Rusty But Trusty

With the recent booms and busts of our up-and-down economy, different classic cars have been affected in different ways in the market. Everybody knows vintage Porsches are up, but it behooves every car nut to also understand what cars are down in order to get a good deal on a car that might have cost more a few years back. A good example of that is the Triumph TR6 – values seem to be down slightly, and this means that cars needing a little effort are easier to snap up. One such car is this 1976 Triumph TR6, for sale for $3950 near Dripping Springs, TX (itself near Austin).

Interesting color – for 1976, the lighter green color was Java, but this looks more like Triumph’s Emerald. The pictures actually make the car look super-clean, with apparently glossy paint, no major dents, and all trim and panels present. A significant reason for this car’s low value is its project status, those hideous bumper-boobs, and the “clear” salvage title (wait, what?). Of course, on an older car like this, the latter reason could be due to a small fender-bender sustained while the car was at the bottom of the market, or for title reasons like donation or some time spent in a junkyard. Just check it out extra-carefully – you were going to do that during your PPI anyway, right?

Something looks a little crooked here, and the headlight trim rings and grill mesh are missing. Perhaps it’s just the camera angle, but you’ll want to poke around and ask questions. Thankfully, the sabrinas have been removed from the front, and the bumper-mounted turn indicators on the ’76 cars actually give a somewhat cleaner look. Can you imagine seeing this car on the lot next to new TR7 coupes? It must have looked like Stifler’s mom at a high school party, beautiful but clearly older.

The interior also accounts for the low price, and per the seller it needs a new dash, though all gauges are functional. Sure, the wood fascia is peeling, but other than that, the picture makes it look like a thorough cleaning would do it a world of good. The seats and carpet look reasonable, and the door panels and hardware look in good shape. No details are given on the engine, other than it runs, is driveable (and the car has new tires), and has some new parts – perhaps some quality time spent polishing this emerald will pay off.

Tags: british, Feature, sports car, tr6, triumph

This entry was posted on April 3, 2014 at 1:12 pm and is filed under Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.