Description
British Racing Green over Tan | Overdrive | Hardtop | Exceptional History
Quintessentially British, in the colours it was born to wear.
There was a time when a British sports car required little more than a long bonnet, two seats, a large steering wheel and an engine with rather more cylinders than strictly necessary. We think the Triumph TR6 did it rather well.
Launched in 1969, its Karmann-tailored body gave the traditional TR formula some much-needed swagger. It was square-jawed, uncomplicated and just muscular enough to look faintly threatening parked outside the pub. More than half a century later, very little about that recipe needs improving.
This one is a 1973 CR-series car, registration XND 478L, finished - as perhaps all TR6s should be - in British Racing Green over tan.
There is a manual gearbox with overdrive, Triumph's charismatic 2. 5-litre straight-six, and, rather importantly, the coveted factory hardtop. So far, so good.
But the reason we rather like this particular TR6 is contained in a very large pile of increasingly dog-eared paper. Its entire lifetime documented within a ringbinder.
Invoices. Receipts. Handwritten workshop notes. Old parts bills. Valuations. MOT paperwork. Specialist correspondence. The sort of gloriously analogue archive that smells faintly of old garages and becomes considerably more interesting the further down the pile you get. And it goes back more than four decades.
A Cherished Car Underwriting Agency certificate records XND 478L in October 1983, identifying it as a 1973 Triumph TR6 and valuing it at £10, 500. From there, you can effectively follow the car through the years.
The names appearing on the invoices are reassuring ones: TR GB, TR Bitz, Rimmer Bros., Manvers Triumph, Yorkshire TR Centre and JY Classics, amongst others. More importantly, the bills show that previous owners actually spent money on it. The expensive bits have not been ignored
In 1985, at a recorded 70, 901 miles, excessive crankshaft wear resulted in rather more than a cursory service. The gearbox and clutch came out. The engine followed. It was stripped completely and sent for specialist repair before being rebuilt with new gaskets and seals, the injection pump timed, a new clutch fitted and the whole lot put back together and road tested.
Later paperwork records further substantial engine and transmission work: sump and oil-pickup cleaning, oil strainer and filter replacement, crankshaft and thrust-washer attention, oil-pressure relief components, timing components, gearbox strip-down and inspection, clutch cross-shaft work and associated bearings, bushes, seals and gaskets.
In other words, this hasn't spent 53 years surviving on optimism and 20W-50. And nor has the rest of it. The invoices document attention to virtually every part of the car. There are bills for front wings, inner-wing sections and body panels, while a 1990 TR Bitz invoice records new front wheelarches.
There is a documented Falcon stainless-steel exhaust system, complete with its original lifetime-guarantee paperwork.
Manvers Triumph records work to the hood and soft-top frame, exhaust, bumper and other components, as well as undersealing the chassis and underbody.
A detailed inspection in 2002 resulted in suspension fixings being checked and tightened and exhaust components renewed and correctly aligned.
At 79, 313 miles in 2003, Yorkshire TR Centre carried out a 3, 000-mile service together with further drivetrain and exhaust attention. At 80, 029 miles in 2004, they were back underneath it attending to the bottom trunnion bush assembly, while a new dashboard was fitted at the same time. A new starter motor arrived in 2008. JY Classics dealt with a non-starting issue in 2010, returning the ignition system to a more traditional arrangement with new points, condenser and rotor arm. Further paperwork records a reconditioned driveshaft and attention to the clutch hydraulics and pedal assembly. And the spending didn't stop when smartphones arrived.
In 2018, Rimmer Bros. supplied a new wool carpet set and replacement seat foams, refreshing the cabin without attempting to turn it into something it never was. Then, in 2022, the mechanicals received another round of attention: the rear differential was removed and replaced, the front differential seal renewed, the sump resealed, front crankshaft oil seal and rear housing gaskets replaced, gearbox housing resealed and fresh engine oil, filter and antifreeze added.
Which brings us rather neatly to today. The important bit: driving it.
The TR6's 2. 5-litre straight-six is now fed by twin carburettors rather than its original Lucas mechanical injection. Purists may wish to write us a letter. Everyone else may appreciate the simplicity, ease of maintenance and dependable usability that comes with the conversion.
It still sounds like a TR6. It still goes like a TR6. And with a manual gearbox and overdrive, it remains a very pleasant way of turning petrol into noise while disappearing towards somewhere for lunch. The odometer currently shows approximately 85, 000 miles, a figure that sits convincingly alongside the surviving historic records: 70, 901 miles in 1985, 79, 313 in 2003 and 80, 029 in 2004.
Green, obviously. British Racing Green may be an obvious choice for a TR6. That doesn't make it the wrong one. Contrasted against the tan interior, it is difficult to imagine a specification better suited to Karmann's wonderfully bluff little roadster. There is a soft top for when Britain behaves itself and, for the remaining eleven months of the year, the car comes with its increasingly desirable hardtop. It presents beautifully without losing the sense that this is a car intended to be used. Which, given the history, seems entirely appropriate.
A fresh MOT will accompany the car.
Its current custodian is selling for the rather less interesting reasons of space and insufficient time to use it. Their loss, and all that.
Specification:
2. 5-litre straight-six
Twin carburettors
Manual gearbox with overdrive
British Racing Green
Tan interior
Hardtop & soft top
85, 000 miles indicated
Extensive documented engine & gearbox work
Documented stainless-steel exhaust
Documented body, suspension & drivetrain expenditure
Wool carpet set & replacement seat foams
History file dating to at least 1983
Fresh MOT
There are shinier TR6s. There are cheaper TR6s. There are undoubtedly TR6s whose owners will tell you theirs is the best one in Britain.
What is rather harder to find is one whose last four decades can be tipped out onto a table in front of you. And we rather like that.
