The Triumph TR3 was one of many 2-seat sports cars imported from the UK in the 1950s and 1960s. It was a product of the Standard Motor Co. between 1955 and 1962, the successor to the TR2 and the predecessor of the TR4. This example, thought to be from 1959 (but the seller is unsure), looks to have been a captive of a barn in East Hampstead, New Hampshire, for many decades. It’s one of the roughest barn finds we’ve seen of late, and it may only serve as a parts car at best. What’s left of the TR is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $1,000 OBO.
Though a convertible, the TR3 used removable side curtains as opposed to roll-down/roll-up windows. And it was extremely popular, with exports accounting for nearly all variants of the TR3 sold at just under 75,000 units. Under the hood of this car should be a 121 cubic inch OHV inline-4 with twin carburetors that produced upwards of 100 hp when in top form. A 4-speed manual transmission was employed with or without overdrive (which may or may not be in the seller’s car).
The TR3 received some updates in 1957 that had it become known as the TR3A, but that was unofficial and never had any badging to that effect. The grille was new, and external door handles were added. Front disc brakes had already come along. Hopefully, a TR3 expert will read this story and help us determine if the photos are sufficient enough to nail down the car’s model year and if it’s a TR3 or TR3A.
We don’t know how long this Triumph has been left to rot, but it had 75,000 miles on it before the deterioration process began. There’s bound to be a lot of hidden damage caused by either Mother Nature or small woodland creatures that decided to call the little car home. If you have another TR3 project you’re working on, will this one help? Thanks for the tip, Paul in MA!
Hard to tell the year exactly, but if the trunk lid is original, it’s likely a’58. I restored a 1960 model back in the late 70s and door sills, floors and when sinking into the earth like this one the frame is susceptible to rust. They’re a lot of fun, incredibly reliable for a little British sports car and parts are available. This one looks a little close to returning to the earth to be an easy fix.
The brackets for the side curtains are for the wedge type, making this a 1958 model. My 1959, born in October 1958, has the Dzus type.
It’s hard to tell from this incredibly dirty and full of leaves car, but I think you are correct. I don’t see raised area below the trunk or hood hinges, but they look to attach flat to body. I had a 58 and 59 parts car back in mid 70’s. Mine ran very well but needed some paint and body work. Sold for $500 then.
The grille says its a TR3A.
It would constitute lovley garden art for a grand. I recently brought a Triumph Mayflower home with the same intention.
I would say that it is worth saving because TR 3a’s are lovely little sports cars, however, I would strip it down to see what I had actually have and then decide whether it would be a good idea to restore it, and if not then sell it on for spares.
WTF! Sorry for the language but clean the thing up just a little bit. People are so lazy! Nice find, could be a nice project but it definitely will take a lot of time, money and patience. However in the end you will have a fun Brit car to run around in.
A pass with a leafblower would be a start.
First thing to do is pull it out, clean out the leaves and such and turn it over. The rust on the tub will tell you what is worth saving. If not restorable, there are lots of little goodies to strip off and salvage. Sometimes, it’s the little fittings and specific nuts and bolts that are worth the effort of removing. The knock offs look good!! You can never tell by a picture even though it helps. I have seen cars that look great on the outside and are junk parters. There are also cars that looks like this and when you get do to the real ‘nitty gritty’ they are actually salvageable!! You never know until you get you hands dirty! That’s the fun of the Brit sports cars…. If you don’t like getting your hands dirty, you shouldn’t be playing with these cars!!!
True. Replacement frames are available for the on the aftermarket, thanks to Roadtronics Automotive Technology, a.k.a. Tony Rat-co, LOL! Here’s a link:
https://www.rat-co.com/
Aftermarket sheet metal, up to and including complete body shells are also available, see link below:
https://www.revingtontr.com
This one may be too far gone to save, but then again, maybe not. Only an in-person inspection will tell you for sure. IIRC, these had wooden floors, made of plywood, so that might help when making a decision to either save or scrap this one!
Looks like the engine bay was used for composting LOL.
this thing is done. i can only imagine what the underside looks like being from NJ. worth it for parts.to restore would be an exercise in stupidity.
Leaves, twigs, etc. all at no extra cost.
I have a soft spot in my head for TR3s. The first British sports car I drove was one of my teacher’s cars. It was painted Gold Metal Flake. (with very large flakes) Hey,it was 1969! I really enjoyed the drive. I have had MGs and Spitfires. (And still have an MGB) But I still yearn for one of these. Just to be able to drag your knuckles on the pavement really speaks proper low center of gravity to me.
In my sister’s generation (she graduated from HS in 1965), it seems like just about every boy worked in a funeral home, and drove either a Bug Eyed Sprite or a Tr something… or a hearse. They’d stop by in one of those 50 ft long black battleships, just to get the neighbors riled up.
A lot of work yes,But its all there. parts are available. Great car a little scary to drive by today’s standards.
True. One of the few cars that makes my Miata look big, LOL! In the land of the SUV, these will disappear completely from someone’s view in an SUV. Much like riding a motorcycle, not for the faint of heart!
Put a big guy in one of these, and the effect is almost comical! I once saw a middle-aged couple in a “Bugeye” Sprite. The husband, who looked to be over six feet tall, was driving, wearing a tweed driving cap, and his entire head was above the windshield frame! It looked like they couldn’t put the top down with him in the car, LOL! To this day, I’m not sure how he got behind the steering wheel to drive it! If I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it!
I was over 6 foot at one point, shrank a little since, but back 50 years ago I had plenty of leg room for the 58 TR3A. The previous owner had taken the driver seat off the track and bolted further back to the floor. Now my 66 F-100 has limited leg room so if I drive for a while I get cramps. I may sell it as I get older for that reason and find a Ford wagon. Once, before then, I trained in a cab over Freightliner with 15 speeds. That too had limited room. It didn’t go well.
We have several members of our LBC club who are over six feet tall and drive a frog-eye Sprite, a couple of MGAs, a classic Mini (now sold) and many MGBs, and yes, except for the Mini, all look OVER the windscreen to drive them. Putting the hood up is uncomfortable, to say the least, and a couple of them have added MG/GTs (both B and C) for inclement weather driving because of the four inch higher headroom. Yeah, they’re all air conditioned, too, the wimps!
I’m 5’4″ and when I restored my TR3A, I slid the pedal box a bit closer to the bottom of my feet and have lost about thirty pounds, so the bottom of the steering wheel no longer creases the tummy.
I was 6ft 2″ and now only 6ft 1″ but I managed to fit in my MG TD, TR 3a and my Austin Healey 3000 quite easily.
Well, I have trouble relating, because I’m only 4′, 11-1/4″ (59.25 inches) tall! I used to be 4′, 11-3/4″ (59.75 inches) tall, but age steals height, LOL! I had the opposite problem, seeing over the dashboard and reaching the pedals, LOL!
Someone got a good deal. It’s sold!
If it didn’t get wet with all of those leaves in there, then perhaps there is something left. “If” is the conditioner. The seller would do well to blow all of that out of there, because right now, it looks like he should be paying me $100.00 to clean up those leaves for him.
OMG that was a quick flip attempt, up for $8K now https://www.facebook.com/share/18ivZbkvaQ/