IDRIVEACLASSIC reviews: Triumph GT6 Mk.3

Today's video is on the lesser spotted Triumph GT6 Mk3

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The Triumph GT6 was dubbed the poor man’s E Type, but in today’s video, despite it not quite taking my fancy; it is a great little sports car which could do with a little more airtime.

Now whilst the E Type is out of the reach of many, these GT6s are still available for well under 20k, which means you should definitely be looking at these if you’re looking to invest in a 60s 70s sports car.

The GT6 was made from 1966 until 1973 and just like a lot of the memorable Triumphs, was styled by Michelotti.

Early prototypes were based on the Spitfire and Triumph toyed with different ideas including fitting the Vitesse 1600 engine, but the company put investment into the car and it ended up with the 2 litre 6 cylinder engine you see today.

The GT6 on a good day should be producing 95bhp and a top speed of 112mph and the car will do zero to 60 in just a whisker over 10 seconds.

The car was marketed to come up against the MGB and whilst MG loved playing up to mother’s disapproval, Triumph boldly went to market with the streamline ‘the new one, the hot one…it’s not just a fastback it’s THE fastback’.

But here’s the thing, it didn’t quite cut it with reviewers and early buyers, because whilst that styling was absolutely spot on and the 2 litre was turning heads, the rear suspension was borrowed from the twee, tame little Herald.

Now whilst the swing axle was no problem in the more sedate Herald, the GT6 driver wasn’t out for a leisurely cruise and it was quickly apparent that hard cornering resulting in the car breaking away. Totally acceptable for the car and a reputation that has stuck so much, it was the first thing many people mentioned to me when I said I was testing this GT6!

However, Triumph did try to rectify where they’d gone wrong with the MK2 which arrived three years later in 1969. They used double wishbones and then decided to tweak the power with a new cam and head.

Eagle eyed people would of course notice the bumper change, which was applied for the American market safety criteria. You see this on various cars including the MGB and rubber bumper changeover and the Morris minors going from lowlight to highlight.

Although the MK2 took three years to come to market, the mK3 was quick into the ring and arrived in 1970 which saw new rear end styling akin to the MK4 Spitfire, more revisions to the rear suspension and by 1973, a brake servo was added.

Unlike the MGB, The GT6 isn’t one of those classics you see constantly and the car just sort of faded away in 1973 without much fuss. It wasn’t like the sports car market wasn’t there, because the MGB ran until 1980.

As you’ll see on our test drive, there are some bits which I think fall short and there are bits I think far outperform the MGB, but before we go for a drive, let’s meet TJ from Dolan Classics who will be listing this car for sale in the next week or two.