14th Mar 2001, 06:50

It may not be a "Real" Triumph according to those devotees, but at least it was built properly and worked when you wanted it to. I had one for a while and it was totally reliable.

12th Apr 2001, 17:26

The designers came up with an amazing car when they thought of the Acclaim. Totally reliable, quick, and smooth. Very under-rated.

25th May 2001, 01:14

Truly great cars - big hearts and good friends. Unfortunately difficult to obtain spares - looks like mine is on the way out, does anyone need for spares, as the idea of taking him to a scrap yard kills me. Contact Steve Kent on 01604 624425 or stevekent@breathemail.net.

7th Sep 2001, 08:59

I have one of these wicked little cars, but need to fix it up first! It needs a new cylinder head/engine and I'm in search of one, can anyone help?

I'm on fumochu@yahoo.com

Thanks, adios, Mo.

8th Sep 2001, 17:56

The Acclaim I have is a semi auto. New rings fitted after I bought it. Now it's very reliable, doesn't look much, but I don't care, it gets me to where I want to go and back.

The semi auto box was ahead of its time. I've gone off manual gears now. An excellent cheap, reliable car - recommended.

21st Sep 2001, 19:04

Yes, I have owned two Acclaims, and I quite agree. Both were sound vehicles, and very well designed. It can keep up with some larger engined cars, and is smooth and completely reliable. A top choice for all 18 year olds, maybe. Indeed, it may not be a true Triumph, but it's a better car than the rest of them!

16th Mar 2006, 15:32

I have a 1983 Triumph Acclaim and it's a pleasure to drive, very fast and nimble, but now I am starting to have carburetor problems. Does anyone know where I can find a carburetor rebuild kit for the Keihin carbs on this car?

24th Mar 2006, 08:36

You may find that the carbs are just out of balance and need setting up. I have rebuilt a set of these before (a 20 year old set) and they were pretty much perfect inside. Try stripping them down and giving them a clean, then get them balanced and have the CO level set. They're really simple carbs to work on, you should have no trouble at all.

Triumph Acclaims are superb cars, I had one of these for just over 2 years, never once let me down in 33,000 miles. I had talked to previous owners and my mate was the last owner (terminal rust killed it quite recently), and it seemed that this car had a pretty much unblemished reliability record in all its 23 years. Truly well engineered and reliable, and so lovely to drive.

That gusty sounding 'fireball' engine is a great, with a well refined little car built around it. Economical, reliable, nice to drive, and well engineered and equally well built. They will litterally keep on going until the rust makes the body panels fall off. Excellent car even though sadly underrated, BL's little hero.

1st Jun 2006, 14:28

My Dad had an acclaim HLS which was the best car he had ever had and the most modern compared to other cars. He didn't like bothering with the hassle of brand new cars, but saw this one at the local body repair shop (he was good friends with the owner). It had been "written off" because of a damaged wing, but the repair shop had made a very good repair and respray and my Dad snapped it up. I think I was about 1986 when he got it and probably mid to late '90's when it finally gave up the ghost after being a good reliable workhorse. The windscreen wiper brackets rusted away and were very tricky to repair. but other than that the car went like stink, handled well and was very VERY quiet. You could even hear the whirr/ticking of the little clock in the centre console at 80 mph. Have some good memories of that car.

21st Aug 2006, 07:21

My first car was a Triumph Acclaim. The thing went for ever and was nippy as buggery. Shame it was written off in an accident and was used as a skip for the short remainder of it's life.

I loved everything about that car - everything from the gearstick knob that vibrated worryingly to the eerie green glow in the ash-tray.

Greatest car I've ever driven.

6th Nov 2006, 15:01

I currently have an Acclaim HL with only 64000 on the clock. Bought for £150 and had a full years M.O.T and tax. As I am not driving till march, I took the tax back to the postie and got money back.

So far I have had no problems with it and keep it running by starting it up at least 1nce a week. As the others have said the Acclaim is very hard to get parts for, but can be found with hard searching.

Overall brill car, but can't wait to get my capri!!!

8th Mar 2007, 07:15

Hi. I Agree with all of the above. I needed a cheap car to run as my wife didn't want to share hers. I saw the Acclaim in the local garage, a 1983 manual HLS in silver with 58,000 on the clock and had to have it. It's quicker (tho not as fast ultimately), quieter, more entertaining to drive and more economical than the Fiat Brava we had, plus it makes people smile, a bargain.

3rd Dec 2008, 16:08

I started an old 1 after 7 years behind a shed in a ditch!!! It took a battering, but it's a great car to start after that amount of time!!!

20th Feb 2010, 02:45

I had 2 Acclaims. The first one was my Dad's; he gave to me. He bought it in 1984 and gave it to me in 1989. It went to Germany with me when I was serving in H.M. forces. Drove all around Europe in her. This wee car had done 132,000 miles when I passed it on to my Brother. I then bought a VW Polo; a good car, but not as refined as an Acclaim. So I decided to sell the VW and buy another Acclaim, which was 10 years old at the time. I kept it for 4 years, but had to sell her on cause I ended up becoming a father for the 1st time, and the wife wanted the biggest Silver Cross pram ever which did not fit into the Acclaim's boot. But yeah, these cars were superb; they even keep up with today's traffic; not bad for something that's around 29 years old.

I'm on the look out for another 1 just now, kids have grown up a bit now, so no more prams yippee.