In 1975 the TR6, a classically styled British roadster, was joined by (and eventually replaced with) the TR7, featuring wedge-shaped styling that was very modern and up-to-date for the Seventies. What was also up-to-date for the Seventies was the lump under the hood: a 2.0L SOHC inline four with a pair of SU carbs that wheezed out 92 horsepower in EPA-compliant trim. It was very Malaise Era.
For the 1980 model year, though, it received that classic automotive heart transplant: a V-8 swap.
Buick's 215 cubic inch all-aluminum V-8 had been designed to power their first compacts in the early Sixties (and was also used in the original Olds and Pontiac compacts) but it had been expensive to produce and was dropped after 1963. The design was purchased by Rover in 1965 and had shown up in MGs and Rovers since and eventually it found its way into Triumph's wedge.
While a few hundred hardtops (or "fixed-head coupes" in Brit-speak) were produced, nearly all TR8s were convertibles like the tatty Pendelican White one in the photos. While 1980 imports in the US mostly were carbureted cars making 133 SAE net horsepower, California cars... and all 1981 models ...got Bosch-Lucas L-Jetronic fuel injection and made 148 ponies, a respectable total at the time for a 2,620-pound roadster.
Other than decals, the only real giveaway that it wasn't a TR7 were the dual exhaust outlets out back. This was a view a lot of cars would see, though. Car and Driver's '81 test car managed an 8.1 zero-to-sixty time and a 16.2 quarter at 87mph, which would handily show its taillights to a 280ZX or 924 or any other car in its price class that wasn't a Corvette. Top speed was 117 miles per hour and the only really disappointing part of the performance envelope was the braking, because the tiny un-vented front discs and rear drums took 228 feet to haul the car down from seventy.
Price as tested was $12,325 in 1981 disco-bucks, which is $43,600 in 2025 dollars.
This one was photographed with a Canon EOS R and an RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS zoom lens in July of 2025.
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