1974 Triumph TR6

1974 Triumph TR6 Roadster Extravagant spending on a niche sports car, however, is almost always hubristic, so budgets were super tight and there wasn't a lot of time. In the end, it was Karmann the German coachbuilder who stepped up to deliver a radical new look which changed hardly anything fundamental. The chassis and inner structure, plus the suspension and drivetrain and interior, were largely unchanged, as were the doors and windscreen surround. With just new wings, bonnet, boot, front and rear panels, and external trim, the car delivered by the German firm was handsome and more modern looking. Hagerty, In Defense of the Triumph TR6 August 2023  For consignment, a 1974 Triumph TR6 roadster with a title verified 63,186 actual miles. Under ownership of our consignor, this car has been sorted with rebuilt suspension including new shocks and springs, a new steering rack, and rebuilt half shafts, head, and differential. The car will come to you with receipts for work performed.  Exterior Handsome indeed is the TR6, here in French Blue paint, named for the French military of the 1800's whose blue uniforms were a specific shade created with indigo dye. It presents as original here with a lack of luster and quite a few imperfections, as we'll note. Meanwhile, the shape of the car reminds us of an English Bulldog, square shouldered and soundly footed, the bumperettes providing the dog's underbite's protruding canines. Those bumperette appear on the back bumper as well under the straight 3 color tail lights and decklid equipped with a chromoly luggage rack. The 15-inch wheels and 205/70R15 tires provide lots of ground contact for a car this size and the tires are fairly new, with a date code of early 2022. The black canvas top and its three plastic windows are in good shape. Imperfections include cracking paint, areas of rust including some holes, some of which show repair efforts.  Interior The black vinyl door panels and their map pockets are in good shape and our tour of the interior starts on a high note. The stitch patterned black vinyl seats also present nicely, cushioned well and topped with small headrests. A touch of patina on the three spoked wheel leads to the wooden dashboard, here showing peeling of the polyurethane in places and housing all original gauges and switchgear, a tidy arrangement of everything the driver needs to see without searching. In the one piece plastic center console, there is an AM/FM radio and as it turns to the floor, the wood handled shifter with rubber boot. Naturally, there is patina on the handle and the Triumph logo is intact, while black carpet surrounds it and Triumph branded carpeted mats sit on top. Speakers are mounted in the carpet lined footwells and the carpet also nicely covers the package shelf behind the seats. The boot, or trunk as we say, is clean and contains a carpeted mat.  Drivetrain The bonnet, or hood, opens forward and reveals a driver quality but generally clean 2498cc inline six cylinder, rated at 101 horsepower and fueled by dual Zenith Stromberg 1-barrel carburetors, and they both shine like new. A 4-speed manual transmission sends power to the 3.80 gears in back and power brakes are onboard as front discs and rear drums.   Undercarriage The combination of new and old is striking when you see the glossy black rebuilt rear differential mounted in a car with some patina around and an underside that's definitely been on the road. There's quite a bit of fluid back by the transmission, drifting back onto the exhaust, which is a dual system that flows through a stainless steel muffler, just before exiting via twin pipes. The A arms look fresh and so do the shocks attached, while the rest of the suspension consists of coil springs in the front and coil springs and semi-trailing arms in back. We note rust on the inner rocker panels.  Drive-Ability Always up for an adventure, it's the British roadsters that often deliver so much. Nimble handlin