Personally, I've been avoiding thoughts of the TR7 lately, even to the
point of passing up some typical FCG project type cars. You see, in the
past I've on odd occasions thought that I should own and drive a TR7 just
for a sense of historical completeness, I guess. Yes, with a 3, a 4, almost
a 5 and a 6, I should look for a 7 and an 8. I'll wait on the 2 until after
I drive the 3 around for a while. This feeling was never a real priority,
as the cars I've always liked better than the 7 were the 4 through 6, and
the GT6+.
Than last summer at the VTR convention I heard something, tucked it away in
some random unused nook of my brain (many to choose from!) and try not to
dwell on it. Ted Schumacher, of TS Imports, was giving a workshop on setting
up Triumphs for racing. In that subject area, Ted has credentials. The talk
was oriented towards road racing and vigorous street driving, but was of
course interesting to me, the most avid Triumph autocrosser in northern Utah.
Ted went through the various renditions of Triumphs, talked about the 2 and 3,
the 4 and 4A, the 250 and 6. He discussed motors some, and suspensions. Then
he said with some conviction that the TR7 was the best handling Triumph ever
built. Then he said it again.
I was doing well with the TR4A solid axle car. It had a 2.2 liter motor,
lots of torque and was a good size. The TR7 has a more modern, more powerful
and lighter 2 liter motor, is basically the same weight, length and wheelbase
as the earlier cars. I often do wonder what an early coupe (rigidity, you
know) that was subjected to careful preparation and development just might
be like chasing cones around a parking lot.
But first, the Killer Spitfire, the F Prepared {GT6|TR250|6} and a few other
cars need my attention. Will it ever end?
mjb.
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