Triumph Stag - a stylish 70s classic British sports car

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Triumph Stag

The Triumph Stag, to be bold with a statement straight off the bat, is a car which should’ve never existed. But what do I mean by that?

Well, Triumph had sort of made peace with the convertible tourer market or so it seemed, because their last convertible tourer pre Stag was the late 40s Roadster 2000.

However, design genius Michelotti had other ideas. Now if you’re a Triumph fan, you’ll recognise that name, because Michelotti had worked on cars like the Herald; so Triumph knew he was a stylish, safe pair of hands.

So when he asked for Triumph 2000 to turn into a special for the 1965 Turin Motor Show, he was green lighted and given a works service support vehicle which had been used at the 65 Le Mans 24 hour race.

A deal was struck: if Michelotti produced a car which was to the liking of the Engineering team, in particular Harry Webster who was Director; Triumph could take the design and run with it as a new model.

The car then goes into production in 1970 - moving from the proposed 2 litre engine in the 2000s to a meatier 2.5 PI V8 3 litre engine.

You might ask why, considering Triumph and Rover were now under the same BL umbrella the company didn’t use the Buick V8 which was something they already had access to and understood; but here’s the thing, despite being under the same umbrella, the brands rarely collaborated without friction and they competed in the same markets.

There were arguments of course that the engine didn’t fit and there would’ve been too many last minute changes for it to be a logical choice, but again, it’s a great example of how British Leyland didn’t use the wealth of intelligence under one roof in a thoughtful way.

And yes, I know Triumph had invested lots of money in their V8 development, but at what point do you have a little give in the plans?

The car at launch, was a big hit in the UK and there was an extensive waiting list going back months. The American buying audience were keen too - but here’s the thing - the reliability held the car back from being the big hitter it needed to be.

Which is a shame, because the American market had been very much considered; especially with things like the fuel injection changing to dual zenith-stromberg carbs to meet emissions. In fact, I think it was less than 5,000 cars which made it to the US, which makes it quite the flop on the American market.

We talk about build quality variance later on being a problem, but another was the overheating problem. There were quirks to the engine which meant the way users had perhaps learnt to live with commonly known British engines used in the BL range were completely different to these new engines.

Even down to things like the block being iron and the head being aluminium; which meant corrosion inhibiting antifreeze was needed all year round and the coolant needing checking after the engine running hot; whilst these are essentially weaknesses, a bit of forecourt education might’ve lessened some of the first hurdle falls and lessened the fall out.

But all in all, a majestic car was created.

The 3 litre engine gave 146bhp, a breathtaking top speed of 120 miles per hour could allegedly be achieved and finally, a 70s non luxury car with a decent braking system! It was fitted with discs to front, drums to rear and a divided braking system with a tandem master cylinder.

The steering is as you’d expect, rack and pinion and it’s 2 and a half turns lock to lock. You’ll see how spot on the steering is later on!

Finally, for those who have never seen a Stag in the wild…or at a car show…it is roughly 14ft5inches long and 5ft3 inches wide which in new money is 4.4 metres by 1.61 metres

Now, it would be lazy to sit here and run the car down, because what was once a complicated mixed bag of good and bad, has come good because…

In today’s world, the Stag is probably one of the most loved Triumphs and the retention rates are good. Of the circa 25,800 made, just under 9,000 remain in existence; which isn’t bad good really!

And finally,
Many thanks to my dear friend and journalist Sam Skelton for all the help on this car today.