We have a rather nice TR6 in the workshop for a gearbox and clutch. Gearbox wasn't to bad for a left hooker that looked original to the car. Usually all the running gear in imported TR's is trashed, or buggered about with by (lets be diplomatic) unsympathetic grease monkeys. Anyway nothing to serious with this one, just the usual layshaft/laygear wear, should be back together tommrow and off my bench ready to go back in. So what's that got to do with TR5's I hear you ask? Well prior to taking the box out of the 6 I had a little test drive to see how bad the box was. The nice owner had thoughtfully delivered the car here with roof folded, the sun was out, the birds were singing, oh it were nice! On return I realised that its been some years since I last had a convertible on the road of my own, and with all of this wonderful global warming, and pleasant summers in prospect then now was the time to think about dragging one out. Easiest candidate is one of our TR5's, the car I bought when I was 15, the one that kick started this whole Triumph thing I have off. I know it only needs a couple of hours work for an MOT, so no excuses, the other TR5's are all much more involved projects. My original car isn't the best looking TR5 you will ever see, but that's good because it rubs up all the concours freaks, and speculators that have turned nearly every other 5 out there into tarted up precious things. It's very much as I had it in the 70's, paintwork has suffered though, but then again I did spray it in my Dad's garage with Mum's hoover! Oh and I was only 16 at the time, and there was no one out there to give me advice. Restore a TR5 in the 70's, what do you want to do that for? Just scrap it son and buy a Capri was all the advice I got from the 'experts'!
http://www.canleyclassics.com/triumphmuseum.asp?article=tr5twp956f.xml
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Excellent... love a scruffy TR5 :-)
ReplyDeleteI remember going to a teenage party in 83-84 and the host had just bought a valencia blue TR5 on an F for 120 quid... he was most hacked off that he couldn't get in running that weekend for an illegal thrash round the block and had sold it a week later for 500 quid... he was very pleased with himself... another IF ONLY... 120 quid seemed cheap even then!!!!
Andy
ReplyDeleteThere's always going to be the 'one that got away'! I bought a TR5 locally in the late 80's for 250 odd quid. What a shed! After we had thrown away the rotten chassis and chopped the body down to the bulkhead area what was left and worth keeping fitted nicely on top of my office roof in my first unit. The engine went into one of my TR6's for a while but was later taken out after the guy who had bought the rest of 'project' off me for a steal begged me sell it to him. I endded up selling him the engine alone for more than I paid for the car. Still regret selling it though and it still remains the only TR5 that I have ever moved on, MHP 600F where are you now? If I had kept it it might have helped towards the little competition Tony Fitchett and myself had a few years ago to see who could accumulate the most TR5's. I think he won (no contest really) but still not sure how many he endded up with?
I bought LHP 293F, one of the pre-production protoype/press cars in '75/76 for 460 or 480. I don't ever remember much mention of scrapping TR5's. Most of the conversations, and what I read, seemed to be in terms of them being very worth keeping on the road.
ReplyDeleteI was offered LHP 292F a couple of years ago for a reasonable sum. Unfortunately a bidding war ensued soon after and I lost interest.
ReplyDeleteI remember at least 3 5's being scrapped locally in the 70's. One car in particular wasn't to bad and had a much better bootlid than mine which I couldn't afford as an impovrished student. It was being broken over the road from my mates house who at the time was building a Marcos, handy spares source! In 1977 I recall my Dad and I going to look at several 5's before buying mine, some of which already looked like they were fit for the scrap yard. Dosn't say much for there longevitity does it, after all they were only 9 or 10 years old then. Worse still though when I was dispareing of ever finding a suitable car we went to view a TR6 in Atherstone that was so rusty one of the back wings nearly fell off on the test drive.