1968 Triumph TR250

For parts support to be any better, Girl Scouts would have to give away TR250 distributor caps with their cookie orders

by Rob Sass

Classic styling, 6-cylinder engine

Among all the great stories of British car industry ineptitude, the genesis of the Triumph TR250 must rank among the best. Triumph had planned to replace the TR4A in the summer of 1967 with the car that eventually became known as the TR6. However, as legend has it, the Germans at Karmann who handled the development of the new model supplied all the tooling specifications in metric units. Unfortunately, the Brits were still employing the English system, and the resultant conversion not only taxed Triumph’s slide rules, but also delayed the TR6 launch. Thus the hastily designed TR250 was pushed out the door in its place, destined to live for just a single model year. It was based on the same Giovanni Michelotti-styled TR4 body that dated back to 1961, but with an important change. In place of the TR4A’s agricultural 2.2-liter four-cylinder, the TR250 got a smooth-revving inline six, essentially a stroked version of the motor found in the Triumph 2000 sedans....