Shane F. Ingate wrote:
> Many thanks to Chris Bullock for assembling the TR6 list.
> A while ago, there was a thread on figuring out where the
> "cutoff" between 1974 and 1974 1/2 cars lie. My car, CF25186UO,
> build date Aug 14, 1974 (BMHT cert.), is a 1974 car (list of 1974
> & 1974 1/2 cars attached below).
> Ken Streeter, If I remember that thread correctly, yours
> was a 1974 1/2?
The references I have generally list CF27000 as being the 74 vs.
74.5 cutoff. However, I have seen various anomalies on certain
cars which seem to have some (but not all) of the changes, making
it seem that the whole set of changes didn't occur at a single
car. I speculate that the "typicall defined" 74 vs 74.5 cutoff
is just for the rubber bumper overriders, and not the other
items which changed around the same time. Basically, I think there
is a range of "74.5" cars that have some features like the 74,
and others like the 75. These changes probably happened over
a period of time, and possibly not even at a single commission
number, as "leftover" parts were found in the factory...
Here are the changes of which I know, and where my car stands
relative to that change:
raised rear bumper: Mine is raised (like 75)
rubber baby buggy bumpers: Mine has them (like 75)
indicator lamps below bumper: Mine are above bumper (like 74)
rear "TRIUMPH" badge on bumper: Mine is on bumper (like 75)
Other changes seem to have been made around the same time, but
not necessarily all in the same place. For example, the early
cars had the rear license plate lamps on the bumper, on a piece
of chromed trim, and the "TRIUMPH" emblem in the upper right
corner of the rear valence. My 74.5 car, however, has the
rear license plate lamps above the license plate (below the
trunk latch) and the "TRIUMPH" emblem on a plinth mounted on
the underside of the rear bumper. I had always assumed that
this pair of changes happened at one time, but was surprised the
other day to notice that two early '74 cars at a recent NET
get-together for BCW (one was Bob Lang's) had the trunk-mounted
license plate lamps, along with the rear valence "TRIUMPH" emblem!
> From the earlier thread, typical changes from 1974 to 1974 1/2
> were the raised from bumper, indicator lamps moved below the
> front bumpers, indicator lamp colors changed to white & amber.
I think (from looking at lots of pictures) that the front bumper
actually existed at three different heights, from lowest to highest:
(1) the early cars
(2) the late '74 cars w/overriders & indicators over
(3) the 75/76 cars w/overriders, and indicators under
My car would fall into category (2).
I seem to recall reading the '75 cars had the front indicators below
the bumper, but were just amber. I thought that the US-spec cars
didn't get the white/amber until '76. (Of course, the UK-spec cars
always had the white/amber, even back to '69.)
> Another thread suggested that the ignition keys became "two sided"
> in the 1974 1/2 models.
Never heard this one before. For what it's worth, my '70 TR6
has a two-sided ignition key, but that could easily have been
replaced by a PO in the 27 years before I purchased it...
> The other interesting question is that all the references on
> TR6s say that o/drive became standard in 1974, but I dont see that in
> the commission numbers. Comments?
I think (but can't say for sure) that o/d was standard on *home market*
(UK-spec) cars starting in 1974. Since most of the TR6 references are
written from the UK perspective, that may explain the confusion. For
what it's worth, if I'm mistaken, and somebody finds all those
overdrive units that were standard on the TR6 from 1974 to 1976, but
missed my car, send it my way, I can put it to good use... :-) :-)
--ken
'70 & '74 (CF27535) TR6 Daily Drivers
--
Kenneth B. Streeter | EMAIL: streeter@sanders.com
Sanders, PTP2-A001 |
PO Box 868 | Voice: (603) 885-9604
Nashua, NH 03061 | Fax: (603) 885-0631
|