Vehicle Overview
This lovely example has been fully restored and is an original UK car that was first registered in 1962. Part of the refurbishment included a very expensive but discreet and unintrusive rear seat conversion, so you can take the kids or grandchildren along with you if you so wish.
The car also has overdrive fitted on second, third and fourth gears, and the engine was rebuilt and rebored to 2290cc, with a lead free cylinder head added to boot. The brakes and suspension were also thoroughly rebuilt.
Exterior
British Racing Green rarely looked so good – it suits this TR4 down to the ground and the paint is in lovely condition. We spotted a few small paint chips on the trailing edge of the forward hinging bonnet, but they were the only faults we could see.
The wire wheels are finished in silver paint, which we prefer to chrome, which can be a bit much. They’re generally very good too, although there are some slight marks on some of them. Luckily, being painted, they’ll be easy enough to smarten up. The spinners are chrome, and they’re in nice shape. The four matching whitewall tyres the car’s fitted with don’t look as though they’ve really done many miles at all.
There’s some slight pitting on the rear lamp chrome surrounds. These are made out of a zinc based alloy called Mazak, which is light and strong, but can suffer from corrosion after many years of use. However, they still look pretty shiny and if the pitting did bother the new owner, new parts are readily available for TRs so replacing them would be relatively easy and cheap.
The car comes with a full length tonneau cover, zipped in the middle so you can leave the passenger side covered when only he driver is in the car – handy for keeping warmth in for those who insist on top-down motoring on colder days.
The original spec hood looks as good as new on the outside, although there are some tiny marks on the aluminium trim running around the top of the cabin that the soft top attaches to.
We think the black marks you can see on the front bumper and overrider are from another classic car being started from cold right in front of the TR. It’s exhaust has spluttered all over the Triumph – this should clean off easily. Somebody has added a reversing light to the car – a very sensible mod.
Interior
The pretty wooden steering wheel grabs your eye as you settle in here. The interior looks to have had a complete retrim, with new green carpets and tan seats and door cards. The driver’s seat would clean up without too much bother.
The inside of the hood has some marks from use but nothing untoward, and you won’t be needing it anyway, as buying this TR will guarantee the best summer in years.
Everything is where it should be, including the left column stalk which flicks the electric overdrive in and out. It’s a really well presented cabin and of course, it has that larger than standard seating area in the rear so more people can enjoy that top down experience.
The attractive white dash is fitted with a classically styled modern stereo, giving the best of both worlds.
Mechanical
The lusty Triumph TR engine in this car has been overbored to 2.3-litres and also has a performance camshaft fitted. The engine bay itself is tidy and clean. Someone has invested in an expensive looking aluminium radiator which should help keep the car cool during that blistering weather we’re now looking forward to.
There’s also a pair of high performance air cleaners and an oil catch tank. Whoever owned this car in the past may well have done more tuning work to the engine internals, but we can’t verify this.
The car’s underside revealed no problems when we had a look. The chassis has a good coating of rust preventative wax and the exhaust system looks to be stainless steel.