TriumphTR6

Triumph TR6 Colours

The paint colours Triumph used on the TR6 from 1968 to 1976, with their factory codes and model years, the trim colours inside, and the finishes every car shared, from the black rear panel to the American cars' Union flag decals.

Three Triumph TR6s parked side by side, seen from behind, showing their flat tails and black rear panels.
Three TR6s from behind at a kart track in June 2019, in three colours, each with the black rear panel.Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0

Rimmer's parts catalogue lists every paint colour "applied to TR6 models during production", with Triumph's code for each and the model years it was used, and the American importer's announcements confirm the new colours year by year. The lists do not split the colours by market, and no source read gives the factory's own list of which paints went with which trims.⁠1

The paint list

Triumph's paint codes have two or three digits, Rimmer explains. The last digit gives the colour group, 1 for black, 2 red, 3 brown, 4 yellow, 5 green, 6 blue, 7 purple, 8 grey and 9 white, and the digits before it the colour's place in the range: Signal Red is 32, Pimento 72, Carmine 82. The codes also stand on the commission plate.

ColourCodeModel years, by RimmerNotes
Black111967–76
Signal Red321969–71
Damson171969–72
Pimento721972–76New for 1972, the importer said
Carmine821973–76New for 1973
Sienna231971–73
Maple831974–75New for 1974, the importer's brown
Russet Brown931976
Jasmine341967–72
Saffron541967–72
Mimosa641973–75New for 1973
Topaz841975–76New for 1975
Inca941976
British Racing Green751975–76New for 1975
Java851975–76New for 1975
Conifer Green251967–70Rimmer notes it was "often referred to as Triumph Racing Green"
Laurel551969–71
Emerald651972–73New for 1972
Mallard1061973–74The importer announced it for 1972
Royal Blue561967–71
Sapphire961971–74
French Blue1261973–75New for 1973
Delft1361975–76New for 1975
Tahiti Blue1461976
Magenta921973–74New for 1973
White191967–76
Wedgwood Blue261967A TR5 and TR250 colour; its use on TR6s is not shown
Valencia Blue661967A TR5 and TR250 colour; its use on TR6s is not shown

Rimmer's years for some colours begin before the TR6's, in the time of the TR5 and the TR250. Two dates are in dispute: Mallard's, here, and Beige's, in the trim table below. The importer announced Mallard, with Emerald Green and Pimento Red, for the TR-6 of the 1972 model year, while Rimmer lists it only from 1973. Its shade is not settled either.

The importer said there were 10 exterior colours for the 1974 model year, and Rimmer's list has 10 in use that year. For the 1975 model year the importer announced four new colours and six others, 10 in all, where Rimmer's list has 11; no source read explains the difference.⁠1​2​3​4​5​6

Colours on the cars 5

  • A magenta Triumph TR6 with tan seats, a luggage rack and a black front spoiler, on mown grass beside a green Morgan. Opens a larger view

    1 A late TR6 in a magenta shade, photographed in Buckinghamshire in June 2024.

  • A dark green Triumph TR6 with its grey hood up, parked on wet brick paving under bare winter trees. Opens a larger view

    2 An early TR6 in dark green, its hood (soft top) up, on wet paving at Rosmalen, the Netherlands, in March 2019.

  • An orange Triumph TR6 with tan seats and a wood-rim steering wheel, parked on pale paving in front of a shopfront. Opens a larger view

    3 An early TR6 in orange, with tan seats, in Belfort, France, in August 2015; the TRIUMPH lettering on its bonnet (hood) is not factory.

  • A yellow Triumph TR6 with its hood folded, parked on a gravel drive in front of a red timber fence. Opens a larger view

    4 Yellow, the colour group of five TR6 paints in Rimmer's list: an early TR6 on a gravel drive.

  • A mid-blue Triumph TR6 with a black front spoiler on a cream museum floor. Opens a larger view

    5 The British Motor Museum's TR6, in a mid-blue, at Gaydon in December 2007.

Picture credits (5)
  1. 1 Mike Peel, CC BY-SA 4.0
  2. 2 Rutger van der Maar, CC BY 2.0
  3. 3 Thomas Bresson, CC BY 3.0
  4. 4 Calreyn88, CC BY-SA 4.0
  5. 5 MilborneOne, CC BY-SA 4.0

Trim colours

TrimCodeNotes
Black11
Matador Red12
Light Tan13Replaced by New Tan early in the 1970 model year
Midnight Blue16
Shadow Blue27
New Tan33
Beige44New for 1975, the importer said; the Vintage Triumph Register gives 1974
Chestnut63New for 1973
Grey78

The carpets matched the trim, Rimmer notes, except on cars trimmed in Chestnut or Beige, which had New Tan carpet. A trim code with the letter H in front means leather, and one with C cloth; a code without a letter is leathercloth. American buyers had four interior colours to choose from for the 1974 model year, the importer said, and for the 1975 model year Blue, Chestnut and Beige.⁠1​3​4​5​7

A maroon Triumph TR6 with tan seats, the hood folded and a black front spoiler, on the grass at a car show.
A maroon TR6 with tan seats at Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire, in July 2021; it has a front spoiler, and its alloy wheels are not original.kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0

Finishes

Whatever the colour of the car, its rear panel, between the wrap-round tail lamps, was painted matt black, and Aaron Severson notes that the front spoiler of the late cars was always black too. Rimmer gives the rest: silver wheels, wire wheels lacquered when new, a black frame and a black engine. From 1973 the windscreen (windshield) wipers had black arms, and American cars of the 1973 model year onwards were marked by Union flag decals, one on each rear wing (fender).⁠1​8​6​3​7

A red right-hand-drive Triumph TR6 seen from behind in an empty car park, showing its black rear panel and wrap-round tail lamps.
The black rear panel, here on a late red TR6 with right-hand drive, in February 2017.Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England, CC BY 2.0

Sources

Sources are given as plain text; their addresses are on the sources page.

  • Primarymade at the time, by the maker or by people who were there
  • Referenceserious later work: clubs, specialists, magazines, books
  1. Graham Robson (foreword), Triumph TR6 1969–1976 Parts & Accessories Catalogue, Rimmer Bros, edn 2.2 (source code TR600313), p. 207, Paint & trim colours; p. 208, the code key; p. 207, the paint list with codes and model years; p. 208, the code key; p. 207, trim colours and codes; carpets; the trim-code prefixes; p. 208, the finishes. Reference
  2. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November–December 1971, Nov–Dec 1971 (vol. 17 nos. 11–12), Mallard, Emerald Green and Pimento Red for 1972. Primary
  3. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, January 1973, Jan 1973 (vol. 19 no. 1), p. 2, the 1973 colours; p. 2, Chestnut; p. 2, matt-black wiper assemblies; Union Jack emblems. Primary
  4. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1973, Dec 1973, p. 2, 10 colours for 1974; Maple; p. 2, four interior colours. Primary
  5. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1974, Dec 1974, four new colours and six others for 1975; Blue, Chestnut and Beige. Primary
  6. Clive Richardson, "The Tale of a TR6", Motor Sport, Nov 1973, p. 54, p. 54, a Mimosa CR; p. 54, black wiper arms. Primary
  7. Vintage Triumph Register, "TR6" (history, year-by-year changes, US production table, buyer's guide), change list: Beige; change list, '73: Union Jack decals. Reference
  8. Aaron Severson, "Grandfather's Ax: The Many Evolutions of the Triumph TR4, Part 2: TR5, TR250, and TR6", Ate Up With Motor, 7 Nov 2012, the rear panel "always painted black, regardless of body color"; the spoiler. Reference