1968 Triumph TR6

This lovely left-hand-drive example was imported from California in 1992 where it had been since 1968. Recently restored, it drives very well and looks stunning, with fresh Carmine Red paint (its original Leyland colour) and unburstable mechanics. The current owner is a serial TR6 addict (this is his fourth) and has spent far too much bringing it into the condition you see today, a condition in which it looks sensational – and yet it goes even better!

This is largely because his Sussex location means he is spoiled for choice when it comes to finding time-served, highly experienced engineers to look after it for him, and he has been able to hand-pick an electrician, a tuner, and a general mechanic, all of whom are experts in their field.

With him for the past two years, it was formerly owned by an army engineer who disassembled and refurbished it not once but twice during the twenty years he owned it. Now as he is reluctantly selling it to make room for other TR projects, this is a rare chance for you to buy a fully fettled example that would be perfect for intercontinental summer jaunts.

The body panels are all in great shape, being free of dents, dings and the sort of ripples that old cars are prone to. They’re said to be the originals.

The panel gaps are good, and the doors open and close with more than the usual degree of precision. It was treated to a high-quality professional respray in Carmine Red (its original Leyland referenced colour) in the spring of 2018. The finish is fabulous, as well it might be given how much it cost him. But if you look closely there is evidence of the odd paint run. 

The exterior chromework is very good too, and the owner again took his time in choosing only the very best local company to carry out the work. Twin rear exhausts peek up from beneath the rear bumper; this is one of the better rear ends you’ll see this year.

The wheels are alloy, which makes a nice change from the more usual spoked jobbies. We think they suit the car very well indeed and will certainly be easier to clean and maintain than wired varieties, and the tyres are almost new.

The folding hood is in a very good condition, being free of rips, tears and other damage. We are told it is the original, and the owner had it re-stitched locally. It also sits above the rollover hood - you’d be amazed at how often owners don’t think of this when they’re installing extra safety gear - and the hoop itself looks to be functional rather than merely decorative. The rollbar is in line with California legislation, so is an original feature, of sorts. Possibly the purists won’t like it, but if you stick with period safety equipment then you get period accident injuries…

Problems are pretty much limited to a missing tonneau cover clip, a large-ish stonechip in the middle of the leading edge of the bonnet, and the need to realign the boot lid as it doesn’t sit quite flush and square.

The original seats have been restuffed, not recovered. As far as we know, the covers are original and are in a very good condition. They might be simple in appearance, but they are very comfortable and much more supportive than they look.

The carpets are very good too, as is the wooden veneer, which is free of cracks, chips, and other damage. The door cards are good, and the whole interior is really rather lovely, being tidy and well-finished rather than gaudy and over-dressed.

One lovely little touch is the period Motorola radio , which has been professionally gutted and converted to receive FM radio. The owner tells us that the sound quality is very crackly thanks to the old speaker, which could do with being replaced.

The boot is merely okay, but that’s more a function of the high standard of the rest of the interior than criticism of its current condition; we can see the new owner will probably want to tidy it up simply because the rest of the car is so good.

Work to do is limited to, should its new owner wish to, finding and fitting a new centre rubber cap for the steering wheel as the old one has degraded and started to fall apart. The steering wheel is original, as is its cover and centre, which is why the seller decided not replace it with, for example, a nice wooden one - or gold plated. The leather covering on the rim has seen better days too, so it might be more cost-effective to have the whole thing professionally refurbished. Oh, and the gear stick gaiter has become slightly worn and has a couple of splits, but this should prove to be an inexpensive repair.

The engine is more recent than the rest of the car, giving it a new lease of life.. It was, of course, rebuilt as part of its restoration. Now fitted with twin Weber carburettors and Lumenition ignition components, the bottom end was sound, which allowed him to focus his attentions on the cylinder head.

Reworked by G.J. Engineering, its specification now includes manganese valve guides, porting, gas flow and lead-free valve seat inserts, plus a skim, giving 159psi all round, or an 11:1 compression ratio. A K&N performance air filter helps it breathe more easily and a free-flowing exhaust helps it exhale; the power it produces is now thought to be close to that of the fuel injected engine.

The owner tells us it runs very efficiently too, with exceptionally low emissions, well under current limits. CO at the exhaust is just 1.8%, hydrocarbons are running at 170 PPM, and the CO2 is 14.6%. all of which are low indeed. It starts on the button, revs well, has a very even tickover and “drives beautifully”.

The gearbox now has overdrive on the top two gears, thanks to the ministrations of the previous owner. The new radiator has a high-pressure cap and is cooled by a Kenlowe electric fan, a set-up that has resolved the overheating that plagued the car when the owner first bought it.

The suspension is via adjustable Spax dampers, and it was professionally set up and aligned in August 2018. This Triumph has also had a recent new battery, a three-piece clutch kit and slave cylinder, a refurbished alternator, a set of performance HT leads, new spark plugs and a coil.

The engine bay itself is a real highlight of the car. It’s very clean and neat, and shows off the almost obsessive attention to detail that underpins the car’s original design. The battery, for example, is mounted centrally next to the bulkhead helps maintain one of the car’s heaviest components as far back as possible and in the middle to better balance the car with two occupants on board.

The previous owner applied plenty of Waxoyl to the underside of the car during his two decades with the car, and it has clearly done its job very well - it as well finished as the exterior, and needs no work doing to it at all. The inspection report states the chassis and body are clean and solid, have never been welded nor suffered from any structural rust or rot, something we have no difficulty in believing given how tidy the underside is.

The online MOT history shows nothing of any concern whatsoever and the current MOT certificate itself expires in September 2020.

The TR6 comes with a large number of expired MOT certificates, along with a number of old bills and invoices to support the work that has been carried out on it. An Inspection Report from Just Historic Cars of Hastings is also available.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please contact us to arrange an appointment with us here at The Market HQ.

As a fully fettled, box-fresh example of the breed we think this lovely TR6 is an absolute delight and will surely draw an awful lot of attention. The subject of 20-years of diligent maintenance followed by a programme of restoration and improvement, it has been sympathetically and intelligently modified to better meet the demands of 21st century motoring.

With this in mind, we think it should fetch between £12,000 and £17,000 at which point its new owner has little to do bar fill it with fuel and drive off into the sunset in one of the best sportscars this country has ever produced.

As a left-hand-drive example, we expect it to draw interest from our friends in Europe too, although its extra power would make it the ideal car for you to drive down to your place in the south of France…

Viewing is always encouraged, and this car can be seen here at The Market HQ in Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car, AnyVan for transporting it, and Footman James for classic car insurance.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings of any auction, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles we have for sale. While we use our trade experience to assess every car that comes through our hands (and between us we have bought hundreds of classic cars over the years for our personal use…) we are fallible, and our assessment of a car may contrast with that you might form yourself.

This is why we offer a far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange a professional inspection on their behalf of, each vehicle prior to bidding than any traditional car auction, and we will never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this by coming to see it in person.

That said, we do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or those formed as a result of a long test drive.

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.