Dick Taylor wrote:
Jonmac---I've also heard that besides the PI not being precise enough to
pass critical smog tests, that the (S-2-like) camshaft was too "dirty"
to tame.
It's certainly one of the 'wilder' camshafts that were factory fitted and
the one I've got in my own car. FUN! Yeah - it's dirty, too.
On top of all this, the cost per PI car on would have gone up
past the niche in the U.S. market, and dealers were ready to complain.
What do you recall about this on your side of the pond?
I don't recall there being a substantial price difference on the two cars.
Of course, the carbed car was a little cheaper - but not by very much. Even
so, the chance of the injected car pricing itself out of its niche is an
improbable conclusion. There was such a difference in the power and torque
with resulting performance changes that most people would have gladly paid
the difference for the extra. As far as the dealers were concerned, I'd
claim the majority were nothing more than a confounded nuisance and a
permanent pain in the ****!. They exerted far too much leverage on the North
American Sales Companies and called the shots to an unacceptable level as
far as the factory was concerned. They started it by precipitating the
'TR3B' because they said the TR4 'wouldn't sell.'
It did - and in massive numbers and right from launch day.
This brought further complaints about '3B' and 4 going in short supply.
Hell, you can't make both variants simultaneously and still try to keep up
with demand. Then they moaned about the TR4A having independent rear
suspension, so the US had beam axled cars with IRS as an optional extra. The
IRS cars outsold the rigid axled versions by about 4:1 and towards the end,
many dealers said they wanted credits for beam axled cars still in stock and
unsold - because they couldn't sell them!
Looking back to those days, I'd say Standard-Triumph had two main problems
with the US market. The first was that we didn't make enough cars to satisfy
the demand - but even if all sports car production had gone to North
America, it still wouldn't have been enough. The second difficulty was the
intransigence of the dealers themselves who frequently failed to meet their
contractual obligations in terms of providing adequate parts and service
support, while at the same time claiming their 'consolidated market
research' was proven and accurate' when almost everyone could see they were
just resistant to change.
I don't know how things are now but in my later years in the industry and
seeing how the Japanese handled similar difficulties, there's only one route
to follow. Don't bow to dealer pressure. The majority listen only to their
salesmen and the nature of the salesman beast is that all he wants is an
easy life. Dealers do as they are told and if they don't conform, they get
terminated - period. This all adds up to building a strong dealer network
and once that's in place, everyone starts making money. Standard-Triumph's
problem - shared with Jaguar, MG and Sunbeam as well - was that none of them
had a strong dealer network because they couldn't produce the vehicle volume
that most dealers were accustomed to receiving from somewhere like Detroit.
Demand for sports cars continuously outstripped supply and the vehicles that
were available had to be spread very thin.
Sorry - long answer to a short question.
Cheers, John
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