This one got a smile and a sigh from me..
Yup, it’s an early Triumph TR4. I had a TR4 once, the story is here but be warned it is long and it is sad:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/coal-1962-triumph-tr4-know-when-to-hold-em/
I’ll guess 1962 on the year, same as mine, It seems to have the large hood bulge to clear the twin SU carbs, and the bullet glass Lucas signal light lenses. The bumper guards have been removed, but that would have been another clue.
The standard dash in TR4 was white painted metal, it’s unusual to see one as most have been changed to a wood dash (as was mine). Those square profile seats are more TR4A like, very early ones like mine had rounded TR3 seats that were less comfortable. Although I prefer the looks of the original banjo-type steering wheel I would imagine that that smaller diameter aftermarket wheel would assist with getting one’s legs into the deep footwells.
These cars are very simply constructed, as you can see from the frame diagram here. This allowed Triumph to incrementally and completely revise the TR line as the years progressed:
TR2/TR3 – 1953-1962 – Orginal design based on sedan mechanicals with roadster body.
TR4 – 1961-1965 – New Michelotti designed body on modified TR3 chassis.
TR4A – 1965-1967 – Rear half of the frame redesigned with IRS
TR5/TR250 – 1967-1968 – Six cylinder engine (with fuel injection in the UK)
TR6 – 1968-1976 – Revised body by Karmann
That’s over simplifying it a bit, but you can see how they tried to keep up with the changing sports car market by making updates as they could afford them.
At the back we see that the bumper guards are in place, with a nice tonneau cover over the vestigal rear seat. The Triumph was parked curbside at the best restaraunt in our historic downtown, a couple I took for the owners were enjoying the patio on this beautiful warm spring afternoon. How easily this could have been Mrs DougD and myself, if I hadn’t fumbled the purchase and restoration of my own TR4.
Ironically, the very TR4 I formerly owned is currently for sale on Kijiji by the very guy I sold it to ten years ago:
The ad is highly optimistic, both in the description and the pricing. I did email him indicating I might be interested in purchasing it back for the same price I sold it to him for (about $2,000) but I did not hear back from him.
Actually that’s a relief, since I know how much work that car needs. After my smile and sigh, I was thinking it’s definately time to pull my 1963 VW out of winter storage. I could take Mrs DougD out for dinner, and I know just where to go..
Hmmmm. Before all the Prince Of Darkness electrical jokes and Exxon Valdez oil leak comments start, I’ll just toss in this perspective on old sports car ownership:
The high today will be 85 and my car club is having a cross-country group drive out to a Craft Brewery today. I’m leaving in about 20 minutes… top down… for the drive.
I’ll be interested to see the comments when I return.
I’m looking wistfully at both your car and the weather; we’ve had pouring rain for a straight week. Hope you had a great drive.
Just reporting back – we had a lovely day with a dozen Italians in the convoy zipping through the hills, and the beer was pretty good. Oh, and for the cynics among you, no cars encountered any mechanical problems…although no doubt there was some quiet rusting going on unobserved…..
Sounds like fun!
Cutest sports car in history. Always loved that front treatment.
Agreed! They nailed the styling on these cars.
I once owned a 1960 TR3 that I bought in 1973-74. I so wanted a TR3 in British Racing Green, and not knowing about restoring a vintage sports car, I had the remaining red scraped off and re-covered the red seats.
A fun car to drive, but the shaking of the body under acceleration is a bit off-putting. Yet, that roar under acceleration makes you forget about the shaking.
Yes, I would own another, but I would want one in better condition than the one that I owned.
One of these has a lot of appeal to me. However my Miata allows me to enjoy about 75% of the good parts of one of these while avoiding 100% of the bad parts.
The idea of buying back a car you used to own has always contained some mix of intriguing and terrifying for me. I have had the chance a couple of times but have passed. It was probably for the best. I think the only way it would work is if the owner after me dumped a bunch of time and money into it and then sold it back to me for a big fat loss. And even then, . . .
Is that a hole for a hand crank, at the bottom of the grille?
Yes it is. Very early tr4s had a hole thru the radiator and a dog on the end of the crankshaft.
Later they switched to a modern rad and there is no hole in TR4A grille
Like seeing a former girlfriend, but looking better than ever? 🙂
Was very fond of the TR4 in its day. My sister had a bit of a thing with a guy in HS that had one, and she was always carrying on about it, and him. Maybe that’s why. It, and a ’63 Grand Prix, would be the only two cars that I can attribute being influenced by her. What girl in 1964 wouldn’t like a guy with a TR4 or a GP?
Yep, they were lookers for sure.
This may be the first time I’ve seen (or noticed) a white steel dash, and by gum, I like it!
And yes, Doug, you *do* need to take Mrs. DougD out to dinner in your ‘63!
I had to look up the original Kijiji ad, and I see that the car is actually in the Sudbury area, a long ways from Oakville. Not that I’m interested in any event!
What sort of TR-4 would 16,500 loonies get you from an honest, non-delusional seller?
In the US, $16.5K MIGHT get you a TR6, but with the difference in value of the Canadian dollar, the same number is not all that outrageous for a TR4.
I came across this photo recently — it’s of my parents’ TR4 parked in front their apartment building in about 1964. The car was new, the apartment was recently built, and they were newly married. For some reason, this picture — without a single person in it — hints at the optimism that they probably felt at the time.
If I remember correctly, they bought the TR4 shortly after they were married as a replacement for dad’s Peugeot 404 and mom’s Rambler. They wanted something fun; I don’t blame them one bit. I’m unsure how long they had the car, but this is the only photo I’d ever seen of it, and fortunately I wound up with it.
Of all the British sports cars of the era, the TR4 is my favorite.
Where do I start? With a 62 TR4, 80 TR8, 70 MK3 Spitfire, 78 Spitfire, 76 Porsche 914 and 71 MGB, I can say all of them have quirks. But the 4 is one of the best on back roads, with lots of torque to easily move you along. All these cars are about the journey, and I’ve made some epic ones. Like Austin to Hilton Head straight through with my dog in my Spitfire a few years ago. 108,000 miles in that car alone the last 8 years.
Buy one of these and live. You won’t regret it.
Have owned 3 of 6 of the cars you have owned, no MGs though.