Among other things, the Triumph TR3 has the distinction of being the first “lower cost” British sports car to come with standard front disc brakes (as of 1957). But that’s not the only reason to ‘stop’ and take a closer look at this long-stored car from Canton, Georgia, which is stated to be a 1957 car. It’s listed for sale here on eBay and is currently bid up to only $3,301 in a no-reserve auction as the seller is letting go of their multi-car collection–you can see other collector cars in the background of many of the auction pictures.

The car was originally acquired by the seller in 1989 and has been stored ever since. Its first owner was an Air Force officer who took delivery in Spain, and the Heritage Certificate shows that the car was built on July 18, 1956. As the commission number is TS12374LO, that’s where things get interesting. According to this record of running changes to the TR3 line, the first car with disc brakes (the first 1957 model) would have been commission number TS13046, produced after this car. Therefore, unfortunately, this car is actually a 1956 model with drums in the front. If you aren’t a stickler for originality, the later parts are easy to come by and many cars have been converted from drums to discs. Also, that “O” at the end of the commission number means the car left the factory with an overdrive transmission, which has been replaced somewhere along the line with a regular four-speed manual transmission. The seller does have some overdrive transmissions they are willing to sell with the car, however, at an additional cost.

The car doesn’t look too bad on the outside. The red paint is hiding some rust and previous repairs, and you’d have to decide if you wanted to restore the car back to its original “Pearl White” hue. The seller is kind enough to detail the rust in the description as well as including plenty of pictures.

One of those pictures is here, showing both the standard transmission and some rust holes. To be honest, I don’t see anything that isn’t relatively easy to repair, and aftermarket panels are available although some will need expert fitting. Driving a TR3 when you’re done is well worth the effort, as the torquey little wet-liner four-cylinder and fairly low weight combined with the minimal bodywork (just look at those doors!) lead to the feeling of traveling much faster than you really are. And, of course, there are plenty of performance modifications you can make to increase that feeling if you are so inclined.

The seats actually look surprisingly nice although I’m pretty sure they aren’t original. That might be the optional rear “seat” in the bottom of the picture, although as it’s red, it didn’t leave the factory in this car.

The seller reports the engine is not stuck, although when they originally received the car the head had been removed and it was later merely lightly bolted into place for storage. Being a wet-liner engine it’s a little bit different to rebuild than a regular block, but it’s nothing a hard-working home enthusiast can’t handle with a little bit of research. And if you don’t want to do that, there are plenty of specialists that will. Regardless of the chosen method, I sure hope someone chooses this car to put back on the road and I get to wave the Triumph “hello, I have a TR as well” wave to them sometime in the future! Will it be you?