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Worst car of the 1960's

Brummie a long time ago said:
I had a colleague way back when who had a standard pale blue one of these provided to him. He was less than impressed and called it the plastic pig. I agreed, horrible thing. It did give him independent mobility though.

Andrew.
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true there was a firm in garrets green that the workers used them, at 5 pm it was like the start of a hednesford race when they left for home driving off.as you say it gave people independent mobility.after driving one i can see why they were banned.

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Sorry if I offend some of you guy's but I think the Triumph TR6 belongs here. Lovely sports car to look at...super looking dash...However; sagging rear springs, exhaust muffler hangers that broke regularly (had to make my own leather ones...temporary electric wire worked better...lump of a push-rod engine that only made 90HP with twin Stromberg carburetors...handling always a bit iffy in my opinion...a little Datsun 510 could singe you. When I picked it up from the dealer, I found a handfull of loose screws in the trunk...hmmm.
It could be made into a nice sports car if you made some changes and ditched the engine and cured the rear spring fatigue.
We always drive automatic cars here in North America now. Standard shift cars are too much of a nuisance...on the highway here...makes your leg ache pushing the clutch. You know; stop/go highways. Do you have them. Trading a standard shift is also a looser.
 
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Rupertstill said:
Sorry if I offend some of you guy's but I think the Triumph TR6 belongs here. Lovely sports car to look at...super looking dash...However; sagging rear springs, exhaust muffler hangers that broke regularly (had to make my own leather ones...temporary electric wire worked better...lump of a push-rod engine that only made 90HP with twin Stromberg carburetors...handling always a bit iffy in my opinion...a little Datsun 510 could singe you. When I picked it up from the dealer, I found a handfull of loose screws in the trunk...hmmm.
It could be made into a nice sports car if you made some changes and ditched the engine and cured the rear spring fatigue.
We always drive automatic cars here in North America now. Standard shift cars are too much of a nuisance...on the highway here...makes your leg ache pushing the clutch. You know; stop/go highways. Do you have them. Trading a standard shift is also a looser.
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Had a TR4 in the US, hand brake came in my hand the day I took it home, down hill from there!
 
Scraping the memory here, but a fellow student bought a rough old TR4, but could have been a 5, and also an old Triumph Mayflower. This would have been around 1969/71. Apparently there were so many common parts he made one good one from the two. (No, not a good Mayflower). Seemed OK, but we were easily pleased in those days.

Andrew.
 
Morturn said:
I recall the problem automatics was you did not want to take a test in one, otherwise you needed to take a manual gear box test if you changed.

They also needed a bigger engine, the smaller one’s felts quite underpowered. Of course the later technology has made smaller car nice to drive and quite efficient.
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I pushed Julie to take a manual test for that very reason. Does it still apply ? I wonder how taking a test in an electric car will be handled in the future. My impression is that they are very close to automatics in driving style.
Original autos lost power through the torque converter. Converter lock up is now quite common, my Landcruiser has it. When it locks, the transmission loss is equivalent, or perhaps a bit better than a manual with clutch.

Andrew.
 
Driving the electric car is just the same as an ordinary automatic but it's all torque. ;)
What it doesn't have is the engine braking you get with an ICE just a slight drag from the regenerator.
Caught me out with my first ever speeding ticket, where just 'lifting off' slows the car normally doesn't work so going from a forty limit to a thirty I was still at thirty six when the crafty cop's camera had me.
 
My worst company car was a Lancia Gamma, 1980ish. Seats started fraying within days of delivery, starter ring came off flywheel.
I could go on fortunately I left the company for a different job.
My three best cars, for comfort, Citroën BX, Freelander commercial AUTOMATIC. and the current car Kia Niro, automatic.
 
The Triumph Stag was a lovely looking car, but soon acquired a reputation for mechanical failures. I do recall overheating was quite common in Stag’s. Because the block was made from iron and the heads from aluminium, and you forgot the corrosion inhibitor in the coolant you were in deep trouble with and expensive repair.

Was it the Stag’s or the Jags that had problems with the roller link chains on the timing? I recall the chain would stretch?

I recall there were some quality issues with the engine parts too so people would swap engines for a Rover engine.
 
The Stag engine was full of cooling problems but they were down to a failure to sort the set-up before marketing the car, too much of a hurry to get it on the market.
Enthusiast mechanics sorted the cooling and it became a fine engine but by then the reputation had gone down the toilet.
 
