1964 Triumph TR4 $7,500

[John Bloom]

Not mine, but interesting. 
 

LISTING FOR A FRIEND. WILL NOT RESPOND TO MESSAGES! CALL [hidden information]. Five-One-Five-Seven-Two-Nine-Two-Two-Seven-Five. NO TEXTING! 1964 Triumph TR4. Runs and drives. $7,500

 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1867959786929847/?hoisted=false&ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_top_picks&referral_story_type=top_picks

[plymouthcranbrook]

I once had a 66(?) TR4A IRS. It was fun when it ran but I spent almost as much time fixing it as driving it

[B Jake Moran]

I also had 2 TR4s.  Nicely styled cars.  

[TAKerry]

7 hours ago, plymouthcranbrook said:

I once had a 66(?) TR4A IRS. It was fun when it ran but I spent almost as much time fixing it as driving it

My brother bought a Spitfire brand new, last year of production 1980? Same deal. Car was beyond fun to drive WHEN it ran. Spent almost as much at the shop than at home. 

[John Bloom]

To me it is a given that this will be a car to wrench on.  If you don't want that, buy a miata (and that isn't a slur against Miata's. they are frankly awesome.  If they'd built only a few of them, we'd all be raving about them).  I like these based purely on style.  A nice one cruising down a road in the fall is the cat's meow......

[B Jake Moran]

I am actively looking for another one.  The 2 I purchased were project cars.  Like restoring an older American pickup, the great thing about a TR Triumph, an MG MGA, or even a Datsun Z for that matter - is that ONE person, in a good space can do 95% of the lifting and moving of frames, bodies, engines.  

 

Many prefer the TR3 because it's old school looking and was very popular in America.  Triumph recognized, with the MG MGA that they needed to join the more modern British sports car world and came out with the Italian designed TR4.  There was instant American backlash and the last TR3 B was continued for awhile so American dealers could import more.  

[B Jake Moran]

Geez the subject car is in Des Moines too, where I am at.  

[Leif in Calif]

Had a TR3 while living at 6200ft near Donner Pass. It was great fun around town but morning temperatures were typically around 40 in the summer and I sold it because I felt it caused me to drive too fast because I wanted to get where I was going before I froze to death. 

[TerryB]

British sports cars have this 10:1 ratio rule, for every 10 hours of work you do on them you get 1 hour of driving time.  Apparently this is done to give your beer time to chill to room temperature.

[plymouthcranbrook]

2 hours ago, TAKerry said:

My brother bought a Spitfire brand new, last year of production 1980? Same deal. Car was beyond fun to drive WHEN it ran. Spent almost as much at the shop than at home. 

I guess this is not the time to bring up my 69 MGC-GT….

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Looks like a good car to drive and improve on.  I can tell you we drove our TR-6 all over New England.  Very reliable and all lights, electrical systems were fine.  Tuning carbs or syncing them takes a little effort, but otherwise not a hard car to keep up on.

 

Club activity with these cars is a lot of fun.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

2 hours ago, B Jake Moran said:

Geez the subject car is in Des Moines too, where I am at.  

Interiors for these are relatively inexpensive.  I would polish it up, replace the interior and sort it out, exactly whst we did with ours.  Then get involved in a club and drive the wheels off it!

[TerryB]

A good friend of mine has been involved with Triumph sports cars since the mid-1970s.  He does drive them a lot and is skilled at what it takes to keep them running and does a fair amount of touring with his cars.  I almost bought a TR-3 but instead used the money to buy my first motorcycle.  Still wish I had bought that TR3 too.

[Fossil]

My Cousin had an MGB-GT and thought he needed something better so bought a new Triumph TR-6. What a big mistake. 

I have never seen or heard of a vehicle that was broke down as much as that Triumph. It was a total pig and I have no recollection as to what became of it. I still remember being in the dealers showroom and all the triumphs had large drip pans under them. What a great way to sell cars. 

 

 

[TAKerry]

My brother had his Spitfire for just over a year. Traded it on a new Cutlass. It literally caught on fire while he was on the way to the dealer to pick up his new car! He called the dealer with the bad news, dealers response was to get the car there however he could that it had already be sold! 

 

It was the wiring that caught fire, he was able to put it out before the car engulfed. Still made a mess under the 'bonnet'.

 

The car in the OP looks like it would be fun to play with. Being an old car, the sky's the limit as far as getting the motor tuned properly and the electric sorted. I am sure all of that could be done within a modest budget and a modicum of time. Heck, even the Sunbeam Tiger route would be interesting, drop a small block American V8 in it for the ultimate hot rod!!

