1976 Triumph Stag

The Stag was initially registered in the name of the 1st owner's company, then to himself. He finally parted with his beloved Stag in 2011. The car has had only 2 owners since. It did 15,000 of its 21,000 miles in its first two years, after which the original owner bought a new car and kept the Stag for occasional use.

This turned out to be very occasional, with rests of several years, after which the car would be taken to a Stag specialist near the gentleman’s home in Surrey and treated to whatever it wanted – sometimes service work and recommissioning, sometimes new cylinder head gaskets, producing a series of four-figure bills.

Before the car was finally put up for sale it was treated to a full engine rebuild. As a result of that work and the many thousands expended in looking after every moving part in previous years, it still drives like new. It isn’t rusty and it really is as good as it looks in the photographs.

It sailed through an MoT on the way to our premises, even though it’s exempt, and it must be head and shoulders above almost every other Stag currently for sale.

White paint will show up many blemishes, yet there are precious few to see here. From a few feet away it could be new, and it’s only when you get a closer look that you pick up a slight patina – the odd small nick in a pinstripe, perhaps a tiny stonechip.

Likewise, the bumpers and other brightwork pieces are only showing the finest age-related spotting and they still hold an impressive shine. Panel gaps, especially around the doors and bonnet, are very good indeed. The car’s surfaces are crisp and straight in the way that’s almost impossible to replicate once bodywork and paint repairs begin.

The five-spoke alloy wheels have been refurbished and are shod with fresh-looking Kumho tyres all round. Lucas Halogen lamps sit in the outer position at the front, while the rear lamps lenses are showing slight clouding from age, but are undamaged. The bodywork isn’t just smart and straight but also obsessively clean – it’s as sparkling around the lower valances beneath each bumper as it is on the rest of the car.

The hard top is in equally impressive condition and to our eyes, gives the Stag its most handsome side-profile. The soft hood is also in fine condition – lift it up and check in the roof well and there are none of the usual rust worries. Even the badges are immaculate – and was there ever a better-looking badge than the leaping stag on the rear quarter?

If concours competition is your thing, you’ll know that choosing the right car as a starting point is key. This one is a great candidate – effort in making the few tiny blemishes vanish would be rewarding because you’d be bringing it closer and closer to factory-fresh condition.

A well-preserved Triumph interior from the 1970s must be even more unusual than a well-preserved exterior. They weren’t the most hard-wearing trim choices, yet this one looks as though it’s barely been used. Indeed, the seats and carpets are so perfect they could have been renewed, but the owner believes them to be original.

It’s also great to see the original features that so many Stag owners are tempted to change: the simple grain of the correct dash timber, not aftermarket burr walnut; that rather masculine steering wheel with its rubber boss instead of a wood-rimmed replacement, and the seats with their comfortable textured vinyl panels. Not every car is improved by piped leather…

There’s also a Leyland-branded Motorola AM/LW radio with additional speakers in the doors. The sun visors have swelled and warped a little with age but the covering on the T-bar across the roof is smart and intact, as is the dash top. There are now rear seatbelts fitted and we think the front belts may have been renewed at the same time these were installed.

Lifting the boot carpet reveals an older spare on another smart alloy, and beneath that a spare wheel well with a swipe of protective anti-rust wax around the seam. Once again, no rot.

‘Drives like new’ is an over-used phrase, but it’s the one that suits this car. It starts and runs quietly and smoothly, changing gear seamlessly. All the switches and gauges function as they should and none gives a reading to case concern.

The engine bay is fascinating, because it’s here that you see not only all the factory spot-welds but also slight rust-coloured staining from a few seams to show this isn’t some recent resto, just an incredibly well-preserved structure.

The old plates and decals with technical information are present and the engine itself is smart but not polished up – it looks like a working unit, though a bit of detailing would work wonders. There is a Lumenition unit on the bulkhead; electronic ignition clearly contributes to the smooth running.

Underneath the car we find more incredibly clean-looking surfaces, many of which must have been repainted or re-coated over the years. The floor, chassis members and inner arches all seem impeccably solid and look to have had their rustproof coating renewed at some stage.

The car is Polybushed throughout and wears a stainless steel twin exhaust system. The only thing the MoT tester could find to criticise – a failing rubber exhaust hanger – is visible near the rear box.

There is a sheaf of old MoTs and these, together with the car’s Passport to Service, provide irrefutable back-up to that amazingly low mileage. A separate Shell-branded service record is still in its plastic wallet, as is the Stag’s wiring diagram…I wonder if you get one of those with a new Tesla?

Coombs and Sons of Guildford, once the tweakers of Mk 2 Jaguars, performed the first six services, but after it left daily use the car was serviced only when the owner wished to remove it from hibernation.

He then sent it along to noted Stag specialists Abinger Hammer Motors near Dorking, who looked after it for the next 20 years and more, culminating in an engine rebuild and much other work in 2011 that amounts to a thorough mechanical refurbishment. Lots of detailed bills are on file.

You’ll have a long wait to find another low-mileage survivor as good as this, so the choice is probably between this or a fully restored car.

There are many aftermarket parts available for the Stag – it’s a very well-supported model – but this means they tend to be restored with non-standard features. All well and good but when you look at any other classic car, it’s not the modified and modernised ones that become more desirable, it’s the time-warp originals.

This lovely example should easily exceed the very sensible minimum of our guide price of £23,500 to £30,000 when you consider that in mid-May, at an auction in Berkshire, a 14-owner example with unknown mileage sold for £27,000! Chalk and Cheese?

We get to see a lot of nice cars at The Market but every now and then we meet one that we really want to shout about. This is a genuinely special, unrepeatable opportunity and if you want to discover just what a world-beater the Stag should have been, here’s the car for you.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us 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’.