1961 Triumph TR4: 1961 Triumph TR4 Sold - Car sold for asking price 2.21.10

THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST - CAR SOLD AT ASKING PRICE TODAY 2.21.2010

This 1961 Triumph TR4 is the 445th TR4 ever made -yes, they were still making TR3s in 1961 when this early TR4 rolled out of the factory in Coventry. It has chassis number CT 445 L and engine number CT 142 E. Production commenced on July 18th, 1961, and by January 1962, they were up to serial number 2649, so this one was probably made in the first month. Engine and chassis numbers do not match in Triumphs, as the manufacturer also sold engines to other builders ( Morgan, Peerless) and the sequences varied. Refer to the Vintage Triumph Register for details (http://www.vtr.org/TR4/TR4-production.shtml).

This original TR4 is still virtually the way it rolled off the assembly line. With mostly original paint, chrome, engine believed never to have been opened up and with less than 80,000 miles on it (more on that later), this car has tremendous patina and character. One of the joys of not having a restored show car (or the cost of one) is that I (or you!) can take it out on Saturdays without fear, for errands to the hardware store or the farmer's market, breakfast at the diner or just a drive on country roads. It's a gutsy British sports car that is simply a pleasure to drive. I've owned the car for three years, and have had the top up once, so it's clearly a fair weather car, but I've driven it 150 miles in a day several times, cruising at up to 4500 RPM (87 miles per hour), never missing a beat. And the exhaust - what a sweet sound. It's terrific running up through the gears, and when you take your foot off the gas, it sounds great backing off!

For me, the best part of this car is that no one has screwed with it. Other than a few non-original hoses, fuel filter and spin-on oil filter, this Triumph is as it was made. It is not restored, powder coated and doesn't have a show car finish. You can still see one as the factory made it, and the original seat covers still have the maker's marks in black crayon on the back, bearing a 1961 date. You may decide to restore it - and it would be an easy restoration, as there is no rust repair needed, or turn it into a vintage racer, but I like it just the way it is. Given it's excellent condition, there's no reason why it couldn't stay in this state for years with proper maintenance.

Mechanically, the car is in excellent condition. Suspension has been rebuilt with all new bushings, steering rack, new front shocks (last year), new front and rear springs, tires are less than two years old. The 60 spoke wires were taken down to bare metal and refinished by me when I bought the car; one of the wheels is a replacement Dayton as the other had some significant rust on the nipples and rim where water had laid between the tube and the inside of the rim. This early car originally had 48 spoke wheels - I have those too, and they are in fairly good condition, but most cars have been upgraded to the later 60 or 72 spoke wheels, as this car has.

I rebuilt or replaced everything in the braking system when I acquired the car, as it had been very lightly used for the preceding several years. As such, the master cylinder, which was in good condition, is rebuilt, the three rubber lines in the system (front wheels, one to the rear axle) have been replaced, the rear wheel cylinders are new, front calipers were stripped and repainted, seals replaced and stainless steel pistons installed. Pads and shoes are of course new.

Drivetrain - all fluids - rear end, transmission and engine - are fresh. The engine does have a non-original spin-on oil filter. I may have the original equipment. I did some carburetor work when I got the car, as there were a few leaky gaskets and seals. Other than that, I have simply done normal maintenance - cap and wires, points, fuel filter, fan belt. The engine does not blow any oil smoke, even on start-up, oil pressure is excellent, generator works fine, no valve or bearing noise, transmission is smooth with good synchros, etc. The only things on the to-do list are to have the starter rebuilt, as it cranks slowly, and probably to have the speedometer restored as the needle jumps around, and at higher speeds you will have to interpolate between 50 and 70, though the mileage reads correctly.

