Do you dream of a luxe sports car that seems to float over the road rather than touch it? Move on, then, to some other listings at eBay Motors, because today’s classic car is about experiencing the ride, the wind in your face, the whole feeling of the drive from the perspective of a retro, yet perpetually young, roadster.
Up for bidding (and you’ll have to join the fray of 20 other hopeful bidders who have driven the price up to over $13K) is this 1966 Triumph Other:
What a humble title for such a fun car. The folks over at conceptcarz capture the spirit of this cool convertible when they say, “There is a kid in every person that never truly dies.”
But they are not just talking about the high-spiritedness of this vehicle. They are also alluding to the evolution of the Triumph company. They share, “The company, established by two German gentlemen by the names Siegfried Bettmann and Moritz Schulte, started out making bicycles. Then, at the turn of the 20th century, the company graduated to making motorcycles. By 1918, the last year of the First World War, Triumph had become Britain’s largest motorcycle maker. Then, in the early 1920s, Bettmann was persuaded to start producing motor cars.”
The trajectory of Triumph went south, however, and saw its seeming conclusion when the company’s London base was destroyed during bombing in World War II. Then the Standard Motor Company sauntered in to pick up the pieces. Post World War II, money was flowing into England and the Triumph name began showing up on a variety of compact roadsters. By the early ‘60s, the sporty numbers had seen various incarnations and Triumph released the TR4.
The designers nicknamed the car “zest” while developing it. While the TR3 had been successful, the TR4 design involved their upgrading the doors, windows, the design of the grill and headlights, and even adding a trunk.
In 1965, they released the TR4A, keeping the TR4’s upgrades and adding independent rear suspension for most of the models. This point is key, because those TR4As featuring the independent rear suspension bore the insignia “IRS.” Today’s item up for auction does sport the IRS insignia. According to the conceptcarz site, it was “the addition of the independent rear suspension with the many other changes of the TR4 [that] made the car quite popular and even successful on the race track.”
The details are what make an impact here. The retro cockpit inspires visions of tooling through the English countryside in the open air just for sheer pleasure. The low center of gravity and tight size deliver a true driving experience with physicality to the ride. The TR4A handles well and is responsive, and the driver is in contact with the highway in a visceral way. Think of it as a race-able go-cart, with style points to die for. You’re in for some rough and tumble adventures with this one! Says one ardent fan of the model, “The TR4 isn’t for everybody, but those who it is for, well let’s just say they’ll recognize this as their ride in a flash.”
If you click over to the listing and through the gallery of pictures, you’ll immediately notice that this is no rusted-out clunker. The word “pristine” pops to mind. Apparently, the fine condition can be credited to the original owner, a serviceman stationed in Japan. The seller tells us more about the car’s first owner:
“Being a pilot he created a preflight checklist and maintenance book that was kept in the glove box. This may be the best maintainced TR4 in existance. An Abarth exhaust had been installed on the car and the receipts are included as well as the period Abarth sticker and instruction for placing it. This sticker was never affixed to the car and is in original condition.”
The car had been in storage for quite a while when the current owner purchased it. The seller worked on the vehicle to make it a daily driver, sharing, “I replaced the listed items below with new parts to make it a reliable daily driver again but have left everything else original. Everything seems to be in good working order on the car, it does not overheat and has great oil pressure.
Whats new:
Firstone 165R15 Tires and inner tubes
Alloy Fuel Tank
Carburators – Two SU HS6
Starter
Clutch Slave Cylinder
Brake Master Cylinder, Calipers, and Hoses
Fuel Pump – Mechanical
Radiator Hoses”
Here at eBay stories, we know many of our readers appreciate classic cars and have owned a few of these gems. We’d love to hear any firsthand accounts of driving and riding in a Triumph, so share your memories in the comments!
As an owner 0f 2 triumphs one a tr250 made in 68 only and a 1976 tr6 that is in the process of being restored I can tell you that these cars bring a lot of pleasure and are fun to drive.I feel that you need to be somewhat mechanically inclined to own these cars though.We have taken the 250 to car shows and won prizes and are taking it in April to a show in NC.This tr4 listed is a fine example of the Marque.
hi there,
had one of these in 1968. the man I purchased it from wanted to have hair transplant so I bought the car from him for 600.00 dollars.
but I never used the car, my Dad at the time was 65 yrs old and drove it most of the time.
when I posted the add in the paper to sell the car, guess what!!! the man I bought it from bought it back from me for the same price 3 yrs later
I bought a Truimph TR4a in 1977 for 150 GBP…. It had a very smokey engine, so I replaced the piston rings with an oversized set which cured the problem. I bought a complete set of wire wheels including tyres for 40 pounds… drove the car for a little less than a year and sold it for 210 pounds. I lived just south of London (UK) at the time. Now I live in Oregon.
It had a Surrey top (rear fixed window) with both a fabric and a bolt-on hard top.
It was a rattly old beast, very basic, no frills, but it was a lot of fun.
Wish I still had it… but, hey, you can’t keep everything huh?