I briefly owned a TR8. One of the big negatives for me was the cost of
some of the parts... not to mention availability of some of the uniquely
TR8 parts... Next to that was just the fact that it was a modern
car and with that came the increased difficulty in working on the car
(while maintaining smog-equipment for California). I generally could
diagnose any problem on my TR4A within a few minutes, but that TR8 was
like working on my Taurus station wagon.
Secondly, although the car is "rare", it's not like you can't have a car
that looks exactly like it for only a couple thousand dollars. Can you
say "TR7"? I owned a TR7 for years, and it was much easier to work on
than the TR8. (More room to work in the engine bay and less
complicated engine related smog/electrical components.) The TR7 wasn't
as easy as my TR4A, but it was one of my most reliable cars. So you can
buy a TR8, spend more to buy it and spend more to maintain it, but it
will still look like your neighbor's TR7.
This all said... I know that eventually one learns all the in-and-outs
of a car, modern or not... and with tools like the Triumph list, one
could probably find any part they needed, new or used, at a decent
price.... So I'm not saying it wouldn't be a great Triumph to own.
That V8 is fun! I just can see why they're not more valuable even
though they're so rare.
--Justin Wagner
Group44TR7@aol.com wrote:
> There is a very nice looking TR8 convertible on Ebay at the moment
>that is struggling to reach the $4,000 price. It is interesting that these
>cars
>which are really relatively rare (if everyone on the FOT list purchased one,
>we
>would own 10% of the total production) , yet commedn such low prices.
>
>Cary
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