Triumph TR4A IRS

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THIS CAR HAS NOW BEEN WITHDRAWN. APOLOGIES FOR ANY ICONVENIENCE CAUSED. 

Standard-Triumph tasked Italian stylist Michelotti with re-styling its ageing TR range and the resulting design went into production in 1961 as the TR4.

A wonderful mix of British brawn and Italian style, the pretty roadster was powered by a torquey 2,138cc four-cylinder twin-carb engine mated to an all-synchro four-speed box that could launch the car to 60mph in 10.9 seconds on its way to a top speed of 105mph. Optional Laycock de Normanville electricallly operated overdrive could now be selected for 2nd and 3rd gear as well as 4th, effectively providing the TR4 with a seven-speed close ratio gearbox, not bad for the Sixties!

The new TR4 body style did away with the classical cutaway door design of the previous TRs to allow for wind-down windows while the crisp rear end styling allowed a boot with considerable capacity for a sports car. It also handled much better thanks to a wider track front and rear and precise rack-and-pinion steering.

The TR4 proved very successful and became a formidable competition car – very strong mechanically, it was ideal for tuning and some cars were fitted with superchargers that could produce in excess of 200bhp at the flywheel. In 1965 the car gained a new chassis with more sophisticated independent rear suspension (in place of the old live axle) for more predictable handling and an improved ride, these models being known as the TR4A. By the time production ceased in mid-1967, some 28,450 TR4As had been sold, the vast majority to the American market, with only 1,151 still UK-registered today.

This smart Valencia Blue TR4A IRS is more special than most as it comes with correspondence from the TR4/TR4A Registrar confirming (with some rather arcane caveats) that it is the second-from-last TR4A ever made and the very last car made in RHD for the UK market. BMIHT records show that it was built on 17th July 1967 and despatched to Carrs Auto Sales of Croydon, being first registered four months later on 22nd November.

The history file is sadly sparse but five old MOTs show that it has only covered 2,100 miles since 1998, the odometer currently showing 16,498 miles. Equipped with overdrive on 2nd, 3rd and 4th which works as it should, it has been in regular light use over the summer and was very recently serviced and fitted with a new dynamo, new regulator box and a new hood.

Sailing through its MOT in September this year with no advisories recorded, this is a most attractive TR4, in an unusual colour, that has the unique distinction of being the very last one made for the UK market.