Triumph TR7
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| Triumph TR7 | |
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| Manufacturer: | Triumph Motor Company |
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| Production: | 1974–1981 |
| Predecessor: | Triumph TR6 |
| Class: | Sports car |
| Engine: | 1998 cc Straight-4 |
| Related: | Triumph TR8 |
The Triumph TR7 was a sports car manufactured from September 1974 to October 1981 by the Triumph Motor Company, then part of British Leyland (and subsequently, BL Ltd.), in the United Kingdom. It was initially made at the Speke, Liverpool factory, moving to Coventry in 1978 and finally to the Rover plant in Solihull in 1980. The car was launched in the United States in January 1975 But the UK debut did not happen until May 1976. The UK launch was delayed at least twice because of high demand for the vehicle in the United States.
The car was characterized by its "wedge" shape, penned by Harris Mann, who also designed the Leyland Princess, and a curved line in the bodywork going from the door to the rear fender. The car had an overall length of 160 inches (406 cm), width of 66 inches (168 cm), wheelbase of 85 inches (216 cm) and height of 49.5 inches (126 cm). The coupé had a kerbside weight of 2005 pounds (1000 kg). During development, the TR7 had the code name "Bullet".
Power was provided by a 105 bhp (78KW) (92 bhp in the North American version) 1998cc 8-valve four-cylinder engine which shared the same basic design as the Triumph Dolomite Sprint engine mounted in-line at the front of the car. There were plans to use the Sprint engine in the TR7 and at least 25 pre-production cars were made but no production cars were built or sold (these are designated by different chassis numbers). Drive was to the rear wheels via a four speed gearbox initially with optional five speed gearbox or three speed automatic from 1976. The front independent suspension used coil spring and damper struts and lower single link and at the rear was a four link system again with coil springs. There were front and rear anti roll bars. The cars had disc brakes at the front and drums at the rear.
While warmly received at introduction, the TR7's lines dated rapidly. The car is still held in high affection in the United States however in Great britain is will always be releted to terrible industrial relations of the 1970's
In early 1979, Triumph belatedly introduced a convertible version, called the TR7 Drophead, which first went on sale in the United States. The British market received it in early 1980.
For export, Triumph created a TR8—a TR7 with the 135 bhp Rover 3·5 L V8 unit. While some genuine TR8s stayed in Britain, these are exceedingly rare. Most went to the United States, where they did not fare well due to Triumph's poor build quality of the time.
As part of the rationalization introduced by BL boss Sir Michael Edwardes, the Triumph TR7 was cancelled in 1981. In total, 112,368 TR7s were built along with 2,722 TR8s.
In 1980 the TR7 Drophead sold for £5,050, and £5,230 for the Coupe in the United Kingdom.
British Leyland ran a team of TR7s in rally competition from 1976 to 1980. These cars used the 16 valve Dolomite Sprint or Rover V8 engine and had disc brakes on all four wheels. They were reasonably successful on tarmac events but did not do well on off road sections.
 1981 Triumph TR7 |
 Triumph TR7 coupé—1978 |
 Triumph TR7 interior—1978 |
 Triumph TR7 Spider—1980 |
[edit] The TR7 in fiction
- In the Fiona Walker novel Snap Happy, one of the incidental characters drives his three friends to a party in a rusty Triumph TR7. Fiona Walker was obviously unaware that the car only had two seats!
