O Stag, how did you fail me? Let me count the ways. The Triumph Stag was built with a V8 engine of Triumph’s own design. This proved fatal. Initially, the engine was fuel injected, but the result was unreliable (which must have been the only portion of the development phase that Triumph cared about reliability), so Triumph switched to a dual carburetor set-up. But that obliterated horsepower – taking the “Grand” right outta “Grand Touring” -necessitating larger displacement. Instead of increasing stroke, the company went for bore, creating an oversquare motor. That in turn sapped torque. Worse yet, to make room for larger cylinders, the cooling passages were downsized! As if determined to make certain the motor would overheat at every opportunity, the water pump was mounted above the radiator fill line in the valley of the motor! Consequently, it was almost impossible to fill the system enough to service the pump, and we won’t even talk about why you’d put a water pump in the hottest place inside the engine bay. People cook steaks on their motors for crying out loud. Now let’s talk about the fact that the heads were aluminum and the block was iron. Ok, but the factory forgot to tell dealers and owners to use coolant that will help alleviate that mismatch. And then there’s the matter of the head studs. In order to make servicing easier, Triumph installed one set of studs per bank at a right angle to the head. Great. But the other set was at a 20-degree offset, causing heads to warp! Whew! Ok, I am sure that’s going to make you very enthusiastic about the Stag here on eBay, bid to $5,077, reserve not met. This car is in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
We have discussed the motor at length; here’s its photo shoot. Despite my dismay over yet another situation when Triumph managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, restorers have figured these cars out. The 3.0 liter V8 can be reworked to improve the cooling system and provide more power. Many many owners gave up and slammed small block Chevy motors in here, but those present their own conundrums.
The factory supplied a plush interior, and this example is in decent condition. The driver’s left bolster is a bit collapsed. Note this car is an automatic. Some came with a four-speed manual and those are preferred by the market. This shot shows a portion of the rollover bar. These cars came with a removable hardtop as well as a soft top. The hardtops are not easy to find; this one is present and painted to match the body as was original.
The underside is fair. I suspect close examination will turn up something we don’t want to see. There is rust in one fender. Rust is like cockroaches – where there’s some, there’s more. All this said these cars are gaining favor with collectors. Prices have been rising. It’s hard to know without a close inspection if this car is worth a gamble, but for my money, I would probably buy a restored version with a manual.
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