My fixed head coupe is a very late production car, made in June 1981 at the Triumph Solihull factory, 4 months before the end of production. It is a standard 2 litre model, although it is in it's rare original Cavalry Blue paintwork which was only used in that last year of production. The car sat unsold in a Triumph dealership until September 1982 when it finally found a buyer. This gentleman drove the car just over 4000 miles in the first two years he owned it, then decided to put the car into storage. And there it stayed for 20 years!

Finally the original owner decided to sell the car, & it went to a local second hand car dealer, where I just happened to see it. A test drive later & some quick research through the internet, & I was hooked. It had to be mine, & a week later I proudly drove it home.

My drop head coupe, more commonly known as a convertible, has had a chequered history. The car was built at the Triumph Canley factory in 1980, also starting life as a standard 2 litre car. In about 1990 the then owner decided to convert the car to Rover V8 power, which is a fairly common conversion, and pretty straightforward in that the car was designed from the outset to accommodate the V8 engine, although there are a few other parts changes needed to carry out the conversion correctly.

The car then passed through the hands of several more owners, until I saw it for sale in 2004. As is so often the case the condition was worse than it appeared at first sight, but I was smitten by the power & noise of the V8 & bought the car anyway. It has spent most of the time since being overhauled, culminating in a replacement engine fitted after a big end bearing failure.

It is now back on the road, just in time for the better weather!