----- Original Message -----
From: "The Barneck Family" <dougbee@comcast.net>
To: <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2005 7:46 PM
Subject: 1980 TR7 questions
>I have a couple questions reagarding a 1980 TR7 spider that I am looking
>at.
> I am used to TR6s and am not familiar with the TR7s...
Doug-
I recently sold a low mileage Spider (32K miles). I too know a bit about
them. The built somewhere in the neighborhood of 1200 of them overall. They
are arguably the rarest production Triumph of them all. Very modern by
Triumph standards and they are a joy to drive. Like Darrell said, they are
hard to beat in the turns. They are also the Rodney Dangerfield's of the
Triumph world as they get no respect! If I were looking at it, this is what
I'd look for.....
*Does it have the original interior? It was unique to all other TR7's. It
should have Gray, light gray, and black striping on the velour seats with
plush shag pewter carpets.
If it is an original interior, 1000 bucks is worth it IMHO.
* Look for rust in the B pillars down by the sills, Rust there and you got
big troubles.
* Is the A/C still intact? The Spider came standard with A/C.
Other notes..........
-The overheating issue is not usually a problem on later 7's as they went to
a 12 vane water pump by the late 70's and cured that problem. It was the
early build cars with the 6 vane pump that had the problems.
-Parts are abundant, relatively inexpensive, and as time goes on, the
Spiders will become a bit more in demand.
-The car is not that hard to work on (in spite of what others think) and
there are both Haynes and Bentley manuals out there for info. You will need
both metric and SAE wrenches in your toolbox however.
-The TR7 was quite "civilized in comparison to the TR6's. We drove ours from
Maine to Richmond and back for VTR 2004 without a problem. In over 1800
miles, the car ran flawlessly and cruised at highway speeds effortlessly.
My recommendation is that if the car is rust free, it is worth 1000 bucks.
Once you drive one, you will realize that they do have
soul......................
Tim Hutchisen
71 TR6 (35th B-Day today!)
70 GT6+
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