Grape Britain: 1974 Triumph TR6 Project
Mod colors were a hallmark of the 1970s. Carmakers – while never in the vanguard of fashion – followed suit. Who can forget Mopar’s Lemon Twist and Panther Pink, Ford’s Grabber colors, and AMC’s Big Bads? I think my retinas are still seared by the first Lime Green Pantera I ever saw. The color craze wasn’t isolated to the US either; we submit as evidence this 1974 Triumph TR6 in its factory coat of Magenta here on craigslist. With an asking price of $8999, this project will appeal to the maverick who values historical artifacts: what says 70s better than purple? Ok, maybe bellbottoms. And an artifact this may be, as the seller claims this Ceres, California garage resident has just 20,500 original miles. Oh, yes, I was going to mention the photographs. What the heck. Todd K sent us this tip – thanks, Todd!
Triumph’s in-line six-cylinder motor was first developed in 1960 to upgrade the Standard Vanguard. Displacing 2.0 liters, the bore and stroke were altered over the years until the engine reached the 2.5 liters that we see here. US cars received dual Stromberg carburetors and a substantial power cut versus fuel-injected UK cars, but the full brunt of emissions controls hadn’t quite stripped out all the fun by ’74. This motor still generates 104 hp, and torque is decent – zero to sixty arrives in 11 seconds – contributing to a frisky driving experience. Thanks to fully independent suspension, handling is great too. This car is equipped with a four-speed manual and optioned with a Laycock de Normanville overdrive, making everything better when you’re on the freeway. Still, before you can feel the breeze in your hair, the mechanicals must be sorted. The seller says the car rolls while in fourth gear, but it’s been sitting since 1996.
The interior needs work. The seats are split and torn, the wood dash is cracked. But everything appears to be present – all the trim, switches, gauges, and even a color-matched hard top. No word on the convertible top and its frame, however. The glass looks good judging from the few photos in the listing.
The underside is a testament to the car’s long dry storage – it’s clean and plagued only with surface rust. While earlier examples have neater bumper arrangements, owners of later cars can simply pull the over riders off for a bit of weight savings and a more vintage look. The TR6 offers a lot of fun in an inexpensive package, with the added benefit of nearly endless parts and mechanical support. Still, average prices for running, driving examples come in at about $20k, which doesn’t leave a lot of headroom to fix this one.
Auctions Ending Soon
2006 Ford Mustang Saleen S281 SCBid Now17 hours$15,000
2002 Subaru Impreza WRXBid Now3 days$333
1975 Chevrolet Corvette ConvertibleBid Now3 days$3,000
1964 Ford F-100 Camper CustomBid Now3 days$2,000
2006 Jeep Wrangler SportBid Now5 days$10,500
Comments
One of my favorite cars, in relatively good shape, and at a decent price, too. But that color. Oy. Maybe try a vehicle wrap. Lasts quite a while, looks decent (better than purple, anyway), and won’t damage the originality of the car as the stuff comes off relatively easily. A black wrap leaving the under bonnet and door jambs purple for a striking, unexpected splash of color would be… kinda cool.
“Grape Britain”?!!?!? OMG, Michelle-you’ve Robin Williams wit with the turn of a phrase!
Always a favorite sports car most TR6’s around here were blue or BRG. MAGENTA? Well, if Dodge/ChryslerPlymouth can do Plum Wild, why not the Brits who started the whole hippie trend anyway?!?
This would be a blast to bring back to life and show up at the local European Car Show-just to see how far away from the crowd they’d post you!
Not that it’d matter-you could probably see this one from the ISS..
Todd K., I’ve a good retina specialist in Reno if you need one now🤣
Adding to the oddity factor, this is listed in the ad as having an inline V6 engine!
Very clever engineers, those Brits.
Well, well, FINALLY, an O/D behind that “inline V6”,and “rolls easily in 4th?”,,I’m sorry, shows the sellers ignorance and that’s understandable today, but Uncle Fritz and Aunt Franny drove the behoozes out of this car up and down the PCH. Provided that speedo still operates, many, many miles. An O/D car will do that. They cruise so much nicer. I actually remember a few 6s this color and in todays bland society, tough to imagine, for some that weren’t there, color was everywhere. From toilets to lawn mowers and even cars. Rambler was the king of color. Wonder whatever happened to that? While the color is a bit loud for today, it’s equipped exactly the way I’d want one, hardtop a huge plus.
Now, since all the painters have either died or in an old folks home, I suppose 14 rattle cans of green from Walmart, the ONLY color for a British car for me, might do it. The very 1st thing one must do, is get to be good friends with the British parts places here. They’ll be hearing from you a lot. Cool find.
Oh, another thing, while many might be inclined to remove the rubber bumper things, they will save the front from damage. I suppose the back ones can go, I doubt they’d save much from a rear ender at 50 from a distracted driver.
You will have Grape Expectations to restore this car not to mention a Dickens of a time…
I want to report this comment. ;)
NEVER a fan of Britcars and I wonder how much effort it would be to remove the box for photos?
Yes about removing the box. I never understand people trying to sell a vehicle and post photos of the interior filled with garbage or junk stacked on the exterior as it sits in a dark garage. I do like Britcars, though. How can you not like an Austin-Healy?
Yeah bob, folks should know by now that if you’re trying to sell something, it’s faux pas to have a collection of junk, boxes, clothing, etc stacked in front of/on top of the item you’re trying to sell, but oh well, ‘it’s still visible, I ain’t moving all that dusty old crap to take a picture!’ … I’m just wondering if the buyer will have to move said crap… Oh, and one of the coolest cars I’ve ever seen was a restomodded Austin Healy, with a shiny set of Weber tubes protruding from the hood, and yes, classic Cragars all the way around. Super neat looking little ride, and I particularly like the TR6’s as well, Barney purple notwithstanding…
I bought a new purple Spitfire 1500 in 1973.
It was easy to spot in a parking lot.
Definitely a factory overdrive car as it has the “O” suffix on the VIN, although due to the angle of the interior photo, I could not see the overdrive stalk behind the turn signal lever. Cool to see this car has the factory steel hardtop. I have a hardtop for my ’73 TR6, but seldom use it…I seldom use the soft top, for that matter, as well.
Could very well be 20K original miles with the redline tires, but the interior looks as though the car was either stored outdoors or politicians/rodents got into the car.
Hey CobraSteve. You do rodents a disservice comparing them to politicians!
Indeed! Apologies!
Agreed joe, they definitely are far and above the p-word’s on our list, their little furry hides won’t be the ruin of us all 😜… maybe our corn flakes tho..
So funny to dump on politicians and so clichéd. Just remember you voted them in.
Never seen one this shade and i would have lost a bet that was factory. They didnt even make black as far as I know. My ’75 was Pimento Red which is what I would want again. Kinda cool though in Grape too though!