Voted by the readers of one magazine as the most popular classic car.
If you hate Britishcars, then I suppose there is no such thing as a good'un, but the old Triumph has many devotees.
At that price (and cheap rego!) a good rolling restoration hobby car that is not really stressed.You really won't lose money on it but all cars of that age can be money pits but many are easier to maintain than the moderns.
jay.da,
Jan 27, 5:34am
I own a 65 2000 mk1 for just over a year now and i love it hasn't given me any problems yet. Yes its underpowered but a lot cheaper to run then my old 97 skyline will be looking at re-powering later in the year as it is getting a bit tired, engines in mind are 4agze, 1jzgte, rb25det, or engine most people on here don't appreciate the rotary.
mopar63,
Jan 27, 5:51am
I had a '73 mk2 PI auto years ago, had to do a headgasket which was no drama and one injector played up oncebut Lucas fixed it, went well, it wasn't that dear to run either
trogedon,
Jan 27, 6:00am
richardmayes wrote: Those of us who have actually driven them, love driving them!
You can feel what the front wheels are doing through your fingertips, and you can feel what the rear wheels are doing through the seat of your pants. After a while you can tell how fast you are going by listening to the roar of the engine and the whistling of the wind around the doors. So as a toy they are great fun, although not really very comfortable for summer holiday travelling.
Fuel consumption is about the same as a modern V6, performance is not amazing but enough to keep up with Auckland traffic, and you can drive fast in them if you are reasonably skilled. There is no huge acceleration, but once you are up to speed they ride and handle nicely enough as long as the shocks are good.
(it's especially fun to hang on behind XR6 Falcons and the likes, owners of these sorts of cars don't like seeing an English classic in their mirrors and they will drive faster and faster to try to shake you, until the missus gives him a slap and he slows back down, at which point you pass him.)
Electric overdrive on the gearbox will cause grief sooner or later if it has one.
The Overdrive is one of the most reliable parts. Occasionally the solenoid plays up.
sw20,
Jan 27, 6:00am
After British Leyland, no one ever trusted anyone called Lucas ever again.
zirconium,
Jan 27, 7:09am
I used to drive one regularly for a friend in the early '80's. Really nice car for travelling in imo. Much more refined than my (more powerful) holden of the same era!
the_chooky,
Jan 27, 7:44am
Lucas."Lord of darkness"
doug207,
Jan 27, 7:49am
I've got a coil for one sitting in my drawer of random junk.
socram,
Jan 27, 8:01am
Repowering is all a matter of choice. Whilst the Jap route is popular and probably in many respects, the most sensible, the Rover V8 is a logical swap, and believe it or not would be acceptable within our race series (with certain provisos).BL did do one or two for evaluation purposes.
Number 1 grandson is a Lucas - and he can't understand yet why I call him "Prince of Darkness".
ginga4lyfe,
Jan 27, 8:16am
I purchased it earlyer today for a measily 400 bucks, drove it home with no wof and reg ( out by one month ) drives REALLY nicely, the ONLY problems are : Engine mounts are dead, needs a DAMN good service, the clutch is slipping DREADFULLY ( makes a horrible noise too ) and the brakes are a bit stiff, also, the hand break doesnt hold too nicely, was a bit of a laugh in hind sight trying to not let the clutch slip up the harbor bridge and other hills, im glad i made it all the way from upper north shore to Papatoetoe with no ticket :P at 7:30, there is a little bit of rust, but no were near as bad as when i thought it would be, there is a bit of rust in the rear ends of the doors that is easy to grind down and weld up again, and the little hang over piece at the top of the rear window has some flacking too, but, no biggie :P, im just glad everything is there, its all straight and it came with the parts catalog and haynes work manual, so im sorted :)
oh and who said it was a bitch to move with no power steering! maybe i just have bigger arms! :P
roadkill3,
Jan 27, 8:20am
i have 3 triumph's a 75tc with 3500 and auto ,goes sweet as, 78 s tidy as, needs head put back on, and a donor car, over-drive 4 speed behind 2.5 ready to drop it beach buggy they rock
ginga4lyfe,
Jan 27, 9:24am
on thing that confuses me is how slow the clutch actually enguages when you take your foot off the clutch, its liek the pressure plate only slowly moves. .or tthe release bearing is dragging against something! Oh well Ill find out with in this next week! ;)
carkitter,
Jan 27, 10:25am
They should have paid you $400 to take it. I like the Dog & Lemon Guides writeup about Triumphs (you'll need an old copy, the new one's have deleted Triumph as have almost all potential buyers). The story about how the Jack Shaft destroys the motor is awesome while the 'Triumph Twitch' is just indicative of why the British motor industry has been decimated to just Kit Cars, low volume specialists like TVR & Morgan and London Taxis.
Cool Story brah! Neither of my Triumphs suffered these problems.
As a devotee of the Dog & Lemon guide, obviously you are driving a 1.3L Corolla! There's no other car worth owning after all, anyone driving anything else is an idiot!
joanie32,
Jan 27, 7:27pm
there isnt a nut and bolt I havent undone on a trumpy. I never really liked them myself but in all honesty, they werent a too bad old rocket. Typically over engineered, and everything takes a bit longer to do than non pommy cars, but nothings too hard. Theres a bloke up the road from me has 40 of themon his section. I drop in and grab the odd part that interchange withother pommystuff Im playing with. Good old car tohave as a hobby.
lovemore_mbigi,
Jan 27, 7:35pm
What rubbish!
lovemore_mbigi,
Jan 27, 7:44pm
Ha! Ha!How long would it take you to do a routine full cambelt change on a Subaru versus new engine mounts, water pump, and set the valve gaps on a Triumph!Or how about swapping out the steering rack on a Camry versus the same job on a Triumph!
Triumphs are one of the easiest DIY cars to work on.
carmedic,
Jan 27, 7:50pm
They??
joanie32,
Jan 27, 7:59pm
I meant non pommycars of the same era. eg. Howlong to swapa HQ gearbox comparedtoa trumpy! Trumpydiff compared to falcon diff! Motor swap on a trumpycompared toa cortina!
pge,
Jan 27, 10:18pm
Just choked on my coffee--The guy next door runs a Lighting company, and his surname is.Lucas.
scoobeey,
Jan 27, 10:23pm
I know which car I would rather Drive !
richardmayes,
Jan 27, 10:29pm
Ah yes the Camry. 2.2 litres of pure passion.
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