I am copying my response to the Triumphs Mailing list to see if anyone
else has some input. If you didn't know about that group, let me know
and I'll tell you how to get on the list.
My thoughts are that the car you have was manufactured as a TR3; but
sometime in its life the doors and front apron were switched out for the
TR3A look. This could have been done as early as when it was sitting on
the dealer's floor so that it could be sold as a new model. To change
the trunk would have required a quite a bit more work because of the
locking mechanisms being built into the rear apron. It was fairly
common for cars that were built at the end of the year, to be "sold" or
titled as the next year. Especially when the cosmetics of the car
didn't change. In this case, the appearance changed quite a bit, so the
dealer would have done the changes.
Another reason for the change could have been a major collision on the
front end that required the replacement of the apron, wings, doors, etc.
But if you look at the front frame area, the inner wings, and maybe the
engine compartment, you'll be able to determine if that was the case.
If no sign of repair, then it is probably option 1 above. If repaired,
you may have some interesting times ahead of you unless the repair was
extremely well done. (My bet is on #1 because if there had been that
much damage, the car would have gone to the shredder's)
Whether it makes a difference or not is up to you. If you are wanting
to restore the car to concours level, then it could make some difference
because you could have some points deducted for "not as original" .
However, if that is the case, you can get it back to original by
obtaining the correct front apron and doors from a donor car. If you
are going to own the car for driving with less concern about
originality, then it is not a problem at all. There are other cars
around that are TR3's with the A front end; and TR3A's with the small
mouth grille.
Welcome to the "joys" of Triumph ownership.
Later,
Carl F. Musson,
You can't tell which way the car went
by just looking at the road...
TR3A's - TS25264L ('58 Almost Daily Driver)
& TS81802LO - ('61 Concours d'Wannabe)
Tampa, Florida (USA)
http://www.arts.usf.edu/~musson/triumph/
<http://www.arts.usf.edu/~musson/triumph/>
-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel McClain [SMTP:dan.mcclain@sbti.com]
Sent: Monday, November 23, 1998 11:01 AM
To: musson@satie.arts.usf.edu
Subject: TR3 or is it a TR3a
Carl,
I just purchased a TR3. I was told it was a 58 tr3a but the
serial number is TS21214 which is under the TS22014 number for the TR3a.
My car has the larger grill and the locking doors but it has the
TR3 trunk lid. My title shows the car as a 58. Should I be concerned
with this? Any imput that you may have on this would be great.
Thank you,
Dan McClain
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