Which tr?

[Guest andywduck]

I currenlty run a Triumph Vitesse, and have entered a few minor "fun" rallies, but have now joined HRCR and want to get a bit more serious, with regularity rallies, etc, but still have a car that is good on the road. The Vitesse is too modified (in a non period way), and also feels too "fragile" for these events.

 

I am looking for a TR4, but have only found (mostly) TR4As. What is the opinion on which is best? I had been earlier recommended to go for a TR4, with it's more basic / srtonger back axle, but there seems to be a far better choice of 4As out there. I have a budget of up to about £10k, and was hoping to find a basically sound car, that had some of the more expensive mods on it already.

 

Any advice gratefully accepted!

 

Andy

[Guest mrodbert]

You'll probably get as many different opinions as replies, but here are my thoughts.

 

As with all competition, what car you get depends on what sort of events you want to enter. I was faced with exactly the choice facing you about 2 years ago and chose a road standard 1963 TR4, which we then modified, for the following reasons:

 

- as you say, wiser heads than I seem to suggest that the live rear axle is more robust than the IRS version and I've seen nothing to disprove that.

 

- a 4 allows you to compete in pre-62 classes (the age referring to the date of first manufacture of the model not the registration date of your vehicle). Some organisations (the CRA mostly) use 62 as a cutoff point, some use 67 (HRCR I think). However, I have seen the 4A shown as a variant not as a new model in which case 4s and 4As compete together. It just depends on the event.

 

- the 4s were rallied in period so there are lots of nice bits that were homologated and you can use without penalties.

 

So - not very conclusive, and you pays your money and takes your choice. I found the people at Revington TR gave some quite helpful advice on the subject and the HRCR, HERO and CRA were all very helpful when I asked them the same question. Just dont phone them for a chat the day before the start of a major rally and expect to get 30 mins of their time.

 

The only other thing to remember is that buying a standard car and modifying it is almost always more expensive than buying one that someone else has already done. If doing your own mods is part of the pleasure (as it is with us) fine. Just don't think your not paying for that part of your hobby.

 

Feel free to mail me if you want more detailed info.

 

Mark

[Tr4Tony]

I can add a bit here from my own experience.

 

I would say that a TR4 is definately the more robust car, mainly due to the suspension and the regs thing is relevant too. A 4a is also a bit more expensive to buy and to restore because there seem to be more shiny bits. The also sem to survive less well from what Ive seen over 15 years of TR ownership.

 

About 2 years ago I went down the line of buying a ready prepared car, not a special go faster stage TR4 but a road rally car, run in the Classic Marathon etc. This was fine on the outside but you end up with a (usually) well used car, with all the bodges and normally a tired drivetrain because its been driven hard. Personally I wouldnt recommend this unless you know the car and owner and have a lot of knowledge about what youre buying. There is no doubt that its a cheaper route, but you do buy someone elses car,warts and all.

 

Ive also used my TR4a in road rallies and its OK, a lightly modified TR4a will do fine in thr HRCR stuff and a lot of the CRA evenets that are road based. It may actually be better than a TR4 as the IRS works better on smooth roads as long as its in good fettle.

 

The way that I have jumped is to build a TR4 rally car for mainly road, rough road and mild stage rallies although Im sure it could leap a gorge if necessary.  I bought an ex USA TR4 for about £4K and have spent another £12k on it but it has all the right bits and is totally reliable. I also know how to fix it in the main because I built it. I know what its eligible for and why and its worth much more than Ive spent as its a proper rally car. (Insurance through TR Register schem is agreed at £25k and they sell for this). You could usefully lose £4k of my cars cost becaue I have a very mad gearbox and OD and an LSD in it.

 

If I was doing it again I would buy a rolling chassis with a logbook and rebody it, as the vast majority of things that are not metal end up as scrap. You might have to buy 2 cars to do this (say a TR4 chassis / engine / box / axle) and a TR4a (for the body). Pretty much everything else was binned (or sold !) in my case so I reckon I wasted some money here. This way you get what you want in the condition you want it. Bear in mind that a body restoration will cost £3k to £6k (but varies enormously) including paint if you buy the wrong car and its much easier to do it well off the car.

 

Give me a ring if you want to hear more or a shufty at the car. I have pics of the other one before I sold it and I can tell you what was in it. As a guide I sold it to TRGB for £5k and I believe that they sold it for about £7k. It needed about £2 to £3k of bodywork and paint and a gearbox and axle rebuild, probably plus rewiring etc.

 

Regards

 

Tony