Page 53 - Wayne Carini's Guide to Affordable Classics

A Welcome Surprise
The first TR6s were built in September 1968, scarcely more than one year having passed since Karmann had received approval for its design proposal. The TR5 had been in production for less than 13 months, the TR250 for 14 and few believed their departure was imminent. Whether it was the new model’s unexpected appearance or appreciation for the successful makeover, customers took to the TR6 at once. Especially in the United States, where the decision to forego fuel injection resulted in a very reasonable purchase price, buyers found it an exceptional value.
Notwithstanding the TR6’s short gestation, there were remarkably few revisions made to the car during its nine-year production run. Of course, there was little incentive for Triumph to devote diminishing resources to refining the product given the model’s consistent sales, thus restricting changes to what was cheap to implement, necessary to comply with new regulations or to lower production costs.
To illustrate, 1970 models received windscreen frames that were painted in black, regardless of exterior color, with silver paint replacing the chrome plating on the rocker valve cover. In 1971, an eight-bladed fan was supplanted by one with seven. A more important change was made in mid-1971, when a strengthened gearbox, with revised ratios, was installed to achieve standardization with the contemporary Stag. A simple, but effective, spoiler was added underneath the front bumper in late 1972 to combat lift at high speeds, along with a plastic grille to replace the fresh air intake flap, and the wiper arms were painted with a matte black finish. The fan blade also gained an additional six blades, for an unlucky thirteen in total, but the most significant change to occur was an unfortunate one for enthusiastic drivers.
Introduced in 1973 to address customer complaints over erratic idling and poor running at low speeds in cars equipped with Lucas fuel injection, the “rest of the world” models received a new camshaft with revised timing. This change reduced rated power from 150 horsepower to 125 horsepower, not as much as it seems given a change in how the figure was calculated, but the effect from behind the wheel was noticeable, making the improved refinement and tractability bittersweet.
The Laycock de Normanville A-type overdrive that had been used since the TR2, was supplanted at the same time by an improved J-type unit, which was made standard the following year, although it operated on the top two ratios only, rather than the upper three as before. Along with the camshaft revisions, much of the interior trim was revised and updated, with integrated headrests made standard on non-US cars, where they had been in use since 1969, along with a smaller steering wheel and instruments with improved graphics and indicator needles that pointed up, rather than down. After years of declining interest, wire wheels were withdrawn as an option, although the disc wheels received silver satin paint on the center caps as compensation.
TOP: With its square shape, the TR6’s trunk offers a surprising amount of usable space. Although the fixed rear panel made it more difficult to remove the spare tire from its recessed well, it increased the rigidity of the bodyshell, eliminating some of the rattles that plagued earlier models.
ABOVE: Seen in profile, the TR6 remains one of the most handsome representatives of Triumph’s long-running sports car line.
Wayne Carini  Affordable Classics  51