TR8 Parts Cars

RHD TR8s That Are Not Factory-Built RHD TR8s

In practical terms, there is often little—if any—physical difference between these cars and those built by the factory see https://www.triumphtr8.com/right-hand-drive-tr8-home-market-uk/. The crucial distinction lies not in what the cars are, but in the histories attributed to them and the interpretations advanced by their owners.

Towards the end of TR7/TR8 production, more parts were leaving the factory than were being fitted to completed vehicles. As a consequence, a number of cars have since emerged that are frequently presented as genuine factory-built RHD TR8s, or as factory development or test cars. In reality, the majority of these vehicles were assembled after production had effectively ended, using available bodyshells and surplus components. Some even on Triumph premises!

Typically, such cars were constructed from:

TR7 bodyshells (often originally fitted with O-series engines),
Engines removed and replaced with usually Rover V8 units
Assorted components drawn from mixed production years, obtained during or after the close of production.

While these cars can be interesting from a historical or engineering perspective, they are neither genuine factory-built RHD TR8s nor authentic TR8 development vehicles.

Identification and Registration

These cars generally:

carry TR7 chassis numbers
Or in at least two known cases, use fabricated chassis numbers,

and are registered with the DVLA as TR7s.

Regardless of any letters, documentation, or narratives supplied by previous owners, these factors have a significant impact on both authenticity and market value.

Value and Buyer Caution

The market value of these cars is substantially lower than that of genuine factory-built RHD TR8s. Prospective buyers should therefore exercise extreme caution and approach such vehicles strictly on a buyer-beware basis, irrespective of how persuasive or well-presented the accompanying story may be.

Prior to any purchase, checks should always be made with:

British Motor Museum at Gaydon
Recognised marque specialists or official registrars.

If a car:

does not appear in official factory records,
does not have a Heritage Certificate,
does not carry a complete, verifiable chassis number explicitly identifying it as a TR8, or
cannot be independently corroborated,

then the safest course of action is usually to walk away. The home page of this website has significant help and assistance in making sure you are buying a correct car.

Final Perspective

It should be noted that genuine factory-built RHD TR8s command very high prices—recent examples have sold for £47,000 and £45,000 respectively. Against this backdrop, non-factory RHD TR8-style cars can, at the right price, represent a viable and attractive alternative for those seeking the RHD TR8 experience in all but factory designation—provided their true status is clearly understood and accurately represented.

RHD TR8 “NOT FACTORY” Let’s look at the original eBay claim for this car PVP299Y

“This is a factory built RHD TR8 from 1980”

NOT TRUE – All of the factory built RHD TR8’s are known and were confirmed recently to me by Garry Owen the Triumph factory manager responsible for them. This is NOT ONE OF THEM. They are all listed HERE.

“I was told it was sold off by the factory, probably at the Measham sale after the cancellation of production by BL, and finally registered as a new vehicle in 1982.”

NOT TRUE – All of the Persian Aqua cars at Measham are accounted for. This is NOT ONE OF THEM.

“It is registered as a TR7 V8, as were all the pre-production press cars, as at that time, DVLA did not have the designation of ‘TR8’ on their system, as it had only ever been an export model up to that point”

NOT TRUE – The early Factory Home market RHD TR8’s in fact have no model designation on the DVLA log book, just Triumph only. That only applies to the first two MHP404V and NWK988W and possibly one white TR8 TBC as the rest were all sold UNREGISTERED at Measham. What they may have now is whatever the new owners put down when they registered them for the first time. So nothing to do with the factory at all.

Now let’s look at other claims made by the seller to its authenticity

“The RHD Alford and Adler steering rack was a very rare item and therefore proves its genuine”

NOT entirely TRUE – At the end of production and for quite a few years after, they were not too difficult to get hold of, and quite a few ended up on conversions and the like.

“It is indistinguishable from the 18 Pre-Production cars”

Oddities:

It has a black dash

The ignition system is on the left as per earlier cars.

