triumph and went to the Rover factory in Solihull, but just a year later all car production there ceased as it was turned over exclusively to Land Rovers, and that was the end of the TR7.

End of the line. The very last TR7 of all.

The other obvious source of more power was the good old Rover V8, and using this was planned from the early days of the project but delayed due to lack of sufficient engine production capacity. Originally known as the TR7 V8, the eventual production version launched in 1978 was re-christened TR8 and sold almost exclusively in North America. TR8s made formidable works rally cars and their success did much to improve Triumph's image, but all roadgoing TR8 coupes were built for export so British rally fans must have been frustrated that they couldn't buy such a car and eagerly looked forward to a UK launch that would sadly never come.

The TR8 coupe was a rally weapon the British public were never able to buy

After the convertible appeared all subsequent TR8s used this body style, but serious work on a UK-spec version only began in the car's dying days at Solihull. Although the factory RHD model never reached showrooms and just 18 were built before the plug was pulled on the entire TR7/8 range, fitting the V8 is an extremely popular and straightforward aftermarket conversion for TR7 owners in search of more power. The TR8 more than made up for the performance deficiencies of the original TR7 and was much closer to the spirit of the TR6, many Americans dubbing it the "English Corvette", so failing to develop it for the UK until it was too late is another huge wasted opportunity.

A genuine UK-spec TR8. Too little, too late.

Criticism of the four-cylinder cars remained and attempts to add more power continued at Canley. The new O-series engines went into production in 1978 and various experiments were done with fitting these to TR7s, in both naturally-aspirated and turbocharged forms, but ultimately to no avail. It is said that the main reason why the turbo O-series TR7 never made production was that it was too powerful, being very nearly as fast as the TR8 so it would have rendered the latter redundant. While all these developments were going on behind the scenes, the production TR7 soldiered on largely unchanged. Although quality did improve after the move, the poor build of the Speke cars was starting to manifest itself in some serious reliability issues, which combined with BL's troubled image had already begun to damage the reputation of the TR7 like so many of its sister models.

Grinnall showed how the TR7 could be updated. Yes, those are Volvo 480 lights.

Perhaps the biggest missed opportunity of all in the sad TR7 saga is the Lynx, a full four-seat hatchback coupe based on a lengthened TR7. BL never had a credible rival to the Ford Capri and although they tried to convince themselves the Marina coupe fulfilled this role it really wasn't comparable, but the Lynx would have gone head-to-head with the Capri and bettered it with the option of the V8. This was another project cancelled due to the closure of Speke, but was later reincarnated as the similar Broadside in both coupe and convertible forms. A V8-engined drophead Broadside grand tourer would have been a fitting successor to the Stag, but it wasn't to be and became yet another exciting TR7 variant consigned to the history books.

What might have been - the Broadside was a four-seat TR7

Maybe the TR7 suffered most because it was just too different from its predecessors, and looked too radical and ahead of its time. The TVR Tasmin, launched just as the TR7 was coming to the end of its life, has extremely similar wedge styling and remained in production until 1990 with some models even using the very same Rover V8. Meanwhile, TR7 specialist Mark Grinnall developed a modernisation package; opinions vary and some are better than others as they were all different and built to the customer's requirements, but a well-done Grinnall TR7 with the sharp edges smoothed out could easily pass for a car of the nineties. Perhaps it was killed off too soon.and with a bit more development could have served Austin-Rover throughout the 1980s and maybe even beyond, giving them a ready-made rival when Mazda's popular MX-5 appeared in 1989.

TR or TVR? The similarity is clear

While the oft-maligned TR7 still doesn't have the best of reputations, especially in the USA, a production run of 140,000 over seven years actually makes it the best-selling of all the TRs, the supposedly more popular and well-loved TR6 only managing 94,000. In the UK it has long been accepted as a bona fide classic and survival rates are quite high, augmented by many imports from drier climates. There are several firms who specialise exclusively in TR7s and a thriving enthusiast community, many of whom have improved their cars to turn them into what they always could have been, so at least one TR7 can usually be expected at any classic car show. It wasn't without problems and its potential was never fully realised thanks to the turmoil its manufacturer was going through, but for being the last and most popular in a long and distinguished line of Triumph sports cars, doesn't the poor old TR7 deserve so much better than its usual image as one of the worst cars ever made?