Eric Gibson said:
Driving the electric car is just the same as an ordinary automatic but it's all torque. ;)
What it doesn't have is the engine braking you get with an ICE just a slight drag from the regenerator.
Caught me out with my first ever speeding ticket, where just 'lifting off' slows the car normally doesn't work so going from a forty limit to a thirty I was still at thirty six when the crafty cop's camera had me.
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My Prius hybrid has engine braking as an option on the selector, it simply closes the valves which normally would be open with the engine off. I rarely use it except on really steep hills
 
Rupertstill said:
Sorry if I offend some of you guy's but I think the Triumph TR6 belongs here. Lovely sports car to look at...super looking dash...However; sagging rear springs, exhaust muffler hangers that broke regularly (had to make my own leather ones...temporary electric wire worked better...lump of a push-rod engine that only made 90HP with twin Stromberg carburetors...handling always a bit iffy in my opinion...a little Datsun 510 could singe you. When I picked it up from the dealer, I found a handfull of loose screws in the trunk...hmmm.
It could be made into a nice sports car if you made some changes and ditched the engine and cured the rear spring fatigue.
We always drive automatic cars here in North America now. Standard shift cars are too much of a nuisance...on the highway here...makes your leg ache pushing the clutch. You know; stop/go highways. Do you have them. Trading a standard shift is also a looser.
Click to expand...
Interesting to read this, because the export TR6 s to USA were downrated to 104 hp with lower compression and twin Strombergs to meet emission regs; less than impressive performance. By contrast the UK market cars had Lucas fuel injection and higher compression and gave 150 hp, enough to see off a Healey 3000. I had one of these for 49 years from early 1972 on and while it had the occasional problem, it was overall as reliable as most cars of this era. My TR6 is now owned by a Triumph enthusiast living locally who has given it a light restoration and it now looks gorgeous (better than new!) It always handled well, went quickly (with its 4 speed gearbox and 3 speed overdrive) and it was only advancing years that persuaded me to part with it.
 
I had a TR4 in the US, many many reliability problems. A friend had a Stag, more of the same , the TR6 was quite similar.
My BMW 2002tii was a running fool! I drove it hard in all weathers and never talked back. One managed issue was that plugs would go at 8,000 miles on the dot. I switched to NGK plugs and changed them at 7,500 miles religiously. Always had 4 spare in the garage. Sorry getting off topic but I tried SO hard with the TR4.
 
The Triumph Stag is a 2.2 sports tourer which was sold between 1970 and 1978 by the British Triumph Motor Company, styled by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti.Consequently, engines were affected by electrolytic corrosion, and white alloy oxide sludge collected in radiator cores, reducing radiator efficiency and again causing overheating. The result was head gasket failure due to cylinder head heat distortion, a very expensive repair a lot of folks swopped the engine for a tiumph 2000 straight six

en.wikipedia.org

Triumph Stag - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
I do remember the Triumph Stag, a very stylish, I would say almost luxury car. Alloy cylinder heads and cast-iron engine blocks, a perfect recipe for electrolytic or galvanic corrosion apparently if you did not use the correct additive in the antifreeze. In those days most cars seems to lose water for the radiators so topping them up could have been problematic. I wonder how true this is or was it just poor design?
 
The stag A nice looking car but the engine was pants.:(

in order to meet expectations at the time, the original plan for a nice 2.5 litre unit was changed, rather late in the day it would seem. Spen King, the chief engineer, insisted the Stag’s ought to be a 3.0 litre unit, to be run with carburettors. Increasing the diameter of the cylinders to increase the volume meant the walls were thinner and less able to conduct heat. The aluminium cylinder heads were designed to close tolerances as well. As a result of poor management and a lack of experience on the part of the workforce, the heads were often not produced to a high-enough standard.
The other problem was that the losses Triumph were running lead to cost cutting. The purchasing department found a cheaper supplier for the head-gasket which often failed. There was not enough time spent on engineering the problem of water-circulation either. The results of this meant the engine was liable to overheating when used hard.
1741777048151.jpeg
 
Morturn said:
I do remember the Triumph Stag, a very stylish, I would say almost luxury car. Alloy cylinder heads and cast-iron engine blocks, a perfect recipe for electrolytic or galvanic corrosion apparently if you did not use the correct additive in the antifreeze. In those days most cars seems to lose water for the radiators so topping them up could have been problematic. I wonder how true this is or was it just poor design?
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My read on the 4, 6 and Stag was that the styling was quite good but the design and execution were vey poor. Most manufacturers have an ‘ops once in awhile, but three in a row. There was a shakeout with technology going on with emissions, performance and style that was not done very well. Sometimes you need to stay out of the market, Triumph decided not to. I also can’t imagine the “power plays” going on in the British auto industry with the merger/consolidations forced by government.
 
