The Triumph TR7 is a 2-door Roadster (automobile) / roadster / 2-door coupé from Triumph, built from 1974 to 1981, as the oil crises and the first emissions rules rewired the industry. Under the bonnet: 1998 cc Inline-four engine. Harris Mann drew it.
Where it came from
The Triumph TR7 is a sports car that was manufactured in the United Kingdom from September 1974 to October 1981 by British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC), which changed its name to British Leyland (BL) in 1975. The car was launched in the United States in January 1975, with its UK home market debut in May 1976.
The UK launch was delayed at least twice because of high demand for the vehicle in the US, with final sales of new TR7s continuing into 1982. It was initially produced at the Speke, Liverpool, factory, moving to Canley, Coventry, in 1978 and then finally to the Rover Solihull plant in 1980.
Under the skin
Power comes from 1998 cc Inline-four engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 1101 kg. It shifts through a 4-speed manual / 5-speed Manual transmission / manual / 3-speed Automatic transmission / automatic. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 85 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Triumph TR6; assembly was at Speke, Liverpool. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Volkswagen Scirocco, the Lamborghini Countach, the Jeep Cherokee — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Triumph catalogue sit the Triumph SD2 and the Triumph Renown.
What it costs now
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Triumph TR7 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.