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.
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Denne historien er fra August 2024-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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A Breath of Fresh Air- Alfa Romeo's exotic, V8-powered Montreal was like nothing the marque had made before, but can it compare with a Porsche masterpiece, the 911S 2.4?
The stereotype of the ItaloGermanic automotive rivalry is that the Latin car will be brilliant to drive, but poorly built and ergonomically flawed, while the Teutonic will be the opposite. Yet these 2+2 sports coupés both ran against orthodoxy. In the Montreal, Alfa Romeo created an outlandish-looking two-door more comfortable, more powerful and more refined than anything it had produced for decades. Meanwhile, Porsche continued to refine its back-to-front, austere and increasingly aged 911. Neither took a traditional development path, but both created thrilling and individual cars that have echoed through the decades.
Daring to be diminutive
AMC's Gremlin and Pacer, and Ford's much-derided Pinto, led America's response to the threat of imported European compacts
THE LONG WAY ROUND
There is a great tradition of overland trips by Land-Rover, but the tale of this 70s Aussie epic and the car itself was discovered by chance
Handsome cab
The Phantom V limousine marked the beginning of the end for coachbuilder James Young, but this Rolls-Royce represents the craft at its very best
DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES
Racing for their own F1 teams brought some drivers success and an enduring legacy. For others, it turned into a nightmare
20 30 LITRES CYLINDERS, 400BHP......AND MORE THAN A CENTURY OLD
Thunderous torque, flame-spitting stub-exhausts, white-knuckle thrills - and hopefully no spills - aboard a trio of Edwardian racing titans
ICON.
The three top-selling vehicles in the USA in 2023 were pick-ups, topped by the Ford F-Series. This is the truck that started it all
Blurred Lines
lan 'Del' Lines blended the V8 burble of Triumph's open GT with real practicality in his Stag V8 saloons and estates
Home of the brave
The innovative Silverstone proved a hit with keen amateur drivers. To mark its 75th, Healey's club racer returns to the circuit for which it is named
PLAYING ALL THE ANGLES
Alfa Romeo's wild RZ eschewed the jellymould styling of the period to offer a striking, wedge-shaped take on open-topped performance motoring