TerryD147 said:
Interesting to read this, because the export TR6 s to USA were downrated to 104 hp with lower compression and twin Strombergs to meet emission regs; less than impressive performance. By contrast the UK market cars had Lucas fuel injection and higher compression and gave 150 hp, enough to see off a Healey 3000. I had one of these for 49 years from early 1972 on and while it had the occasional problem, it was overall as reliable as most cars of this era. My TR6 is now owned by a Triumph enthusiast living locally who has given it a light restoration and it now looks gorgeous (better than new!) It always handled well, went quickly (with its 4 speed gearbox and 3 speed overdrive) and it was only advancing years that persuaded me to part with it.
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Loved the TR6 what colour was it.
 
Richard Dye said:
My read on the 4, 6 and Stag was that the styling was quite good but the design and execution were vey poor. Most manufacturers have an ‘ops once in awhile, but three in a row. There was a shakeout with technology going on with emissions, performance and style that was not done very well. Sometimes you need to stay out of the market, Triumph decided not to. I also can’t imagine the “power plays” going on in the British auto industry with the merger/consolidations forced by government.
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Loved and still loved the Stag . To be honest most cars from the 60s 70s and early 80s would rust and fall apart as you drove them down the road. Thank god for a tin of P38 body filler on a dry Saturday morning.
 
Richard Dye said:
My read on the 4, 6 and Stag was that the styling was quite good but the design and execution were vey poor. Most manufacturers have an ‘ops once in awhile, but three in a row. There was a shakeout with technology going on with emissions, performance and style that was not done very well. Sometimes you need to stay out of the market, Triumph decided not to. I also can’t imagine the “power plays” going on in the British auto industry with the merger/consolidations forced by government.
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Yes, Richard, I quite agree. There was a lot of infighting arising from the various companies which had been unwillingly shoved together under the BLMC banner. Had there been a coherent policy to manage the merger, much good could have come from it, but my gut feeling was that it should never have happened. Individual companies (like Rover, Triumph, BMC etc) could, with the right financial backing, have succeeded in keeping the foreign interlopers at bay. Was Donald Stokes an agent on behalf of the German car companies? If he had been, he couldn't have done a more effective job.

My own TR6 was an example of a sound design, let down by poor quality control. However a regime of rust control has meant it has survived to be passed on to a local enthusiast who has done a superb light restoration, meaning it now looks better than when it came out of the factory. See Cardi Cranks, retro reg. no. RDE 808.
 
The British car companies back in the 50s/60s tried their best to tackle rust prevention, I did a tour of the Morris works in 1958 they had huge vats of acids and preventatives, the cars were mounted on a spit like a pig roast and dipped/rotated in each vat before drying and painting.
Rootes had a similar set up but they simply dunked the cars upright into the vats so when the fluids got low the roofs didn't get treated resulting in raindrop blisters on the roof when they were just a couple of years old.
The Italians didn't do any of that hence the quick rot when they got onto the salted UK roads.
 
TerryD147 said:
Yes, Richard, I quite agree. There was a lot of infighting arising from the various companies which had been unwillingly shoved together under the BLMC banner. Had there been a coherent policy to manage the merger, much good could have come from it, but my gut feeling was that it should never have happened. Individual companies (like Rover, Triumph, BMC etc) could, with the right financial backing, have succeeded in keeping the foreign interlopers at bay. Was Donald Stokes an agent on behalf of the German car companies? If he had been, he couldn't have done a more effective job.

My own TR6 was an example of a sound design, let down by poor quality control. However a regime of rust control has meant it has survived to be passed on to a local enthusiast who has done a superb light restoration, meaning it now looks better than when it came out of the factory. See Cardi Cranks, retro reg. no. RDE 808.
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Fully agree and understand...........I watched albeit from a distance. As you said the brands were simply shoved together and rebadging can only take you so far. I have followed the UK market and worked closely in the US market for 50 years with companies like BMW, MB, Ford, Honda, Toyota, Chrysler etc. I have been amazed at how long the UK market tried to keep the same model in place without a "face lift" or refresher for so long. What was also missing from the British car industry was leadership who understand manufacturing & branding. We went through that in the US and thank goodness for people like Lee Iacocca and Bill Ford when he realized he could not do it and stepped down. There were too many brands in the UK, the critical mass could not support. We are seeing that now globally, in 2025 & 26 we will see more brands disappear.
 
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