NMNA - it may say Triumph on there somewhere, but I'm not an anglophile.
Always thought these were a Triumph, not a Jaguar?
Gorgeous cars, but apparently not very reliable, fast, or well-handling.
Definitely a Triumph. Glad I missed this one, as I would have bought this in a heatbeat for $4,500. Looks like someone's pride and joy that then sat in a garage for a while, most are in a sad condition at this price point. Not sure if it really is an automatic, but if it was a manual, that is a great deal.
I owned a 73 with a 4 speed overdrive transmission. Car was wonderful, sounded amazing and was very reliable. The handling was fine, it is a comfy cruiser so lots of wheel travel and body sway but I autocrossed it anyway just for fun. The issues are the original V8 engine needs some care and timing chains done every 25k miles, so if they are neglected, things can get expensive quickly.
How bad are they to live with? Wifey mentioned a few times selling the 914 in favor of something sporty with a back seat.
A guy in the DC Triumph club had one and loved it. He only blew his engine once which was the excuse to fix the problem areas. Once the cooling issues are sorted, they are apparently only mildly needy. If one is still running by this point, I'd assume it's been sorted. It's a bit upscale for a Triumph and a nice cruiser. I like the looks and the hardtop actually looks nice. $4500 seems like a good deal even if it needs an engine transplant.
914Driver said:How bad are they to live with? Wifey mentioned a few times selling the 914 in favor of something sporty with a back seat.
Grew up with one-- fondly remembered. dherr is correct-- they sound awesome. Even/especially with an auto, which ours had, the noise when the transmission kicked down was worth the ride. Having had Spitfires, we thought the handling, at least for normal driving, seemed to be what you'd expect in the family for something with more weight, power steering and power brakes.
My mother used it to intimidate business associates during rides to business meetings after she felt disrespected for being a woman-- this was during an era when she had to tell the bank she was planning on a divorce just to get a business loan on her own terms without involving my father.
Compared to a 914, I assume it would be somewhat similar, in that it wants to rust, responds well to near constant maintenance, some of which is quite awkward, and pretty primitive amenities/comfort features-- though I'm sure the heat/defrost is much better and ours had power windows.
While ours had air conditioning when we bought it, I recall it having been removed as non-functional, which improved some access at the front of the engine, but you'd still need to at least dismount the power steering pump to get the battery in/out.
The engine cooling is pretty marginal from the factory, especially with an aluminum head on a cast iron block, and 25k might be a little long for the timing chains if you don't want to be changing the timing gears as well about every other set.
James Bond drove one in Diamonds are Forever. Where else can you find a Bond car for $4,500?
There was also one in Straw Dogs
I had 5 at one time about 6-7 years ago. They (and almost all parts) are gone. The times I did get to drive some of them it was really a neat car.
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