[Steve_Mack_CT]

I never see their adds anymore but I assume the Roadster Factory in Armagh, PA is still in business.  TRs are really well supported between those guys, Moss, a few others.  I do think it was a crap shoot quality wise when tbese were new, but they respond amazingly well to TLC.  Some cars just cannot be sorted which is the difference here, IMHO.

 

Great new cars, or late model used, unlikely.  But in a collector/tinkerer's hands it is not impossible to sort it so it will get you home.

 

I am amazed how many MGs and Triumphs, along with other British sportscars come out of 30, 40, 50 year ownership.  Seems a lot were discarded shortly after purchase while some grew old with their owners.

Edited January 17, 2023 by Steve_Mack_CT (see edit history)

[kingrudy]

Really good friend of mine had a thing for English cars (TR 4, TR6 XK-140), even British motorcycles. Seemed as though he was always working on them instead of driving them. They sure looked good in the driveway. 

[TerryB]

I seriously looked at a new Triumph TR8 when they first came out, drove it too.  Too many Triumph horror stories for me to go though with the purchase.

[TAKerry]

Ah, the shape of things to come!

 

I am also a glutton for punishment, I have a garage full of old Brit bikes!

[B Jake Moran]

Good to hear so many are into these cars.  I'm stuck in suburban hell, with a tight custom 2 car garage and every time I mention interest in an old car my wife reminds me "I thought you were out of that hobby."  

[Gearheadengineer]

2 minutes ago, B Jake Moran said:

Good to hear so many are into these cars.  I'm stuck in suburban hell, with a tight custom 2 car garage and every time I mention interest in an old car my wife reminds me "I thought you were out of that hobby."  

You may be out of the hobby, but is the hobby out of you? And this is a perfect car for a tight garage! 

[alsancle]

8 hours ago, John Bloom said:

To me it is a given that this will be a car to wrench on.  If you don't want that, buy a miata (and that isn't a slur against Miata's. they are frankly awesome.  If they'd built only a few of them, we'd all be raving about them).  I like these based purely on style.  A nice one cruising down a road in the fall is the cat's meow......

 

John,  I like almost everything you say but you lost me on the Miata love.

[Terry Harper]

Always liked the TR4. This one is reasonably priced and looks like a solid restore while enjoy project. The color looks nice on it - I get tired of green or red.

 

My experience with British sports cars is they need to be sorted and driven... driven a lot. I had a 68 MGB which was my daily driver during the summer months for over 10 years.  Only time it let me down was when a wire came off on the fuel pump. Change oil, tires, brake pads and balance the carbs was all it ever needed.

 

I hope this Triumph finds a good home!

 

 

[John Bloom]

40 minutes ago, alsancle said:

 

John,  I like almost everything you say but you lost me on the Miata love.

Think of them as a plastic lotus elan that never breaks down and they made too many of them. 

 

 

[alsancle]

13 minutes ago, John Bloom said:

Think of them as a plastic lotus elan that never breaks down and they made too many of them. 

 

 

I think of them more as a plastic MGB with no soul.

[John Bloom]

1 minute ago, alsancle said:

I think of them more as a plastic MGB with no soul.

I won’t argue with that, but I think their success has affected their status/desirability.   
 

I love all the entry level British roadsters right up till the chrome bumpers and wires went away. 

[John Bloom]

5 hours ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

I never see their adds anymore but I assume the Roadster Factory in Armagh, PA is still in business.  TRs are really well supported between those guys, Moss, a few others.  I do think it was a crap shoot quality wise when tbese were new, but they respond amazingly well to TLC.  Some cars just cannot be sorted which is the difference here, IMHO.

 

Great new cars, or late model used, unlikely.  But in a collector/tinkerer's hands it is not impossible to sort it so it will get you home.

 

I am amazed how many MGs and Triumphs, along with other British sportscars come out of 30, 40, 50 year ownership.  Seems a lot were discarded shortly after purchase while some grew old with their owners.

Steve, there are some great videos of older guys in England with an example of these type cars were they slide open an old wooden barn/garage door and in the dark, there she sits. Their pride and joy. Something they maybe had for 3/4 of their life. And they get behind the wheel and pull on some gloves and a cap and takeoff on a country road shooting video all along. I just love those videos and can watch them all night. Skinny roads through the country and the sound of those little, mostly four banger, engines winding up.

I have lots of friends with examples of these types of cars. Some don’t run or sit and are never driven, but a lot of them are exercised regularly and seem very reliable to me. They aren’t maintenance free, but I don’t think you can hold that against them. They make up for it in their charm. 
 

