TR7 & TR8 Forum

Saw this yesterday on the net and now it has me thinking maybe I need to order up a certificate on mine. It begs the question as to whether the pre production cars went back to the factory and were re stamped, re engined and sold and perhaps not as many out there as we are led to believe?

LaVerne,
You should definitely order a BMIHT certificate if you do not have one. They are very reasonable and the historians are very professional. Who knows how much longer this service will be available. My own research lead me to believe that my engine number was incorrectly hand noted in the original records. Two cars carried the same engine number in the records and we know that can’t be. They then verified that the engine in my TR8 was indeed the engine it was born with and corrected the record. That was important to me as my VIN is the very last TR to leave Solihull on October 20,1981. Not the last VIN, but the final car to be dispatched. Good luck with the research into your important TR!

Be aware that they may not be able to provide you with a certificate, especially for a TR8 Coupe. My record was "missing," which led me to have an email conversation with Richard Bacchus, the Certificate Officer at the Archive.

He wrote:

"Unfortunately the surviving records for these TCN V8 cars are totally chaotic and the commission number sequence by no means complete. The Triumph records have survived as microfilmed build cards, usually in commission number sequence. However, for these TCN V8s, normal TR7 records have been randomly amended, with the original commission number crossed out and the new commission number and V8 engine number written over. To make matters worse, they are in no sequential order but totally random (it's the proverbial needle in a haystack). So far I have managed to trace the records for 45 of these cars and spent some hours trying to find TCN/160087, but to no avail. Ironically I have found 160085, 86 and 89. So I am sure this is a consequence of Triumph's appalling record keeping for these cars, rather than there being anything suspicious with yours."

FWIW, my car, TCN160087UCF, shows a build date of AUG79. I am the third owner, and have communicated with the original purchaser, who informs me that when he bought the car it was delivered with a TR7 steering wheel and a TR7 rear axle ratio. The latter was corrected by the dealer under warranty.

Those were tough days for Triumph.

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“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”


― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

I have run into similar problems with bad record keeping. I was trying to get a certificate for my Preproduction TR8 coupe built in Speke in July of 1977
Decided I really don't need the pedigree , Just enjoying the car for what it is ! Puts a smile on my face every time I drive it .

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" Enjoy the Drive", Jim

I don't need one either. I just found the "recycling" of the car through the system interesting and I'm curious how many others , if any, had the same fate.

Very interesting Tom, shows a couple of VIN numbers that I had not recorded as being built, thanks.

Paul

I just came across this - I have 160085! (since new!) Also build date Aug '79.

I guess it's about time to get a certificate!

Cheers!
Bill Derksen

Lucky! Your car actually exists.

Glad the post was useful.

Tom

EDIT:

This is your car with mine, right?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-02-05 04:49 PM by TR250Tom.

Can I just say those TR8's look tremendous in BLACK!!!@@!!
Very choice indeed to my mind.
kippy

Thanks Kippy!
The car was originally Inca yellow, but when it arrived at the dealer, the front valance, right wing, and right door were a slightly different shade, so BL agreed to a complete respray. I was young and impetuous at the time, and figured black would be nice, so I added enough $ for the colour change.Never regretted it.


Hi Tom. You betcha! That was a great trip!

Bill and Tom,

Your TR8s look fantastic in black! Shades of the Huffaker racing cars. The '79 coupes whether 7s or 8s seem to be pretty rare possibly because it was the first year of the convertible.

Bill,

I'm amazed you still have the original velour seats, I bought my '79 TR7 in '80 also with velour seats but they were thread bare after a year or two and were replaced. And I still have mine too.

Thanks Kevin. Yes the black looks pretty good. And when you manage to get TWO coupes together, it is awesome!! I wish I had taken a bunch more photos when I visited with Joe and Ruth.

After about 20 years and 200,000km, the driver's seat was pretty thin in spots, and the passenger's had a small tear. A friend had a passenger seat in storage that was in a bit better shape, and I found a set of new covers on ebay for the driver's side. That seat now has about 130,00km, and still looks very good.

Cheers

I just purchased TCN 160080 UCF and the build date says AUG79 and Pgent Blue. I just received my certificate and it says that the build date is JAN79 and Carmine Red and it is listed as a TR7 V8. To mix things up it is a roadster. The story was that the dealers were given V8s in The beginning of 1979 to display were were not able to sell it, it was returned to the factory and the VIN was reused. I have seen in this website about a Red roadster with the same type of VINs.Well I guess there are 2 out there.

Hi Jack Congratulations, Talked with Bill quite a bit about this car, interested to know any more details that can be shared. Will send a PM with ny email address. Paul

Jack,

I'm the original owner of my TR7 and while I was shopping for one I test drove a Pageant Blue TR7 demo back then I really didn't like that color but I have to say it's really grown on me over the years and I think that blue/tan combo is really eye catching. Interestingly also Jensen-Healey offered the same color but called it Malaga Blue.