The Triumph TR5 was probably the best of its line, with a new 150bhp six-cylinder engine adapted from the Triumph 2000 under its Michelotti-designed bonnet, using fuel injection and a hot cam to produce performance equal to many 1990s sport sedans. It could do 0-60 in under nine seconds, turn a quarter in under 17 seconds and beat the four-cylinder TR4A to 100 mph by 20 seconds! The independent rear suspension, carried over from the TR4A but with a beefed-up rear axle and wider wheels, gave it brawny good looks. British touches like big dials set in a flat wood dashboard added to its charm.
Unfortunately, we never saw this car in the United States. Instead, what we got was the wimped-out “Triumph 250.” Yes, it had the same six-cylinder engine as the TR5, but Triumph engineers couldn’t come close to meeting 1968 model year U.S. emissions requirements with the hotter engine, so they installed a plain vanilla cam and dual Zenith-Stromberg carburetors. Whoopee.
At 104 bhp, the TR250 offered absolutely no performance gains over its externally identical four-cylinder predecessor. To differentiate the 250 from the 4A, they painted a hideous “racing stripe” across the front of the bonnet.
After the TR250, it only got worse for Triumph as build quality really started to deteriorate. In today’s market, while a 250 will fetch more than other six-cylinder Triumphs, it isn’t nearly as desirable as the earlier four-cylinder cars. In spite of all the negative aspects of the TR250, its British sports car touches generated enough U.S. demand that Triumph produced three TR250s for every TR5 and fewer than 3,000 TR5s left the factory. The result is that the TR5 is very much in demand today in Britain, and about as hard to find as an old-fashioned pub. The few that do come on the market often wind up being sold, as this one was, into European collections. The money paid for this TR5 is reasonable for a car that has average mileage and is in good condition.
Should one actually turn up at a U.S. auction, even with its right-hand drive, it will fetch a reasonable premium over the $9,500 that its poor-relation TR250 sibling would merit.-Gary Anderson, Publisher, British Car Magazine