Body and frame - this car is in amazing condition for an unrestored, 49 year old automobile. I have been under, over, and around it and it is incredibly solid. Pick up the floor mats and the paint is all there, even along the seams with the rockers. Look at the seam between the inner fenders and the outer ones inside the wheel wells - no rot, except one area along the top seam of the right rear fender, where the middle 50% of the top flange of the outer fender (where it attaches to the inner fender) is rusty (see photo). Inner and outer rockers - clean, rock solid and I don't think the outer rockers were ever repainted! Trunk - no rust. Frame - light surface rust in some areas, original paint still present otherwise. The body is virtually rust free - you'll see one little thumbnail sized crusty paint spot on the dog leg on the right rear fender in the photos, and the owner before me says that was there when he bought the car fifteen years earlier, so it's not progressing. I have looked at many so-called "rust free" cars over the years, and don't want to waste your time or mine misleading anyone. The inner fender areas must have been undercoated early on over the original paint, and where the coating is peeling off the paint shows through clearly. The lighting for the underbody photos is poor - and the undercarriage actually looks better than it does in the photos, which seem to highlight the contrasts between undercoating, grime and mud splatters!

Exterior Body Paint - Here, the photos make it look a little better than it is - not that it is not as it appears, but at a few feet you will see more of the haze, years of polish marks, chips and dings. I believe the car still bears the original paint, though it has been touched up in places. I enjoy the patina and it has a nice soft shine, but if you're a car show person, this is faaaar from concours. There was apparently one minor body incident in the very distant past, as the right tail-light area of the rear fender has been repainted and blended in to the original paint about 1/3 of the way toward the front. There is no evidence of body damage in this area, other than the paint work, when looking at the fender, viewing the interior panels from the trunk or upon examination underneath. I've tried to include enough photos under and over in this area to show this. However, there should be a small piece of chrome beading between the lower apron and the fender beneath the taillight and that is no longer there - whoever did the bodywork must have removed it and just puttied over the seam.

Chrome and trim - the bumpers are hazy but not pitted, and if you are going to restore the car you will redo these. The trim is all there, the stainless trim around the cockpit is excellent, windshield header is good, aluminum grille is perfectly straight.

Interior - the leather seat covers were replaced with correct ones by the prior owner, and the interior is otherwise original, except for the carpets and the dashboard color. I have the original covers which bear the maker's marks/1961 date on them. The dashtop was recovered, and looks pretty good, except for the grab handle under the glovebox - see photo. This was originally a "white dash" car - all the early cars had a dashboard painted porcelain white, so somewhere along the way someone painted it black, and it could easily be returned to original. A nice set of carpets would also do wonders for the interior, as these are cheap nylon ones. The top is in good shape, but years old, as is the top frame, and there is a tonneau cover as well.

Mileage - the Connecticut owner's records show that he bought the car with 71,933 miles on it in 1990. The speedometer was not working - I still have that speedometer - and he replaced it with one from a parts car, reading 34,478 miles at the time of replacement in June 1990. The car now reads 41,684 miles - only 7,216 miles in the past 20 years! Overall, it apparently has about 79,200 miles on it, plus miles, if any, when the car may have been driven with a non-working speedo - totally believable when you see the condition of this lovely car!

History - the early history of this car is fuzzy - the person I bought it from in Connecticut had purchased it in 1990 from a collector in the Philadelphia area. He (the Philadelphia owner) was a collector of pre-war luxury cars, and had picked the Triumph up on a whim from the son of a friend, and it then languished in his collection for ten years or more. Suffice to say that from the early eighties on the Triumph was garaged and driven either not at all or very few miles. I have continued that path, putting less than 1,000 miles on the car since I bought it. I regret having to sell it, as I don't know that I will ever find another one like this, but I have another incoming project and only two spaces in the garage, one of which is permanently claimed by my vintage race GT6. This one has to go.

Price. $10,500

Location - Just north of Philadelphia, about 10 minutes south of the PA turnpike at the Fort Washington exit. Will consider delivery within a modest range, but you can drive this one home!

Scott Janzen

215-233-9500 (day or evening)

s.janzen@comcast.net

Crease on right side in door and front fender. I wanted to draw attention

to this, as it does not show up on the larger photos

Original Shop Manual

Excellent Top Frame

Right Rear Fender, where rear 1/3 was repainted due to apparent minor damage.

No evidence of damage other than old paint work.

Light surface rust on right frame rail. Contrasting light makes it look worse than it appears.

left outrigger

Right front suspension

left rear inner fender

left rear inner fender, top seam. Note some rust and swelling on outer fender flange (right) where it is attached to inner fender (left). The outer fender itself is fine, as is evidenced by the paint and shots of the exterior. If the car were ever restored, a new flange could be welded onto the fender.