It’s getting more and more difficult to find “driver quality” British sports cars. As time goes on, cars are either restored or junked (or left in barns for us to write about 10 years from now, I hope). This 1959 Triumph TR3A is by no means perfect, but bidding here on eBay hasn’t driven the price to a perfect example level either. I am hoping that someone will take the altered TR6 flags off the rear fenders after purchasing the car (unless they like them)! As I write, bidding has just exceeded $10,000 and has met any reserve. The car is located in Henderson, Nevada.

One of the things that concerns me about this listing is the date on the pictures being over six years ago. The seller states that the car has not been driven since the early 1990s but that it’s been garaged. They also say that the car was running great before their father died, but we’re not told how long ago that was. Obviously, some communication with the seller before bidding is in order. There is some rust present in the sills in the pictures although as a whole the car looks presentable for a driver. The convertible top is somewhat unusual with a single-piece large rear window; the transparency of the window can be improved with plastic polish (I use Novus).

New reproduction grilles are available; however, in the past, I have known some to be of poor quality and fit, even to the point of hurting cooling by not having wide enough open slots. Just be careful. I suppose one could spend a lot of time bending this one back into shape as well; at least that way you’ll be sure it will fit back into the hole! One thing I have learned about TR2/TR3/TR3A/TR3Bs is that panel fit is an extremely variable thing from car to car. For example, if you plan on replacing those sills yourself, expect a lot of frustration in getting them right!

I’ve included this picture of the interior as it shows a more complete view, but this one shows the all-important overdrive switch on the left side of the dashboard. The “O” at the end of the commission number validates that this car was indeed equipped with overdrive from the factory as stated in the ad. The Laycock electric overdrive (A-type on pre-73 TRs) will work on second, third, and fourth gears to effectively give the driver access to seven gears. Realistically, one uses it mostly as an overdrive top gear, but it can be fun to go through all seven gears while accelerating just for the heck of it.

One common rust area for this generation of TR is the battery box; it would be good to see a picture of that area without the white whatever in the way. Overall, this seems to be a good car that could be returned to the road quite quickly (hydraulics, tune-up, fuel system cleanout, perhaps a carb rebuild). I’m planning to do just that with my TR3B-based Triumph Italia 2000 over the next couple of weeks; parts were readily available and nothing is beyond the expertise of even the shadiest shade-tree mechanic. Let us know if you’re the one that decides to return this garage find to the road!