1972 Triumph Stag

Walking for my morning paper one day recently I was passed by this car which then pulled into the local Shell filling station.

It's a 1972 Triumph Stag, over 25,000 of which were produced between 1970 and 1977.

The car is powered by the then new Triumph 2,997cc V8 engine.

All the Triumph Stags were convertibles, and to meet American safety standards they were fitted with a roll-bar behind the seats which was connected to the windscreen frame by a T-bar. There was also a removable hardtop available which became a standard fitment for the later cars.

Triumph

Here are the photographs I took of some of the Triumphs at the Footman James Classic Car Show at EventCity, Manchester in September 2016.

This is a 1948 1,776cc straight-4 Triumph Roadster, produced from 1946 to 1948

This is a 1937 Triumph Dolomite Special, but the only information I can find about this car is the DVLA record that says it has a 1,750cc engine. The 1930s Triumph was produced with three different engine sizes, and the nearest I can find to this is the 1,767cc engine of the 14/60 and 14/65.

A  Michelotti bodied 1967 1,147cc straight-4 Triumph Herald 1200 Convertible, produced from 1961 to 1971.

A 1957 1,991cc straight-4 Triumph TR3. The original TR3 had a smaller central radiator grille and this version with the full width grille was unofficially known as a TR3A, but just badged as a TR3. This version was produced from 1957 to 1962.

Another Michelotti bodied car, a 1974 2,997cc V8 Triumph Stag. This is one of the  MkII cars that were produced between 1974 and 1977.

This is one of the original Triumph TR3 models, made in the last year of the 1955 to 1957 production run and has the smaller central grille. It shares the 1,991cc straight-4 engine of the later 'TR3A'.

This is the first production model of the TR series of cars, the Triumph TR2 that was produced from 1953 to 1955 and used the same 1.991cc straight-4 engine of the later TR3. There was one prototype model built which differed from the production car, mainly at the rear end, to such an extent that the production model was called the TR2 and the prototype retrospectively named the TR1.

This is a 1966 2,138cc straight-4 Triumph TR4A, produced from 1965 to 1967. The Michelotti bodied car was externally little different from the TR4, but it had independent rear suspension instead of the Hotchkiss drive system of the earlier car.

A 1974 2,498cc straight-6 Triumph TR6 with Lucas fuel-injection, produced between 1968 and 1976. The body basically followed the same lines as the TR4 and TR5, but was restyled by the German firm of Karmann.

This is a 1982 1,998cc straight-4 Triumph TR7 Drop-head Coupe, designed by the chief stylist at British Leyland, Harris Mann. The cars were produced between 1975 and 1982 and this one bears the double bulge bonnet of the later cars that was designed to clear the carburettors of the V8 engined TR8 which had an identical body to the TR7.

Triumph Stag Mk2

Sometimes when I'm on my daily walk to Hyde town centre and back I'll see a car go past and bemoan the fact that I didn't have my camera ready to take a photograph of it. It's happened recently with a couple of Ferraris, a Maserati and an unidentified 1960s looking American car. Yesterday I was on my way home through the back streets when a lovely looking Triumph Stag passed me, but a few minutes later when I got to the main road I saw the car in the Shell Petrol Station, and the owner very kindly stood aside and allowed me to take a couple of photographs of the car.

The Triumph Stag is a 2+2 sports tourer, designed by Giovanni Michelotti and was produced between 1970 and 1978 - the 'R' at the end of the registration number indicates that this particular one was first registered between 1 August 1976 and 31 July 1977. It had a 2997cc V8 engine and twin Zenith-Stromberg carburettors. All the Triumph Stags were convertibles, and to meet American safety standards they were fitted with a roll-bar behind the seats which was connected to the windscreen frame by a T-bar. There was also a removable hardtop available which became a standard fitment for the later cars.

There is a Stag Owners Club for anyone who is fortunate enough to own one of these cars.