Triumph.

plasticpenguin

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Aug 8, 2018
6,191
2,896
148
Bookham, Surrey
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Not the bikes but the cars.

Always loved my old Triumphs (Herald, Dolly 1850, 2 x Sprints and a Stag) over the years. Once the virus has passed I'm going to be selfish and buy a Triumph of some description, just for my own pleasure. Enough years have been spent on the family, no regrets, now is about thinking about yours truly. Once I've come out of rehab the family will always be my first thought but the car now runs parallel.

Anybody else with experience of triumph cars?

 

plasticpenguin

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Aug 8, 2018
6,191
2,896
148
Bookham, Surrey
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I remember my uncle owning a Dolomite Sprint.
That was my Sprint. One of the last 50 (W plate) ever built, my one was in Inca Yellow. Had no reliability issues except for the electronic ignition which occasionally blew the whole fuse box. So I had changed back. Quite sort after now, hence a high price tag for a well sorted version.

6003300067_16bb3b4fb0_n[1].jpg

 
Last edited by a moderator:

toprepairman

Wammer
Wammer
Dec 6, 2010
1,189
573
158
Surrey
AKA
Henry
Hi PP.

I ran around in a Triumph 1500 in the late 70's, really loved the car, sweet engine, lovely clutch and superb gearchange, a joy to drive, unlike the Triumph 2000 I had a bit later which was a bit of a pig.

My other car at the time was a Norton 650SS.

 

plasticpenguin

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Aug 8, 2018
6,191
2,896
148
Bookham, Surrey
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Hi PP.

I ran around in a Triumph 1500 in the late 70's, really loved the car, sweet engine, lovely clutch and superb gearchange, a joy to drive, unlike the Triumph 2000 I had a bit later which was a bit of a pig.

My other car at the time was a Norton 650SS.
My cousin, on the strength of my Dolly 1850, purchased a 1500 TC. He kept a few years without trouble IIRC.

Isn't a Norton 650 a motorbike?

My other car when I had the 1850 was a Herald 12/50 with a full length canvas sunroof. As slow as Christmas but a lot of fun to drive.

 

Carrington

Well-Known Wammer
Wammer
Oct 10, 2018
1,810
3,049
148
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I've never owned a Triumph myself but did have a drive of a GT6 once, that seemed fun. A friend had a Spitfire which I had a spin in which also seemed good. My parents had a 1300, the Michelotti designed one from the late 60s. I don't remember much about it but I did like the design, I was rather young! If I ever get enough space and ideally a garage then a Triumph of some kind is quite likely to be found in it, but as with most older cars these days, prices are getting a bit out of hand..

 

HoopsOnToast

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Feb 6, 2006
11,626
809
208
Oxfordshire
AKA
Rob
HiFi Trade?
  1. Yes
  2. No
This is something I have been thinking about, getting another classic, at the moment I have been leaning towards a 2500S Estate.....

In the past 10-years I have had a few Triumphs. Started with a 1980 Dolomite Sprint, then a 1980 TR7 'Premium', a 1979 Dolomite 1850HL then after that a 1983 Acclaim. Out of all of them, run as daily driver, the Acclaim was by far the best but then all were all bought on a budget before prices really started going up. The TR7 was the best handling/ride but the 1850 probably ran the best out of the Dolomites/TR7 as I fitted it with modern Electronic Ignition (123ignition) which was superb. The Sprint should have been better but it was my first car, had no money and did not give it the work it needed.



Dolomite Sprint at Kenilworth Castle by Robert Seymour, on Flickr



Triumph TR7 1980 by Robert Seymour, on Flickr



1979 Triumph Dolomite 1850HL by Robert Seymour, on Flickr



1983 Triumph Acclaim by Robert Seymour, on Flickr

 
Last edited by a moderator:

HoopsOnToast

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Feb 6, 2006
11,626
809
208
Oxfordshire
AKA
Rob
HiFi Trade?
  1. Yes
  2. No
I was originally thinking of a Mk2 Vitesse but being practical, with starting a family in the near future its a non starter with the lack of seatbelt options in the rear and only two seats. This also ruled out another TR7, which I really like, even with the standard 2L 8v engine, its a good cruiser, and with the 5-speed gearbox quite nice on the motorway if lacking a little fizz compared to say the Sprint or the grunt of a TR7 V8/TR8.

This lead me to the 2500 saloon, and probably a 2500S, a later spec car with improved handling, power steering etc. And probably an estate too.

 

AntA

Well-Known Wammer
Wammer
Aug 7, 2018
1,801
2,393
148
Broadway Worcs
AKA
Tony
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I remember being overtaken at great speed by a TR7 when I was on my motorcycle with my girlfriend on pillion back in 1977. When I caught up with them at traffic lights there were two women in their 70s in it, not a typical TR7 driver I didn't think.

 

plasticpenguin

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Aug 8, 2018
6,191
2,896
148
Bookham, Surrey
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
This is something I have been thinking about, getting another classic, at the moment I have been leaning towards a 2500S Estate.....

In the past 10-years I have had a few Triumphs. Started with a 1980 Dolomite Sprint, then a 1980 TR7 'Premium', a 1979 Dolomite 1850HL then after that a 1983 Acclaim. Out of all of them, run as daily driver, the Acclaim was by far the best but then all were all bought on a budget before prices really started going up. The TR7 was the best handling/ride but the 1850 probably ran the best out of the Dolomites/TR7 as I fitted it with modern Electronic Ignition (123ignition) which was superb. The Sprint should have been better but it was my first car, had no money and did not give it the work it needed.