 

[Fossil]

I think the real answer to the Triumph and MG quirkiness was a Datsun 2000 sports car. Same size with much more reliability. And they were fast. A lot of people have never heard of them but on the left coast they were popular to race. They were the predecessor to the 240Z. There was also a 1600cc version that wasn't nearly as fast. 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by Fossil (see edit history)

[Buick35]

I have a chrome bumper 74 mgb and have often thought of trading or selling it until I go for a drive the n I have second thoughts.I thought I'd try replacing the speedometer dash light bulb but I don't think it can be done without pulling the dash.I don't drive at night anyway,if I do I'll just read the tach.

[Marty Roth]

Somehow, I got into the Brit sporty car scene A$$-Backward-

My first was the '52 Jaguar XK-120MC, but a quick profit lured me to a quick sale.

The next was the TR-2 rhd which was a ball to drive, but had no sidecurtains nor a heater - not so great while commuting 120 miles round trip in winter on the Garden State Parkway. Another guy loved it more than I.

Next was an early Small Mouth TR-3 - great for Rallye driving, but not so much for dating (Shoulda' kept the '58 Impala convertible I sold to buy the TR-3).

The '48 MG-TC was fun, and somewhat temperamental with no place to stash my trumpet and valve trombone which were a major source of income to supplement my somewhat meager traditional income from IBM. We did, however, win a few trophies with the MGCC-NJ Centre!

Brit connection was severed when I danced to the siren call of a sexy red 1959 Alfa-Romeo Giulietta Spider Veloce. She ultimately resided at Stucker's Junk Yard on Staten Island - still running, but I was too busy - or lazy? - to try to sell properly, and they offered a half-decent price.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

19 hours ago, B Jake Moran said:

Good to hear so many are into these cars.  I'm stuck in suburban hell, with a tight custom 2 car garage and every time I mention interest in an old car my wife reminds me "I thought you were out of that hobby."  

For a car like the TR-4 you could house it in a 10x20 prefab shed, probably a smaller one.  I have removed the front end and the rear end & transmission on the A in ours.  The car fits nicely with about 4 or 5 feet in the back for storage. 

 

Not bad agility for a guy your age and likely a bit bigger around... 😁

 

Believe me I have thought about getting a 3rd car in our 24x24 garage.  Can be done - especially an with an MG or a TR, but not with a big workbench, and tractor in the way.

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by Steve_Mack_CT (see edit history)

[automaschinewerks]

On 1/17/2023 at 10:40 AM, TerryB said:

British sports cars have this 10:1 ratio rule, for every 10 hours of work you do on them you get 1 hour of driving time.  Apparently this is done to give your beer time to chill to room temperature.

it takes this long for the beer to get cold because the electrics in the fridge are made by, well, you know who

[JACK M]

16 hours ago, Fossil said:

I think the real answer to the Triumph and MG quirkiness was a Datsun 2000 sports car. Same size with much more reliability. And they were fast. A lot of people have never heard of them but on the left coast they were popular to race. They were the predecessor to the 240Z. There was also a 1600cc version that wasn't nearly as fast. 

 

 

 

 

I bought one of these 2000s new when I was 21. It was the last year for them. 1971, I think.

Kinda ran off the road a year or so later and had to let it go for salvage.

It was VERY FAST. Fastest with the optional hard top installed. 

[zepher]

One of my uncles has a 1974 1/2 TR6 and I drove it for a whole summer back in the late 80's.

It wasn't a powerhouse but the exhaust note is perfect and it handles great.

 

I've always love the looks of the TR6.

[John Bloom]

The TR4,5,250 and 6 are all value buys from my perspective.  Simple engineering, British Charm, Chrome, wires, sporting enough that you can drive them aggressively on a nice summer/fall day and have all the fun of an Etype or Big Healey on a bargain budget.  Good club support.  This TR4 looks like a great opportunity.  I have limited space and need to hold on to that for other things on my wish list.  I need a buddy to buy this car and give me a hard time for not getting it for myself.  

[DFeeney]

If you have a car with a Lucas electrical system always be home by dark.

[B Jake Moran]

8 minutes ago, DFeeney said:

If you have a car with a Lucas electrical system always be home by dark.

Why?  Lucas always gets a bad rap but I’ve never heard why.   

[TerryB]

On British motorcycles they came up with the most roundabout way to do simple ignition functions that were not very reliable.

[Terry Harper]

51 minutes ago, B Jake Moran said:

Why?  Lucas always gets a bad rap but I’ve never heard why.   

I have never figured that out either. My 68 MGB (with the exception of the previously mentioned fuel pump wire) and my sadly missed Land Rover never let me down in the electrical department. After 13 years and over 200,000 miles of everyday driving all the electrics still worked as they should in the Rover.

[Fossil]

I don't think it's the wiring itself. My problems have been with the switches, sockets, and other controls that didn't hold up. As I recall the reputation was in place as early as the 50's. Hopefully things are much better now. Takes a long time for a bad reputation to disappear.