stag

Triumph Stag Quick Guide

TRIUMPH STAG QUICK GUIDE

Triumph Stag by Michelotti

The Triumph Stag has the looks, and the noise!

It could have been brilliant, but this V8 Grand Tourer was let down by a hurried engine development, which destroyed reliability. Now these issues have been tempered, the Stag makes a superb classic choice. Production ran from 1970-1977 and 25,877 were produced, all with Triumph’s own overhead-cam V8. That 3-litre V8 puts out 145bhp and has a simply delicious sound. The automatic suits the car well, but so does the manual, especially when equipped with overdrive. Power steering takes the strain out of driving and is far more direct than a Mercedes-Benz SL. Unlike many convertible sports cars, the Stag boasts rear seats, albeit not entirely adult sized. The option of a removable hard top boosts practicality while the chunky rollbar adds safety.

WHY YOU WANT ONE:

  • Thundering V8 engine
  • Stylish Italian looks
  • Plenty of specialist and club support
  • A great Grand Tourer – comfortable and quick
  • Good survival rate

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

  • Corrosion; sills, floors and hood stowage area
  • Overheating or rattly engines
  • Bodged restoration work
  • Rover V8 installs. The market prefers originality
  • Damaged/torn hoods

RIVALS FOR YOUR AFFECTION

  • Mercedes-Benz SL
  • MGB GT V8
  • AC Cobra replica
  • Jaguar XJ-S

Best sounding classic?

No, not which one has the best sounding engine – I’d argue strongly for the Triumph Stag there – but which one has the best name?

Is this the best sounding classic? Or is he blogging about something different?

Triumph Stag is certainly a contender – a successful and aggressive beast is what the name suggests. Much better than Maserati Bora for sure. Some are a bit more functional – the Bond Minicar was just that, the Triumph Roadster likewise. Not very exciting though eh?

I recently drove a Bentley Brooklands Turbo R Mulliner, but that’s all a bit of an unnecessary mouthful. It’s like they were trying to chuck in every English thing they could think of. They might as well have called it the Bentley Royal Family Blackpool Pleasure Beach. I’m quite pleased they didn’t though…

The Gordon-Keeble GK1 starts well, but they clearly ran out of inspiration. Others just lie. The Morris Minor 1000 ended up with 1098cc, the Citroën 2CV actually had 3CV by the 1970s. Mercedes-Benz on the other hand just confuse. A 220SE has 2.2-litres, a 300SE has 3-litres. But you can also get a 300SE with a monstrous 6.3-litre V8! They called this the 300SE 6.3. Obviously.

The French were never much into names. Renaults were generally numbers after the Fregate/Dauphine/Caravelle era, Peugeots stick with the number-0-number and Citroën at most pulled a few letters together. The Traction Avant merely started life as 7A and only the Ami, Mehari and Dyane broke theme right up to the Xantia of 1993. That’s the French out for a refusal.

I guess it’s hard to decide, so I’m going to pick two Rovers with identical engines – something that gave the Solihull fellows a few sleepless nights. I therefore crown the winners of this non-competition the Rover Three-Point-Five and Rover Three Thousand Five.

This is a Rover Three Point Five...

...whereas this is a Rover Three Thousand Five. Very different (in engineering if not name!)