Building a V8-powered British roadster has been the stuff of enthusiasts’ dreams for more than half a century. Carroll Shelby did it, and many others have given it their best shot.
Small dose of reality: Homebuilt swaps are often so messy and complicated that they never see the light of day.
What about buying one? Those Shelby Cobras are now …
This car in coupe form interests me.
I wish you people would quit posting stuff about these cars. I haven't gotten one yet. The one I had a real good shot at got sold before I could acquire any more space.
A V-6 Swapped TR7 is a great car too.
(Hint: check the cars in my "garage")
There is a pretty fast ITS one in Raleigh, NC and a street version that is reported to frequently go hundreds of miles reliably. Just ask Jeff Young!
A fast ITS prepped TR8 is a slow street prepped TR8. There were roughly 400 coupes made before the 2300 or so convertibles came around. They were built between early 77 and late 79. Just got back a 4.6L from the machine shop today. Ought to be good for 260 HP in my 2400 pound coupe.
I remember test driving a couple in the early '80's, before I bought my TR7. I drove an '80 carbed model, and an '81 injected version. There was no comparison to the TR7 the 8's were so much better. And not just the power, it handled better as well. I wanted one so bad but just couldn't quite swing the extra money. I still want one.
I looked for a clean example but couldn't find one within my budget. I then came upon an MGB with the 3.5 V-8 installed. Its a fun car which is probably similar to the TR-8, which is still on my radar. Maybe some day..........
Damnit... I know where a TR8 is for a bit under $10K. I wonder what the drop-dead price is... although it's been for sale for about 6 months at that price, so I get the feeling the price is rather firm. Annoying, it had A/C but it's been removed. I wonder how difficult those parts would be to find. Apparently, the P/S as well, although not sure what that means.
I really want one... and I fear that $10K price may look cheap some day. Granted, we've been saying that about the TR8 for nearly a decade now...
I have a low mileage, original paint TR8 sitting in my garage while I wait for them to go up in value. It's probably more likely my DMC-12 will go up. Neither one has budged much, so I'm not holding my breathe.
I will say the 4.2 Rover powered TR7 we built for the $2011 Challenge was quite a fun car. It just needed a LSD.
I always wanted one since I first saw one in the JRT dealership in Frederick MD back in 82.... Found one in 1989 that needed work for 5K, but at the time, my son was about to be born,and it needed a bunch of work so I ended up buying a $1,000 TR4A that was a total basket case. 20 years later, the TR4A has a TR8 drive train now. 
Car just works well with this conbination of the Rover 3.5, 5 speed and quick rack steering. Fast, fun, light (V8 weighs less that the old 4 cylinder) and it is fun to see the looks on peoples faces or at the stop light drags. 
Finally got to drive one last summer. Drove my friend's TR8 last summer (and he drove my 2008 MX5). Loved the sound, did not like the shifting and the generally loose feel of the car. Still like them and my end up with one at some point, especially since they continue to be affordable.....
One day, I swear, a good TR8 will be worth real money. And then we'll all say, Man, if only I had bought one during the 35 years when they weren't worth a ton of money.
It's funny... I never really cared about them at all until about 3 years ago when I rode in a nicely sorted TR7 and thought, "damn... compared to my GT6, this is a really nice, modern car!" Then I wanted a TR8 - because by hell or high water, my next classic cars will have A/C...
I for one hope they never climb in value or catch on with the people that have money. I like the fact that I can troll the web looking for orphaned ones, pick them up cheap, restore them, add performance and still come out with something that will blow the doors off of most new sports cars for well under $20K. The nice thing about them is you can do mild upgrades and totally transform the car. Add wild upgrades and it becomes something really special. I have 6 of them ranging from bone stock and boring to a fully caged LS3 powered rocket ship. My favorite driver just has the basic mild upgrades. I call it my comfy cruiser. Just an all around nice car with a little get up and go.
We have several TR7 and 8s in our car club. All of the owners comment on how comfortable they are for traveling.
spitfirebill wrote: We have several TR7 and 8s in our car club. All of the owners comment on how comfortable they are for traveling.
I can believe it. They are essentially modern cars and light-years ahead of the Triumphs that preceded them, or even my Spitfire that was built at the same time. With a few updates, I could totally see having one as a daily driver. Especially the coupe which should be more weather-tight. I wonder how well a Miata engine/trans would fit...
TR-7? Rubber lipped flying doorstop. TR-8 - see above, but with a nice smooth low output V8.
We probably saw more of them in Canada than you guys did. Nice touring cars (the TR8) and the injected version is definitely the one to go for. Styling never got me going so even though I've driven several and had access to quite a few for sale, I'v really never been tenpted.
Maybe the fact that the TR7/8 was the model that the new Leyland management guys sacrificed the MGs for - first stopping importation of the MGB GT and also allowing the MGB model to stagnate and die in favour of the Triumph has something to do with how I feel about the model.
I actually had a friend offer me free drivable TR76 coupe once and he seemed upset that I declined.
As usual BLMC blew it - they should have offered the TR-7 with the Dolomite Sprint 4 valve heads(extra 20 bhp), and they should have used the Rover SD-1 (did you guys get any of those in the US?) engine spec with an extra 50 bhp (as they used in the Morgan +8) to make the TR-8 a decent touring or GT car.
Ian F wrote:spitfirebill wrote: We have several TR7 and 8s in our car club. All of the owners comment on how comfortable they are for traveling.I can believe it. They are essentially modern cars and light-years ahead of the Triumphs that preceded them, or even my Spitfire that was built at the same time. With a few updates, I could totally see having one as a daily driver. Especially the coupe which should be more weather-tight. I wonder how well a Miata engine/trans would fit...
Don't know for a fact, but I would think it would fit fine.
In reply to wspohn:
As sent in US spec trim, the TR7 Sprint was considered too much of a threat to the TR8. I suspect it would have been costly as well.
From what I have read on the interwebs, the Sprint engines don't like to be raced too hard.
In reply to spitfirebill:
Plus, back in the late 70's the emissions requirements between the US and Euro markets were so different it's very likely the sportier Euro spec cars would have been shadows of themselves in US form.
BL simply didn't have the funds to Federalize a lot of engine options for the US market.
One's opinion about the styling of the TR7 seems to depend greatly on how "attached" one was to earlier English cars. Being a child of the 70's, the TR7 doesn't look any better or worse than the TR6 to me. Just different. And more in line with other cars of its era.
Well, I don't have much knowledge about TR7/TR8 but I would think this was pretty good and comfortable
I drove my 7 once from North Alabama to Boston back in the '80's. I would never have done that in say a Miata. It was probably one of the more comfortable sports cars I've owned.
I just bought a TR8. Love the exhaust rumble. Only driven it on and off the trailer at this point.
the TR7/8 always looked to me like BL wanted to make a mid-engine car, but after designing the body, couldn't figure out the engineering. I do find them pretty though
Finally bought one in September, has been fully restored on a 40K mile rust free Arizona body. Everything mechanical is refurbished or rebuilt, powder coated and clean as possible. Body is original paint and interior and pretty tired. I have put it away for the winter and will be enjoying it this coming Spring. Started a build page....
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