Introduction
 
 
It's now 20 years since the first Triumph TR7 rolled off the line and into dealer showrooms. Billed as The Shape of Things to Come by British Leyland, Triumph's parent company at the time, the entire concept of the car caught people by surprise. The big issue for sports car enthusiasts was figuring out how the car had evolved from the earlier TR range, and the obvious and perplexing conclusion was that it hadn't. The TR7 was clearly unlike any TR before, but it was also unlike virtually everything else on the road as well. What, then, to make of it? To answer that question requires some understanding of the emerging North American market for cars in the early to mid-seventies, and how transformations taking place in the British automotive industry related to that market.
From the beginning of TR7 development, British Leyland saw North America as a primary destination for its new sportscar. Codenamed "Bullet" by the factory, the car was to be the first of a new line of Triumph cars with a selection of engines, including a long-wheelbase 4-seater hatchback called the Lynx. There was a big problem, though. Legislation was expected which would ban convertible cars, so British Leyland made the decision to produce a sports coupe, rather than a more traditional open-topped car. Related to safety legislation in the US was a requirement for bumpers that could withstand a 5mph (8km/h) crash. Under that legislation you would be able to drive your car into a post at 5mph, not damage the car's body, and have the bumper able to regain its original shape. Additional legislation specified minimum bumper height and minimum requirements for headlight height.
This proposed legislation had a direct impact on the way the TR7 was to look, and was to be built. Unfortunately for Triumph, the ban on convertibles never occurred, and American legislators halved the 5mph bumper rule to 2.5mph. This left Triumph to introduce their new big-bumpered coupe at a time when you could still buy a convertible TR-6, Spitfire or MG, as well as a range of European alternatives.
So one reason why the TR7 didn't owe much to earlier TR sportscars was because of the constraints imposed by proposed legislation in the US. Another reason had to do with the way British Leyland rationalized its holdings in an attempt to make itself profitable into the future. Part of the company's reorganization involved the decision not to further develop the MG line of sports cars, in favour of Triumph. Apparently the Triumph factory was more modern than that of MG, and MG was working on a new mid-engined car that BL had no interest in at all. So Triumph got the nod for development, a decision which MGB enthusiasts have not forgotten to this day.
The principal designer of the TR7 was Harris Mann, a stylist working in the old Austin-Morris design studios. The earlier TR range was heavily influenced by the Michelloti studios in Italy (TR4) and the Karmann studios in Germany (TR6). But the TR7 was entirely an in-house project: a completely new car for a new era. Different it was -- low front, high tail, wide, looked like a wedge -- was this really the shape of things to come? For many people it just didn't look right, and from the beginning the design suffered the slings and arrows of people who couldn't or wouldn't adapt to its revolutionary shape.
The Shape. That's what the advertisers fixed on as the defining feature of the car. The Shape of Things to Come, Get into the Shape, The Shape of Things that Win, and simply, The Shape. But by 1976, the scramble was on to change the shape by getting the roof off the TR7. For this task, Triumph returned to the Italian design studio of Michelotti, and by the time of its NA introduction in 1979, what some thought an ugly duckling had certainly turned into a swan.
The TR7 roadster was introduced to US market in July, 1979, to the European market in January, 1980, and to the home market in March, 1980. The TR8 made its debut as a coupe in the US at the same time as the TR7 convertible. Plans for the V8 engined car were on the table from the beginning, but labour strife, engine availability and other factors kept it off the road for nearly five years. There was an initial run of 145 pre-production V8 coupes sent to the US in 1978 as promotional vehicles for dealers. After informally selling off these cars through dealers, approximately 200 production TR8 coupes followed. Some of these cars were built as early as December 1978, although it appears that most were built in 1979 for sale in the US and Canada as 1980 models. 47 of these cars are currently listed with the TR8 Car Club of America, and all subsequent TR8s are convertibles.
By the time the TR8 formally entered the NA market in 1980, British Leyland ceased to exist. Its automotive division transformed into BL Ltd, comprising two divisions: Jaguar-Rover-Triumph Ltd, and Austin-Morris Ltd. Development money was tight, especially so for Triumph. The TR8 saw very little in the way of detail changes, mechanical development and, unlike the TR7, no special editions. Advertising was virtually non-existent. However, at the time of the TR8 launch, Triumph had pretty much got the car sorted. If they had brought out the TR8 convertible in 1975 it might have been a winner, and if British Rover was to introduce the car now, well, it wouldn't look out of place. Ironically, it did turn out to be the shape of things to come. Judging from comments received by owners of these cars, it's a shape that's now very appealing.
History of the Shape, TR7