1980 TRIUMPH TR7

OWNED SINCE April 2016 // MILEAGE OVER PAST 12 MONTHS 663 // TOTAL MILEAGE 102,865 ANNUAL COST £229 (MoT work, subframe fix, exhaust repair, plus a few other bits)

It was all supposed to be so very different. 2018 got off to a great start; within days of the new wall calendar going up in the garage, my TR7 had 140 miles under its wheels after taking me to Bicester Heritage’s first Sunday Scramble of the year. It was running beautifully, having shrugged off its winter hibernation as though it had been a five-minute catnap. Then came the MoT in April – and things started going squiffy.

It flunked on emissions, with CO2 reading well in excess of the maximum as a result of overfuelling – quite why, at this point, remained a mystery. It was an incredible effort on the part of local garage Express Autocare to get the Triumph roadworthy in the space of just a day given the number of other minor fixes it needed. Oh, and did I mention that I’d booked it in for its test the day before our team drive to the Peak District?

Without the proper equipment needed to balance the carbs, Express conceded that it wasn’t running quite right, so it was a rather down-on-power Triumph that scaled Derbyshire’s Mam Tor. I still had a whale of a time despite the running issues – until the drive

PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR

home, during which my Triumph shed a bolt, requiring production editor Mike Le Caplain who was driving behind me in his MG to take extreme evasive action. It’s a moment that I dare say will stay with both of us for a long time…

The opportunity to re-secure all the parts of my TR7’s undercarriage only came recently, so while I’m obviously glad to have it available for the brief moments of winter where the weather isn’t miserable (and the roads aren’t covered in salt) I can’t help but regret a wasted summer.

Ah well, there’s always next year…

I want to have the TR7 fighting fit for all-year round use, not least because of the trip up to the Scottish Highlands that I’m currently planning.