The Triumph TR7 was one of the key factors in the death of Abingdon and
the last of the Abingdon built MG sports cars. That alone qualifies the
poor thing for vilification in the eyes of many of us. But beyond that,
it was - at first - absolutely crap.
This is not just something I have picked up by association or through MG
bias; I have dug deep into the history of the car during the course of
my research.
My cousin bought an early four speed and it was an absolute dog; a white
car which even had underseal spotted all over the boot (trunk) lid,
various smears of glue everywhere, numerous mechanical faults (we pored
over the car when it was brand new and listed fifty faults). He did not
keep it long.
Then you have to realise that the early cars were built at Speke - a
brand new car being built in a newly refitted factory miles away from
Triumph's HQ at Coventry by a workforce which was 90% nincompoops. Even
the Triumph engineering people didn't like it (the styling, for a start,
had been imposed upon them!), and as for the people who had to handle it
at BL's Leonia NJ offices in the US - well you should hear first hand
(as I have) what they thought of it.
The MGB continued to outsell the TR7, and indeed the people at Leonia
told BL back here in the UK to give them a new MG. But BL didn't listen
("we know best") - a common fault of the British management, which
occasionally asked opinions (when it was too late) but rarely acted upon
what they were told.
Time has certainly mellowed the TR7 - the later cars, and the
convertibles in particular are quite good cars - but please don't let us
pretend that it was a GOOD car that has been sadly maligned. With the
possible exception of the TR8, the TR7 was a classic example of so much
that was bad about the UK car industry in the 1970's.
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