The Triumph Stag (what a great name!) is one of the stalwarts of the UK classic car scene – along with the MGB and Triumph TR series, you can be sure there will be a herd of these handsome Michelotti-styled GT’s present and correct. Last year, the Stag celebrated its 50th anniversary, which we wrote about here (and got some interesting feedback on from one particular Stag owner) and at last summer’s Silverstone Classic, the Stag’s Owner’s Club was able to belatedly celebrate said anniversary with a huge and impressive turnout.
Such a turnout is perhaps not surprising when you look at the numbers of Stags that have survived the decades since 1977. In the seven years it was produced, a little under 26,000 were built – not even 5% of the Abingdon car’s volume. 17,819 of those were sold in the UK, and according to howmanyleft.com, 6,494 survive, with over 5,000 of those licensed for the road, meaning that of all Triumph Stags sold in the UK, 36.5% are still around, a remarkable survival rate, and interestingly, the number actually on the road has been steadily increasing while the number of those sitting going nowhere in barns and garages is decreasing, so the Triumph Stag as a classic species is in good health. And yet, despite its popularity, it seems that we have yet to feature a Stag as one of our Prime Finds, so this week, that will be put right.
Much of the background to the Stag’s development and history is covered in that same piece, so I’ll only touch on it briefly here. Nor do I intend to dwell on the Stag’s reliability and quality control issues back in the day – that got me into enough trouble last time – but suffice to say that the car’s reputation took quite a kicking as a result.
It was a very particular kind of car, occupying a niche pretty much of its own, with the possible exception of the equally elegant Mercedes-Benz W107, and – arguably – the much pricier Porsche 911 Targa, as Triumph’s advertising at the time pointed out. Despite being the most expensive car Triumph had produced up to that point, it was significantly cheaper than either of the two German alternatives, to the point where it would be hard to argue that they were actually direct competitors.
In fact, the lack of obvious alternatives made for some odd comparison road tests at the time. In October 1970, CAR magazine carried out such a test comparing the Stag with the Reliant GTE. Both had 3-litre engines and were priced within £100 of each other, but that’s it, as far as I can see. Oh, and their footprint is about the same. And they are both 2+2’s – despite claims to the contrary, neither rear compartment would comfortably accommodate a full-sized adult without the front seats being pushed a long way forward. And they have similar performance figures, with top speeds of 118mph for the Triumph, and 121mph for the Reliant, with 0-60mph times within one-tenth of a second of each other.
Rivals? Not really…
OK, perhaps they are more similar than they might at first seem, and yet very different in terms of how they look and the image they project. The Tamworth-built car is fibreglass, no soft-top, and a three-door with a useful opening rear window – a car for taking the dogs out for a run. The Stag is an altogether more sophisticated car, with the air of a grand tourer suitable for a drive down to the Mediterranean coast, thanks at least in part to its Italian styling. And there’s nowhere for the dog, unless it’s very small. The magazine concluded that while the two had a number of similarities, their natures were in fact quite different, but I could have told them that at the start, had they asked.
Four years later the same magazine carried out another comparison test with the Stag, this time adding the equally dissimilar Datsun 260Z to the Scimitar, and while they put the Stag a distant third, this strikes me as an even less fair comparison than the 1970 test, the Japanese car being more of a hairy-chested sports car, and further demonstrated that the Stag occupied a very particular place in the market.
…and still not.
Performance from the 3.0-litre V8 was brisk enough if not exactly sporty – a top speed of 118mph and 10.4 seconds to cover the 0-60mph sprint indicate respectable enough performance, and as a practical nearly four-seater tourer the Stag was almost unique. The Targa top – otherwise available only on the Porsche 911 which was an even more restricted 2+2 – made the Stag a very flexible car and it was unquestionably handsome in both open and hard-top versions, although a little less so with the soft-top raised, though that can be said of many convertibles.
When it comes to our Prime Find, what we have here is no ordinary Stag. Its most striking feature is it’s colour, a bold Kingfisher Blue. Not an original Stag shade, but a Rover colour, and it suits the car exceptionally well, I have to say. Prior to the respray, the car had been extensively worked on – all four wheel arches have been renewed, as have the inner and outer sills and front and rear valances. The interior and T-bar have been retrimmed in grey leather, which complements the paintwork very nicely.
Besides the non-standard paint, this car has been lowered slightly. had 15-inch alloys fitted in lieu of the standard 14-inchers, and a BMW differential has been fitted. The engine was rebuilt in 2012 and one would hope that any teething troubles from back in the day have long been resolved. It comes with matching hard top, or rather, it will do once said hard-top has had some attention, which will be completed as part of the sale.
Prices for average Triumph Stags have generally lingered between £10,000 and £15,000 for quite some time, although really exceptional examples can fetch well over £20,000. Perhaps it’s its sheer ubiquity that keeps prices modest, even for good cars, which is good news for enthusiasts. At the slightly odd price of £16,993, this appears to be a very good car, with some modifications that might not suit the purist, but that perhaps make the car easier to live with.
So while whoever buys this 1975 Stag might not be buying an original (though there are many non-original examples, not least those that have had the original V8 replaced, usually by a Ford 3-litre six, or a 3.5-litre V8 from Rover), with so many surviving cars this might matter more were the Stag an endangered species – the model’s relative ubiquity means that parts are in good supply, and there is strong support from the owner’s club. The colour in particular will make it stand out in a field of standard Stags. It’s a very good-looking car, that has had considerable work done to it, and the asking price (a bottle of average supermarket wine under £17,000, even outside London) sits within the price range of good Stags. Interestingly, it’s a grand under the price of last week’s Vauxhall Magnum Estate, and while the Luton car is very much rarer, it would be the Stag that got my money.
In any case, you can read the full advert here, and if this handsome Stag is of interest, please remember to arrange an inspection before parting with your hard-earned cash, if possible.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk