The Triumph TR7 and JensenHealey are truly the last of their kind. Not merely the last of their respective dynasties, but the last of Britain's mass-market, traditional, steel-bodied sports cars.
Certainly both have been heavily criticised and given as examples of Britain's 1970s industrial malaise. Whether in period or more recently, commentators and pundits have tarred them with the bitter brush of criticism. Lumps have been knocked out of these Brits for quality and reliability woes, rampant corrosion and even their styling. Yet here they remain, not merely still standing but looking resplendent after all these years and each with their own band of loyal enthusiasts. So surely they deserve a second chance?
The roots of both cars can be traced to the same chaotic corner of Britain's troubled motor industry. Today, it's easy to associate the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC) with all manner of disaster, but the origins of the combine's problems were most definitely covered in British Motor Corporation (BMC) fingerprints. Among BMC's legion of issues was that it would spend huge sums on prototypes sometimes even multiple disparate concurrent prototypes, all intended to replace the same model - yet none would make it to production.
Healey suffered such a fate on multiple occasions. The 'Super Healey', also nicknamed Fireball XL5, came to nothing after swallowing £1m. The Healey Motor Co's own successor to the MkIII Austin-Healey 3000 was rejected, and although the MkIV 3000 was built and engineered, it didn't make production because it wasn't liked by boss Donald Healey. The problem was that it was clearly based on the MGC, itself an MGB doppelgänger. Plus, as his son Geoff would later write, its new heavier engine 'gave much trouble in early production form, and lacked the torque of the old unit'.
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Denne historien er fra April 2023-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