The boot is an earlier model

The trim cards for the doors are very late 82 model velour with horizontal trim

Door catches are earlier

Now let’s look at the strange “incomplete” chassis number. To be factory correct it should have 14 digits it only has 11!

TRADJTAA215

NOTE the R substitute for where there would normally be the P which is the designated model range TR7/8

For cars built from shells it is not permissible to describe it as a model range without having to pay tax duty so the “INVENTED” chassis number has an R in its place. The chassis number on the ebay advert shows the normal P, but the logbook for the car does not suggesting the seller was well aware of what that meant.

My guess is that while the 215 fits in with ranges of chassis numbers the number creator actually was designating 215 cu engine. This is born out by a second car 99.9% built by the same person simply because it follows EXACTLY the same format and it too has a connection to a Lynx.

PVP299Y Persian Aqua TRADJ7TAA215

Engine no 10E00013

TR7 V8 DHC TAXED f/r August 1982

TOH963Y Oporto Red TRADJ7AA3528

Engine no EXP210

TR8 DHC SORN f/r May 1983

Note on the second car the engine cc has been used 3528.

RHD TR8 “NOT FACTORY” Let’s look at the claim for this car KHP542V (Car appears blue in video but is actually Poseidon Green)

Historic’s sold this for £24,500 (with fees 27.5k). Brian Ridley-Jones (TR8 Registrar for the TRDC) contacted them to say that it was NOT a right hand drive factory car, but they appear to have ignored that information. Interesting that for a Ford Escort they were prepared to have a comment from the AVO registrar that a car (unsold) was very good, but not 100% correct in terms of trim. This is a factory development TR7 – but had an O series engine with left hand drive. It was scrapped but like some other cars “magically” appeared with a 3.5 engine sometime later. However, the factory did not build the car as is, which still has a TR7 VIN. The V8 is from a Rover SD1 and not a TR8 variant. This car has an interest and historical value for sure but it is NOT AN OFFICIAL FACTORY RHD TR8. See below for details on the O series cars, note this car KHP542V in the list of scrapped cars also that it was once White and LHD!

O Series TR7 Fleet List

Registration	Main Function	Fate
YRW 573S	White Convertible USA spec	Scrapped June 81 but might still exist
JHP 543V	Black Convertible
JVC 840V	Coupe USA spec	Listed as scrapped but still exists
JVC 841V	White Coupe USA spec	Scrapped June 81 (Confirmed 15.9.81)
KHP 537V	White Convertible	Turbo (Survives)
KHP 541V	Black LHD Convertible	Listed as scrapped June 81 but still exists
KHP 542V	White Convertible LHD	Listed as scrapped June 81 but still exists
KHP 543V	Convertible USA spec	Scrapped June 81 but still exists
LVC 354V	Coupe UK spec RHD	Scrapped June 81
LVC 355V	Convertible BR Green USA spec	Scrapped June 81 but still exists!
LVC 366V	Coupe Russet Brown Auto	Listed as scrapped June 81 but escaped
LVC 367V	Coupe BR Green LHD	Listed as scrapped June 81 but still exists
LVC 368V	Convertible Persian Aqua LHD	Listed as scrapped but escaped
MHP 337V	Convertible LHD	‘To be retained’ 4Valve O series development
MHP 338V	Convertible LHD	‘To be retained’ 4Valve O series development
MHP 387V	Convertible Pageant Blue LHD	Escaped survived until at least 1984
MHP 388V	Coupe Russet Brown	Might still exist
MVC 114V	Convertible Poseidon LHD	Scrapped June 81
MVC 118V	Coupe White RHD	Listed as scrapped June 81 but escaped
MVC 119V	Convertible Black LHD	Listed as scrapped June 81 but still exists
MVC 120V	Convertible Bronze LHD	Scrapped June 81 (Confirmed 15.9.81)
MVC 121V	Convertible LHD	Crash Test (angled barrier)
ORW 746W	Convertible LHD PI