TRIUMPH TR6

There are plenty of ways of producing a truly great TR6 – here’s how to do it

‘There’s plenty of expertise to make the PI system worth persevering with’

While it has a worthy reputation among British sports car fans, teasing a bit more power out of a Triumph TR6 has become something of a national pastime.

The TR6 breezed in from 1968 with a sharp Karmann-designed, squaredoff look, but barely a tenth of the 91,850 cars built remained in the UK, with most going off to lucrative export markets, mostly to the US.

This resulted in two distinctly different cars. The power came from Triumph’s Lucas fuel-injected 2.5-litre straight-six engine (as used in the TR5) initially producing 150bhp. This had to be carburetted for the US market, hence its comparatively piffling 104bhp.

Autocar magazine road-tested a TR6 PI in April 1969 and reported getting a top speed of 120mph out of it, with a 0-60mph time of just over eight seconds.

The TR6 stuck with a four-speed manual gearbox at a time when other manufacturers were making headway with five gears for their sporty options, so changing to a five-speed ’box is a popular option. Switching from the Lucas system to less problematic carburettors is an oft-travelled route, but the TR Register advises that there is plenty of expertise to make the original system worth persevering with.

Brakes are discs at the front with drums at the rear, with semi-trailing arm independent rear suspension, plus rack-and-pinion steering. A number of factory options were available in period, including a steel hard-top (fitment of which is a two-person job), overdrive, a rear anti-roll bar and a limited-slip differential.

There are many ingenious ways of improving what’s beneath a TR6’s bonnet, improving its performance and individualising its looks or even finding more comfortable alternatives to those old bucket seats. With a number of companies dedicated to providing modifications and tuning services for TR6s, the world – as they say – is your oyster.