1961Triumph TR4 for sale

1961 Triumph TR4 Description:

You are looking at one of the earliest TR4 roadsters in America, with a LOW three digit serial number! So early, in fact, the car has no "TR4" chrome badge on the rear deck lid!The car has 34000 miles showing and it's believed to be correct! It has been stored in a climate controlled storage area for at least the last forty years.THIS IS A NUMBERS MATCHING CAR with its original driveline (original trans comes with)!It starts easily, runs smoothly and pulls through the "Ton" like a locomotive! It cruises the highway easily at well over the legal 70 due to a very expensive update that appears on my list below!The rorty exhaust note from the recent new complete exhaust takes you back to the Sixties!
There are a lot of differences between this model and the later TR4, much less the TR4a!The first clue that this is a special TR comes from the metal dash, painted white! No tacky plasticy looking wood graining, no black vinyl! The shorter hood bump and missing trunk badge also gives things away!All the gauges and switches work properly, and the speedo was recalibrated to read the correctly.The factory retained the seats familiar to TR3b owners: rounded backs with metal springing. When the seats were rebuilt winter before last, I sourced ALL the correct and original upholstery! This included the original design metal springing in the seat bottom (not Moss), the rubberized horsehair seat back padding and cotton batting. The seat covering was obtained from the same company who supplied them to Triumph back when the car was new almost 60 years ago! Because of this attention to detail, the doors, seats and cockpit sides look just as they did when this car rolled off the Standard Triumph production line in Coventry, England!This car in general has the patina of careful usage and storage indoors, having been driven as often as outdoor fun and time was available!The dash shows generally very light wear, with only some light paint crazing on the white painted metal dashboard. The seats, etc, are still near perfect.There are no cracks on the dash pad, no loose piping, no warped door cards! The carpeting is the correct (for the very early production number) gray nylon loop carpet. Not the fuzzy stuff as found on later cars and often put incorrectly on early TR4s! The carpet is virtually without wear, partly due to the dealer rubber floor mats, replaced four years ago with perfect reproductions! A super nice looking factory interior!The exterior shows the patina one would associate with a car that was used sparingly and kept up as beautifully as was this one! The top is three months old, and perfect! The British Motor Heritage build sheet on the car comes with it, and it shows it came new with a white top and tonneau. Because of this, a new-in-the-box Robbins white top and a white tonneau comes in the trunk!The car has been painted once years ago and the excellent paint job now shows a few tiny flaws from the road. The dealer optional removable luggage rack appears to have been used for luggage very occasionally! The rear bumper and guards, though they look great, aren't perfect. The chrome has the little spots from being polished for years showing. I left it alone because of patina.The front bumper with the optional over rider is in great shape, the original grill still looks very good.The trunk and cockpit floors look great with no corrosion in the floor and has a spare that has never been on the ground! The jack with its leather retaining strap is present.Tires are excellent, showing about 95-98% tread, and are perfectly balanced for a smooth ride!The hubcaps (nave plates) were re-chromed and the Triumph world emblems are only a couple of years old, sourced from the UK.The stainless is excellent with only a couple of tiny marks, and a very small amount of pitting is seen on the door handles. The car shows easy usage and great upkeep!In short, an excellent TR4 without the usual corrosion, as you can see in the photos.BTW, I have tons of shots of the car up on the rack showing the nearly new exhaust and suspension with any and ALL wear items shown replaced! I did this because the rubber had perished over the years, but now all is new! The brake system is about two thousand miles old, too, but all the photos wouldn't fit in the eBay ad!If you'd like more photos, let me know at spook01@comcast.net and I'll send them.The engine has good compression, and starts right up every time hot or cold, pulling strongly to the 5500 RPM redline! It never gets over 190 degrees because of the addition of an electric fan with an adjustable thermostat installed on the aluminum radiator. I replaced the original a while back after it sprang multiple leaks due, I think, to electrolysis over the years. You can drive in a parade or get stuck in traffic in 100 degree heat and the engine will never overheat!
The big fat tractor belt was traoded for a Moss narrow belt kit with alternator! But I've still got it to go with the car, as well as it's pullies and fan.I installed a spin-on oil filter conversion from Moss as well as a oil change drain valve a few years ago to make an oil change a snap! No more swearing and then wearing the oil home! The oil, btw, has been changed every 3000 miles or 6 months whichever came first!A Petronix ignition system concealed in the distributor gives a dependable spark every time the Hi Torque starter spins the engine!The steering wheel is a slightly smaller diameter British sourced wood and alloy unit. It really adds to the interior.
Now we come to the expensive update that really brought this TR4 into the 21st century!
The famous HVDA (Herman van den Akker) California five speed conversion kit! Using a Toyota Supra fully synchronized five speed because the gearbox has superior operation and strength! It allows cruising at 80 easily, has a MUCH better shift, and a tighter pattern than the original box! It also replaced the TR transmission perfectly, with no visual clue of what lurks beneath! The kit was $1800 and the fully rebuilt Supra gearbox was a grand....but when you drive it, you'll agree it's the best thing that ever happened to a TR! And, it still looks stock!Of course, I always retained the original parts, and never modified the structure of the car due to its history and low serial number. Everything was a bolt on.
And that brings us to spares. As I said earlier, I have most everything that came off the car over the years, excepting only the old leaky radiator which could not be rebuilt.
In addition, an original very early decklid is included. It's in great shape in case it's ever needed and is the correct one without the badging holes! An uninstalled roll bar is also included if wanted.
A factory workshop manual comes with the car, along with a book of judging criteria on the TR4.Other small items will be included as they come to hand!This TR4 is a car, original in the vast majority of ways, improved carefully so it can be used and enjoyed into the new century by folks who missed the time of infatuation with British roadsters. When Triumph went under, an employee who had worked there for years said it best, "I shall miss the Triumph big roadsters. They went like the clappers and smelled of hot oil".
Please take the time to carefully examine the photos, and if you want more, email me at spook01@comcast.net. Ask any question you want, I want the car to go to a good home with an appreciative owner. If you'd like to personally examine the car, just let me know. If you fly in, I can pick you up at the airport.
If you decide to buy the TR, you may drive it home after payment is complete, cash having changed hands.
Payment it will require a non refundable $1000 deposit via PayPal. The rest is due when you pick up the car, within 7 days of the deal closing. You may bring cash, a check you can cash at a nearby bank. No personal, certified checks, etc.I know this is a bit of a pain, but my bad experience with a scam guy when I sold my Lotus changed my ways. I apologize, but that's how it must be.Thanks for looking at the TR4. If you take this car home, you'll never be sorry!