Blurred Lines

lan 'Del' Lines blended the V8 burble of Triumph's open GT with real practicality in his Stag V8 saloons and estates

- CHARLIE CALDERWOOD

You can imagine the quizzical looks back and forth as Del Lines' eyes flitted from the engine bay of the Triumph 2000 from which he had just removed a straight-six motor to that of the newly released Triumph Stag he had in his workshop. The front chassis legs were the same... and that triggered an idea: Lines was going to make the car Triumph wouldn't.

Ian 'Del' Lines' brother had bought a garage in Weston-super-Mare earlier in 1970, and the pair specialised in Triumphs. Atlantic Garage developed a reputation for sorting out the troublesome Lucas injection fitted to the TR6 and 2.5 PI, and, as a keen clubman rally driver, Del learnt how to improve the chassis.

The rallying required a tow vehicle, for which Del used a 1966 Triumph 2000 Estate. It was this well-worn car, suffering from an ailing engine, that Lines was disassembling while the Stag, heavily accident-damaged after just 500 miles from new, and having only been released in June 1970, was sitting alongside it in the workshop. Because of this poor Stag owner's misfortune, Lines was one of the first outside British Leyland to realise that the new Triumph V8 would be an easy fit into the 2000/2500.

Early Stag prototypes had been powered by Triumph's overhead-valve straight-six, with the car conceived as a drop-top conversion of the saloon. US ambitions prompted the move to a V8 derived from the firm's new overhead-cam slant-four, but, even then, Triumph's pre-BL ambition was to move all models to this engine family, whether in-line 'four', V6 or V8. So interchangeability was high on the agenda.

A swap of the engine mounts, gearbox and battery box allowed the fitting of the V8, while Lines added badging that labelled the car '3-Litre V8' on the back and 'Stag' on the sides.

The 2000 V8 remained his tow car and covered 120,000 miles over the following four years, and it wasn't long before others began asking Lines to carry out the same conversion for them.