On Fri, 28 Mar 2003, Gary Johns wrote:
> Todd,
Hi.
> There's no more leaking from the o/d than any where else on the car.
> A well set up o/d is one of the joys of driving a TR. I really struggle to
> understand why overdives were so unpopular in the States when the cars were
> new.
I wouldn't go so far as to say overdrives were unpopular. To be honest,
British car sales in the US were always "sketchy" due to many issues, but
one of them was the dollar/pound relationship.
That said, dealers in the US (and US dealers were influential in the
offerings from Triumph - look at the TR4A non-IRS version, for example)
were apparently sensitive to price points. And adding an overdrive could
add considerably to the bottom line. As an example of the dollar/pound
relationship, my Dad bought a '70 TR6 (slightly) used (1200 miles on it)
in 1971. He paid about $3k for the car, the cost new would have been just
about $3500). In 1974, he bought a new TR6 from the dealer. The pound was
worth more dollars, so the car cost over $6000. In other words, the cost
of virtually the same car _doubled_ in three years. If Dad had elected to
get overdrive on that car, it would have added more to the cost (I don't
recall an exact figure, but I'm sure the final sales add-on cost was
probably in the vicinity of $500. But this would have varied on a
dealer-by-dealer basis, but I believe I've made my point.
> I've got a spare J-type o/d gearbox in my garage, come and get it!
Hey - put in on eBay! You could probably get over $1k USD for it. THe
shipping would be a possible "deal stopper".
:-)
> Cheers
> Gary Johns
> Sydney
> 58 TR3A with o/d
> 64TR4 with o/d
regards,
rml
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