Faults:

Starter motor shook itself loose due to traveling at excessive speed.

Wiper motor failed.

Rusty wheel arches needed replacing.

General Comments:

This belonged to a friend of a friend and had been sitting in his garden in Brighton for at least 2 years. It was covered in mildew and the interior stank of rotting flesh.

I paid him £150 for it, put a new battery in, a new set of HT leads, and a bit of air in the tyres and drove it 150 miles back home without incident.

I then added a big single exhaust, some carb upgrades, electronic ignition and had the head skimmed. As a result of this it became very quick for a 1966 Automatic. It was hilarious to drive and sounded great.

Easy to work on, easy to upgrade. Highly recommended, plus the Mark 1 had far superior sheet metal and finish.

Faults:

Nothing at all, except for replacing the exhaust pipe.

General Comments:

What a beautiful car! The exhaust note was so distinctive! What a splendid car. It looked good, sounded good, performed, adequately. If someone fitted a turbo charger...Heaven!

That walnut, those seats. That gorgeous six cylinder straight six twin carb engine, which caught fire. The imperial sized boot.

Given some modern tweaking, that old bus would sell again today!

A truly serious executive wagon and very handsome!

Faults:

This car replaced a rather gutless 3 speed column change Victor 101 (3 bearing crank). The front discs and pads had to be changed. Then, after months of such fun the rear axle (diff.) started a vibration. Well, I still believe it was the diff. as I checked over the propshaft universal joints and practically everything else that could have caused this, but to no avail.

General Comments:

White body, blue 'leather' finish interior, a touch of wood, overdrive, a gorgeous 6 cylinder engine that in 1970 was so smooth and fast. This was one of the most enjoyable cars I've ever had, and if I could find another one now (or a 2500 Mk 2) I would really enjoy it. This car cost me £450 in 1970 and as I could not resolve (at the time) the transmission vibration - I traded it against a new 1302S Beetle and got £300 in PX. I would not even look at an air cooled Beetle now as a Classic, but boy, I'd certainly have another Triumph.

Faults:

Alternator packed up. Lucas 34amp now replaced with Lucas 65amp from a Range Rover V8 (tight squeeze with battery though).

Bearing rattle from engine, especially when started from cold. This is common. My parents' 2500S has this as well.

Clunking coming from front suspension somewhere. Not track-rod ends or lower ball joints - suspected wheel bearings.

Rear axle whine. Axle has leaked oil and been run dry over the years by previous owner. Now been replaced with one in the garage of slightly higher ratio (from an automatic).

General Comments:

My parents' 2500S automatic is a beautiful, reliable car which very often carries 4 people plus luggage and a 21ft caravan down to Blackpool, Wales, Weston Super Mare etc. I bought a bad one. Be careful when choosing.

Mine has been botched and abused, and VERY badly welded, costing me £150 to get it through it's MOT.

However, this car is amazingly comfortable, even on long motorway runs or in stationary motorway traffic.

Performance of this car is good. It has been fitted with larger carburretors so it does go quite well, but best of all is the sound of that amazing 2.0 liter six cylinder under the bonnet. Especially when I get the sports exhaust on.

Handling is OK. Soft suspension and no anti-roll bar (except on 2500S and estate models) means high speed corners are scary - especially with the cheap tires on the very small 13-inch wheels. I may have a heavy right foot, but these just help the back end to slide in 1st or 2nd gear corners.

If you get a good one you will be very pleased, because it will be quick reliable and fun. If you get a bad one it will be a constant drain on your wallet and clunks are very hard to find.

Faults:

Synchromesh on 2nd a bit rough replaced by a secondhand box.

Driveshaft replaced due to worn splines.

Universal joint on propshaft.

Usual other odds and ends.

General Comments:

My Dad's car, but I learned to drive on it.

Carried out family round for 7 years without complaint. Loads of legroom and space in front and back.

Stylish design. Beautiful interior.

Fantastic straight 6 engine, flexible and powerful.

After we sold it on it ran for another 2 years. Rust was getting into the rear suspension mounts which were difficult to fix without a complete strip down.

I have often thought about buying one of the estate versions for myself instead of a modern econobox clone.