Lot Ended
Description
Few owners, the third for 30 years; huge history file; many choice
upgrades including unleaded engine, Wilwood brakes, adjustable suspension and
Weber carbs; Apple CarPlay; stainless sports exhaust; manual overdrive; a
pampered Stag, ready to enjoy
Launched in
1970, the Stag was Triumph’s answer to the Mercedes-Benz SL class, a luxury
four-seater grand tourer with a removable roof for sun-drenched cruising. In
place of the Merc’s hard-edged Germanic functionality, the Triumph offered bags
of curvaceous Italianate flair, with seductive Michelotti styling and a
quintessentially British interior featuring lashings of walnut and big squishy
seats that could comfortably accomodate four full-sized adults, rather than the
cramped rear compartment of the Merc.
Under the
bonnet lurked a wonderfully smooth and muscular 3.0 V8 that gave gobs of
low-down torque for relaxed touring with an intoxicating gargle from the twin
exhausts. Unfortunately this turned out to be the Stag’s Achilles heel, poor
engineering design soon gaining the car a reputation for crippling unreliability
which stunted sales so badly that production came to an end in 1977 after only
26,000 had been sold.
Today though, specialist
upgrades have cured its cooling and mechanical woes and the Stag has finally
become the car that Triumph always intended it to be, often being voted
Britain’s favourite classic car.
Supplied new by
Archers of Shirley in November 1971, this pampered Stag comes with a huge
history file to show meticulous upkeep and many judicious upgrades over the
years. This includes 27 old MOTs which show that the car covered 87,500 miles up
until September 2024 when the speedo developed a fault, and we are told that it
has only covered around 500 miles since so the true mileage is approximately
88,000.
From 1988 – 2018 it was owned by a Mr C
Jones of Oxfordshire (the third owner) who covered around 17,000 miles in the
car during his 30-year ownership and kept it in tip-top running order,
including a steady stream of upgrades and improvements. This included an engine
rebuild and conversion to unleaded fuel in November 1996 at 73,404 miles, the
car also being converted from automatic to manual overdrive at the same time,
with a complete new clutch kit.
The car also
received an uprated cooling system with alloy header tank; polybushed
suspension; a spin-on oil filter conversion; adjustable fuel pressure regulator;
stainless steel exhausts; new walnut dash; new Mohair hood plus much else
besides.
It has had three more owners since then who have all continued to
look after it well and add their own upgrades. Within the last couple of years
the following work has been carried out:
Stromberg carbs replaced with Weber 38 DGAS twin choke
kit
Lumenition Optronic ignition
fitted
Suspension upgraded with Spax adjustable
shocks and 25mm lower springs at the front, GAZ adjustable shocks at the
rear
Brakes uprated with Wilwood 4-pot calipers
and larger vented discs with stainless steel hoses
Full stainless steel sports exhaust system including
manifold
Reconditioned steering
rack
Water pump rebuilt
Upgraded alternator
Uprated LED
lighting and halogen headlamps
Mk2 front seats
with headrests
Momo steering wheel (original
retained)
New set of Uniroyal
tyres.
Apple CarPlay with Bluetooth and ports for
reversing camera and dash cam if desired
Driven
some 40 miles to the sale, we are told that it drives as well as it looks and
never overheats (see photos for the vendor’s summary of the car). Although it no
longer needs one, it has an MOT until 30th October 2026 with just a
few minor advisories which have mostly been addressed (see
photos).
Supplied with all its original
handbooks, it also comes with a factory parts catalogue, a Rimmer Bros
accessories catalogue, Haynes workshop manual, Apple CarPlay instruction booklet
plus various Stag road tests and magazine reviews.
As you can see in the photos, this pampered and well-sorted Stag is
in great condition for a 49-year-old and has been starting promptly and running
nicely as we have moved it around on site, with healthy 50psi oil pressure and a
wonderfully woofly exhaust note.
On offer here at
a very tempting guide price, this Stag just oozes Seventies charisma and
will be a great way to cruise around over the long hot summer that lies ahead of
us.
Consigned by James Dennison – 07970
309907 – james.dennison@brightwells.com