From: ArthurK101@aol.com
The TR5 was the 6 cylinder fuel injected follow-on to the TR4 and 4A's (same
chassis with some body and interior styling changes) - but at that time the
U.S. EPA was beginning to tighten up on pollution. The TR5 could not meet
the new emission criteria and so could not be imported into the
States.
This is the widely quoted reason, but I believe that some recent
research of the factory archives (by Bill Piggot and others) has
concluded that it's probably incorrect. The alternate theory is that
the factory had serious doubt about the ability of the US dealers and
repair shops to maintain the PI system, and additionally had some
concern that Lucas wouldn't be able to supply PI units and spares in
sufficient quantity to serve the US market - so they decided to stick
with the tried-and-true carbs for these cars.
John Wroclawski
jtw@lcs.mit.edu
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