TriumphTR6

Triumph TR6 Restomod

Modified TR6s, from the upgrades owners commonly make to brakes, cooling, steering and suspension to an engine transplant: what the sources record, and how little they say about the bigger conversions.

A red Triumph TR6 with two louvred vent panels in its bonnet and alloy wheels, on sunny grass.
A TR6 modified in plain sight: louvred vents let into the bonnet (hood) and alloy wheels, at Kersey Mill in May 2025.kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0

"Restomod" is a word of the present, for an old car restored with modern parts, and no written source read discusses a TR6 restomod by that name, or a TR6 with a widened body, Weber carburettors, electronic injection or a V8, though the film below shows one V8 conversion. What the sources do record is how owners commonly modify their TR6s, and a change the TR Register says many TR6s in Britain have had, which done well is hard to see: an American car converted to right-hand drive, sometimes with injection fitted, as the buyers guide explains.⁠1​2

What the sources record

Practical Classics describes the upgrades owners make: an electric cooling fan behind the radiator, drilled and grooved brake discs with four-piston calipers, power-assisted steering driven from the crankshaft pulley, adjustable telescopic dampers in place of the lever arms at the back, and a Bosch fuel pump for an injected car. Moss Motors, a parts supplier, recommends in its own magazine braided brake hoses, polyurethane bushes, a rear anti-roll bar and electronic ignition, and sells kits for the engine itself; many cars, Hagerty wrote in 2014, seemed to wear Minilite alloy wheels. TR-Register Deutschland recommends polyurethane bushes where the reproduction rubber ones are poor.

A 1971 TR6 rebuilt with a Ford V8, a five-speed gearbox (transmission), a limited-slip differential, modern brakes and uprated suspension, driven on New England roads.Video: Ford V8 Powered 1971 Triumph TR6 - The British Roadster You Need to Hear (POV Binaural Audio), Tedward, 2024

What a modified car started as is told by its numbers: the prefix of its commission number shows whether it was built with injection or carburettors, as identification explains.⁠1​3​4​5​2

A dark blue Triumph TR6 with four spot lamps, rally plates and the number 70, parked on brick paving under a blue sky.
Modified for a purpose: four spot lamps across the nose of a TR6 built up for historic rallies, in 2019.Rutger van der Maar, CC BY 2.0

Sources

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

  • Referenceserious later work: clubs, specialists, magazines, books
  1. Practical Classics, "Buyer's Brief: Triumph TR6", updated 29 Jan 2025, the upgrades: fan, brakes, power steering, dampers, fuel pump; the fan, brakes, power steering, dampers and fuel pump. Reference
  2. TR Register, "Buyer Beware: TR6" (2 pp. PDF leaflet), p. 1, converted US cars; p. 1, the commission prefixes. Reference
  3. Moss Motoring, "Triumph TR6: An Enduring Classic", 9 Jan 2009, upgrading: braided hoses, bushes, anti-roll bar, ignition; the engine kits. Reference
  4. Bruno Dwinger, "Geschichte, Typenkunde und Kaufberatung: British Leyland Triumph TR 6PI und TR 6 (Vergaser) – Die Karmann Autos", TR-Register Deutschland, c. 2010, 13 pp. (PDF), "Super Flex" bushes. Reference
  5. Rob Sass, "Buyers Guide: Triumph TR6", Hagerty UK, 12 Nov 2014, Minilite wheels. Reference