Me and My Classics
Unique rally car built for not much wedge is the star of this collection
We’ve a hunch that there’s one car in particular that the Turners like… Triumph’s wedge-tastic TR7.
Hands up who remembers Cars and
Car Conversions magazine? Lovingly referred to In the late Seventies and early Eighties as ‘Triple C’, it was one of the most popular monthly mags for anyone interested in getting into motorsport or making their road car go faster. Around the same time, British Leyland was notching up notable stage rallying successes with Tony Pond driving a V8-powered Triumph TR7. The scene was set for a very unusual project that spawned a unique car.
Dr Dave Bulman was an engineer with a passion for club rallying. He was also a technical advisor to BL Motorsport, involved in the TR7 V8 rallying programme, so he knew a thing or two about preparing British Leyland products for competition. In 1979, he set out to prove that a clubman rally enthusiast could build a car based on the TR7 that would compete with top works-prepared cars from Ford and BL – and that the build of a replica to virtually full works specification could be achieved within the
limited budget of most club competitors. The story of how he built his car was serialised in
Cars and Car Conversions throughout 1980, and its rally successes recorded. It’s this very car that stands in front of us today, nearly 40 years later. Current owner Chris Turner acquired the ‘Triple C’ rally TR8 five years ago and immediately corrects me when I refer to it as a TR7 V8 conversion, which was the official description of the works cars.
‘It never was a TR7’, says Chris. ‘It was always fitted with a Rover V8 engine and was built on a brand new bodyshell, prepared exactly as the works cars with a built-in roll cage.’ That preparation also included continuous welding of all the normally spot-welded body seams, reinforcement of critical areas including front suspension strut mounts and rear suspension pick up points, plus the junking of a lot of surplus weight from the interior, bumpers and pop-up headlight motors.
Rover V8 with wise heads
The 3.5-litre V8 engine is what made this car so different from its four-pot rivals back in 1980. Originally this one left Rover’s factory under the bonnet of an SD1, so has the superior cylinder heads fitted to the company’s later V8s. Equipped with a high performance camshaft and twin Weber 45 DCOE carbs on an Offenhauser manifold, peak power is about 265bhp, not far behind the official works cars’ quoted 300bhp.
The engine spec delivers an astonishingly broad spread of torque, making this rally car remarkably driveable and providing power aplenty for the TR to compete on equal terms with lighter rally-prepared Escorts. V8 grunt arrives at the rear wheels via a close-ratio version of the SD1 five-speed gearbox and a stronger Salisbury 4HA axle. Axle location is taken care of by radius arms and a Panhard rod. Braking is courtesy of vented discs and four-pot calipers at the front with a rear disc conversion that replaced the original TR7 drums at the rear, all connected via an adjustable brake balance valve.
A TR that means business
Inside, the TR8 is stripped out and business-like, with high-back competition bucket seats and six-point harnesses. The original TR instruments are augmented by extra gauges mounted centrally and a trip meter in front of the navigator’s seat.
The TR8 campaigned successfully in club rallies while development continued, with its first outright win at the 1980 Swindon Phoenix Pathfinder Rally. Eventually Dave Bulman sold the car to Ian Dunham of the well-known BL dealership Dunham & Haines. The Triple C TR8 also entered the RAC rally on several occasions and Ian Dunham has the
distinction of being the last driver to compete in Britain’s premier rally in a TR in 1983, though unfortunately head gasket failure forced retirement before the finish. Following five fairly successful years with Ian Dunham, the car passed into the hands of another clubman rally driver, Neil Sawyer. He competed in club events for many years, usually with wife Moira as co-driver – and their names still grace the car. Chris Turner knew of the car’s history and tracked it down and bought it in 2012. ‘I haven’t needed to restore the Triple C car, it’s always been repaired and maintained as a rally car should be, to keep it safe and competitive,’ explains Chris.
He loves driving his TR8 rally car and takes it out three or four times a year for a blast, adding: ‘I would drive it more, but if anything happened it’s completely irreplaceable’. He also takes it to display with the TR Drivers Club at shows. ‘I always drive it to shows – it’s never trailered,’ says Chris. Asked what is the best thing about owning such a rare car, Chris looks wistful and muses, ‘I love just looking at it sitting the garage, it simply makes me feel better’.
This very special TR is a keeper, as Chris confirms. ‘I once made the mistake of selling a car I loved and instantly regretted it. I won’t do that again.’