Dolomite Sprint at Kenilworth Castle by Robert Seymour, on Flickr



Triumph TR7 1980 by Robert Seymour, on Flickr



1979 Triumph Dolomite 1850HL by Robert Seymour, on Flickr



1983 Triumph Acclaim by Robert Seymour, on Flickr
Yeah the Acclaim isn't a proper Triumph. It was BL's last throw at the dice.

The only proper Dolomite was the 1850, that's why early ones don't have the 1850 badge... just Dolomite. The early ones had lovely dials (pre-1974)

image.jpeg

As opposed to these.

images


 

plasticpenguin

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Aug 8, 2018
6,191
2,896
148
Bookham, Surrey
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
After a couple of days thought I've narrowed it down to either a Herald 948 Coupe. Always hankered after one of those. Or a very early Dolomite 1850  (1972 or 73). If it's the latter I would need to factor in a colour change. IMHO Dolomites lend themselves to either Baby Blue or Ice Blue. Certain colours suit certain cars, and these light blues look the biz with Dollies. And both those blues were period with BL. Whichver one I eventually choose (mostly down to which ones become available at the right price) I will keep it as original as it's possible: No lowering of the suspension, no super tuned replacement engine, other than safety issues such as upgrading the brakes blah blah blah...

This is a picture of me taken by the River Thames at Hampton Court in circa 1983.

Dolomite `1850.jpg

 

HoopsOnToast

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Feb 6, 2006
11,626
809
208
Oxfordshire
AKA
Rob
HiFi Trade?
  1. Yes
  2. No
Yeah the Acclaim isn't a proper Triumph. It was BL's last throw at the dice.

The only proper Dolomite was the 1850, that's why early ones don't have the 1850 badge... just Dolomite. The early ones had lovely dials (pre-1974)

image.jpeg

As opposed to these.

images
Yeah, I always thought the rationalisation could have been better, kept the 2dr Toledo with the 1300 & 1500 engines, 4dr Dolomite with the 1850 and Sprint. Saying that, a 2dr Toledo Sprint would have been an interesting early hot hatch competitor..... as with most British Leyland, lots of what if's

 

toprepairman

Wammer
Wammer
Dec 6, 2010
1,189
573
158
Surrey
AKA
Henry
My cousin, on the strength of my Dolly 1850, purchased a 1500 TC. He kept a few years without trouble IIRC.

Isn't a Norton 650 a motorbike?

My other car when I had the 1850 was a Herald 12/50 with a full length canvas sunroof. As slow as Christmas but a lot of fun to drive.
Yes the Norton is a motorbike.

My parents had a 1200 herald estate, bought new somewhere around 1963ish, even remember the reg, 315WPE, kept it for around 10 years when it covered about 100k miles, then the gearbox finally gave out. Dad did have the 1250 engine retro fitted when still fairly new, but remember there were issues with that.

 

plasticpenguin

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Aug 8, 2018
6,191
2,896
148
Bookham, Surrey
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Yeah, I always thought the rationalisation could have been better, kept the 2dr Toledo with the 1300 & 1500 engines, 4dr Dolomite with the 1850 and Sprint. Saying that, a 2dr Toledo Sprint would have been an interesting early hot hatch competitor..... as with most British Leyland, lots of what if's
They did produce a limited edition Dolomite, that had a Toledo front end and Dolomite rear with a 1500 TC power plant. It was only produced in Black. It was typical BL in the mid 70s: No workforce, no finance... no chance.

image.jpeg

image.jpeg

A puny attempt.

If I had the money I would gather keen enthusiasts and recommission a couple of the Triumph models, similar to Eagle remade the E-Type

 

plasticpenguin

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Aug 8, 2018
6,191
2,896
148
Bookham, Surrey
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Yes the Norton is a motorbike.

My parents had a 1200 herald estate, bought new somewhere around 1963ish, even remember the reg, 315WPE, kept it for around 10 years when it covered about 100k miles, then the gearbox finally gave out. Dad did have the 1250 engine retro fitted when still fairly new, but remember there were issues with that.
The Herald estate are quite sort after now.

They also produced a very limited number of Stag estates... yes you read that correctly. If you look at a picture it's basically a Triumph 2500 estate with a Stag badge and a V8 under the bonnet. 

 

lower bullens

NSNO Wammer
Wammer
Jan 20, 2007
2,828
971
158
Wirral
AKA
Jon
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
My wife and one of my mates both had brown Dolomites , I had an Acclaim just like the one @HoopsOnToast posted,FCM 597Y. I put about 70,000 miles on it in 3 years travelling from Wirral to Coventry and back at weekends when I worked in Cov. Incredibly reliable.

 

HoopsOnToast

Legend Wammer
Wammer
Feb 6, 2006
11,626
809
208
Oxfordshire
AKA
Rob
HiFi Trade?
  1. Yes
  2. No
My wife and one of my mates both had brown Dolomites , I had an Acclaim just like the one @HoopsOnToast posted,FCM 597Y. I put about 70,000 miles on it in 3 years travelling from Wirral to Coventry and back at weekends when I worked in Cov. Incredibly reliable.
I found it interesting going from a few 1980 model Triumphs to the 1983 Acclaim, felt a light year away. The engine was still carb fed but had electronic ignition that actually worked. Its actually quite nice to drive as well, compare it to the Dolomite 1300/1500 and its a perfect replacement. Hillarious wheelspin from the 145/80 profile tyres :D

 

Forum statistics

Threads
113,444
Messages
2,451,263
Members
70,783
Latest member
reg66

Latest Articles