Faults:

Some nuts and bolts dropped off.

A rubber ring on a carb float bowl split, which made the carb leak.

The fuel gauge is a bit iffy, which is probably due to an as yet untraced continuity fault in the wiring.

General Comments:

This particular car was 'professionally' restored over a 12-year period, with lots of new parts. The previous owner spent an insane amount of money to get it almost perfect, but he sold the car because it kept breaking down (due mainly to lack of maintenance), he couldn't repair it himself and he didn't want to spend even more money on repairs and maintenance by other people. The car still looked perfect when I got it, but it needed a lot of work to bring it up to drivable condition.

Triumph TR3's are tough cars, that will go on forever if well maintained. Like most cars that are half a century old, they do not suffer neglect very well and need a technically savvy owner who enjoys wielding spanners and getting his/her hands dirty.

Performance, for a car of this era, is excellent. Road holding is good, but the rear axle can have trouble handling the power on corners. It has a top speed of over 160kmph/100mph, which may not sound like much, but was hair raising in a time when the average family car struggled to cruise at 65mph. Driving the car near the top speed is still exhilarating, with its rear cart spring, its worm & peg steering box and huge, thin-rimmed steering wheel. The engine has bags of torque and the car will pretty much pull away in any gear. Economy isn't bad at all for a 2 liter car.

Creature comforts are minimal, but it does have reasonably comfortable leather seats, a full complement of instruments and a chromed passenger grab handle. And there aren't many cars in which you feel so close to the road - thanks to the low-cut doors, you can easily reach out and touch the pavement while driving!

I use the car mainly for summer driving and occasional classic car tours, and it's perfect for that.