1970 Triumph TR6

In 1969, Autocar described the TR6 as “very much a masculine machine, calling for beefy muscles, bold decisions and even ruthlessness on occasion… it could be dubbed the last real sports car”. 

Our TR6 is from 1970, one year on from that road test, and is a full-fat 150bhp ‘CP’ model with the optional overdrive gearbox. This is generally held to be the best of the TR6s, 1973-on cars being detuned to 125bhp through camshaft and fuel injection metering changes. 

This particular car was bought two years ago by its present owner Martin as a gift to himself. Martin, now retired, had owned three TR6s in period and was keen to relive the thrill of those days.

Now, after a complete rebuild costing him in excess of £10,000, Martin has decided that he isn’t using the car enough and so he has decided to pass the car on to the next fortunate owner. It represents a fantastic opportunity to enjoy a true British classic without any of the heartache, cost and potential aggravation of putting it through the restoration process.

As the 34 paint code on the VIN plate attests, our TR6 was supplied new with Jasmine yellow coachwork. Martin’s restoration is the second in this car’s lifetime, the first one having given the car a more unusual non-Triumph shade of yellow in 2007. Following Martin’s full refurb in 2018 it now glories in what looks like Signal Red, which was the red that Triumph offered on TR6s between 1969 and 1972. The newly applied paintwork is virtually flawless, as are the difficult to find new bumpers and irons that Martin managed to trace and buy last year. 

Triumph panel gaps at this time were never scalpel-thin, but that’s part of its period charm. The important thing is that this is one of those cars that strikes you as straight as soon as you look at it. The floors (including the boot) seem solid, as do the door bottoms. 

TR6s were convertibles with a factory steel hard-top option. Our car doesn’t have the hard-top, which for most won’t be a great loss as it had something of an aftermarket style about it, but its mohair hood is in exceptional condition with clear plastic windows. In place of the standard chrome-trimmed steel wheels is a set of wire wheels which not only look great, they establish a nice link between the 6 and the old TR4/5. The spare wheel is also a wire.

The owner previous to Martin had made some, shall we say, interesting changes to the TR6, including the installation of a black dash and white-faced instruments. Martin made it his goal to return the Triumph to ‘original-plus’ spec, bringing back the correct walnut-veneered wooden dash and black clocks and adding subtle but entirely appropriate enhancements like the Moto-Lita steering wheel.

Trim code 11 on the VIN plate tells us that the interior trim was black vinyl, or leathercloth as Triumph called it. The dash top is crack-free, and our car’s seats appear to be leather, which if they were specified as new would make it quite a rare beast among TR6s. Both the bucket seats and the pile carpets are nicely worn in, and a correct gear lever gaiter has been sourced and fitted.

Pop the bonnet and you’re greeted by the impressive sight of this UK-market car’s 150bhp fuel-injected straight six engine. As noted earlier, the troublesome Lucas pump has been replaced by the much more reliable Bosch unit. This plays a big part in shifting the TR6 driver’s mental approach away from apprehension and more in the direction of pleasurable anticipation.

But that’s just the tip of a huge refurbishment iceberg. Last summer this car was gone through from top to bottom, and a host of new parts have been fitted and any identified shortcomings in the operation of the car have been addressed.

The rear suspension received new springs and polybushes. The fuel tank was removed and refitted with a new sender unit. The clutch, braking, coolant systems were all bled and serviced and the gearbox was sent away for a full refurbishment. The overdrive was reset, as were the throttles. The correct coil for the car was fitted, the time-shrunk front windscreen trim and clips replaced.

The chassis rails and main suspension components appear sound with only light occasional peeling and flaking of the underseal. Martin believes that the exhaust is stainless steel.

Checking through the paperwork, two invoices from summer 2018 stand out: a bill for £7760 and another for £2500. These detail the full extent of the rebuild that Martin commissioned last year. They’re worth a look if only to tell you what sort of money you might easily find yourself laying out on top of the price of any other TR6 on sale today, assuming you wanted it to reach a high standard.

The history file includes pictures of the bare-shell prep and repaint. Below this write-up you’ll find a Video Review of this Triumph, which includes an impressive startup and run sequence.

The TR6 was the last of the separate chassis TRs. By 1976, the last year of TR6 manufacture, car magazine road testers who were keen to usher in what they saw as an exciting new era monocoque of sports cars were running out of faint praise with which to damn the doughty Triumph. 

Perhaps they should have been careful what they were wishing for, because the wedge-shaped American-designed TR7 that replaced it in 1976 in no way continued the TR’s brawny heritage. The 7 did eventually outsell the TR6, but today the later car is considered by many to be a somewhat effete machine, a ‘TR lite’ that had none of the 6’s gutsy appeal.

Only 8000 or so of the 90,000-plus mainly carburetted TR6s built were injected models that were sold in the UK, making this particular model of Triumph a relatively rare sight on British roads. Enthusiasts’ enduring interest in keeping the TR6 alive, allied to the robustness of the car itself, is reflected in the fact that almost 4000 cars are still registered here in the UK. That number is on the rise, telling us that restoration projects are still very much an ongoing part of the TR6 story. Winter drops in TR6 values are always followed by rises in the spring. The overall trend is up. 

Restoring any car is expensive. Our TR6 gives you all the pleasure of a properly restored car without any of the downsides of cost or time. With a 0-60mph time in the low 8-second bracket and a 120mph top speed, this TR6 is an entirely usable 1960s classic that will easily deliver modern-day levels of performance, which we expect to sell for between £18,000 -£22,000.

The Market always invites prospective bidders to view any of the cars on auction. This car is situated at the vendor’s property in North London - to organise an appointment, just use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. 

Any generic questions you may have may well be covered in our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section. Any specific questions or points raised in the Comments section below the images will generate a reply from us.

For advice and help on car purchase-financing, storage, transportation or classic car insurance, we can thoroughly recommend the specialist companies with whom we regularly work, namely Classic & Sportscar Finance, Thames Valley Car Storage, AnyVan and Footman James.