Not one, but a pair of Triumph Stags, that most under-appreciated of luxury tourers, are located in Scott, Ohio, and are for sale here on eBay where the buy-it-now is $3,800 and bidding is at $1,525 but has not yet met reserve. Having owned three Stags and driven many more, I have a lot of appreciation for a good Stag. Unfortunately, good ones are few and far between. This pair has promise, though, with not only the two cars, two original engines, one automatic and one manual transmission, but parts from three other cars! Both cars have hardtops and neither one has accident damage. Both cars have clean titles, and the extra parts list is long. Looking over the pictures, both cars have rust in the usual Stag spots along the rear fender/rocker panel seam and the fender lips, especially the front. I don’t see any shots of the battery compartment in the red car, but you can see the rust in the engine shot of the brown one and I’ll bet there is rust there in the red car as well. All that being said, this isn’t a lot of money for two grand tourers – is it?
Those are such beautiful cars I hope someone takes up the challenge and restores them rather than parting them out. I wonder what the seller’s reserve on the auction is?
My thoughts run along the line of it being too bad there’s not an extra engine. If there WAS, it would be fun to look up that sub-$1k Triumph TR7 and upgrade it to TR8 status! ^_^
Jamie,
One of these motors is bound to be toast. Being our resident Stag expert, what is your opinion on the Rover conversion? It was quite popular in the UK until these started gaining popularity there.
@Scot–A good Stag with the original V8 is absolutely wonderful to drive…very smooth. That being said (and I’ve driven both), if you want to drive the car without fear, a well-done Rover V8 conversion would be my choice! It’s the engine the car should have had in the first place, IMHO.
Being an owner of a ’71 Stag I can tell you there is no more comfortable yet sporty tourer than these. A well sorted Stag with the original 3.0 triumph engine, 4 speed w/OD, will take you anywhere, in style, class and comfort. The throaty burble from the exhaust sounds fabulous! Have a holley 390 conversion, otherwise stock, and would not want another Stag without the original engine, IMHO.
IIRC the Stag V8 was a design based on the TR7 4-cylinder mated to a miror-image of it to form the V8. With a single OHC it was a modern design, but I have heard that they had reliability problems, such as cam bearing issues. I’m not familiar with the thinking at Triumph that led to the TR8 getting the Rover engine instead of the Stag V8….maybe the tooling had been sold or scrapped by then, or was it reliability?
Rand, do you have thoughts about having the Stag V8 in there as far as reliability is concerned? These cars a very affordable now, but I would need more info on owners’ experience before taking the plunge.
Dolphin,
The issue with most engine problems was overheating. That was caused by poor manufacturing and QC. For instance a lot of the engines still had sand from casting inside the heads. Stateside dealers tried quick fixes to no avail, thus continued issues with the Stag. Owners got frustrated and got rid of them. For the past 30 years most owners have sorted the original engines. I’ve driven mine on several round trips: from home (an hour south of Boston) to west of Detroit; home to Philadelphia, PA; home up through VT, ME, and NH touring; home to Toronto, CA; and more. I have essentially done a complete overhaul over the past 7 years, so everything is as dependable as any older American car. Lots of examples of great cars with engine conversions as well, nothing wrong with that. The original engine was unfortunately misunderstood and carries that same reputation even today, to bad, but I love it cuz it keeps them affordable. it is a very comfortable touring car with balls. I have a ’57 TR3 and an ’80 TR8 as well as my ’71 Stag. If my wife goes with me, there is only one car she will ride in, and that’s the Stag!
You can follow up with the Triumph Stag Club USA if you have an interest, good stuff there. http://www.tscusa.org/ ; also : http://www.triumphstag.net/start/
More UK info : http://www.stagbytriumph.co.uk/
Cheers,
Rand