1976 Triumph Stag Mk2 - Carmine Red
£££ SOLD £££
This is a lovely car that’s ready to use and enjoy. Most dealers would be adding another £1500 onto the price, but this one is priced for a quick sale - a bargain for those who are wanting a car where they have no worries about resale values. It car has some very desirable features which I will endeavour to outline below.
The bodywork, as you can see, is in great shape overall. The Carmine Red paint finish is excellent and has a real shine to it, thanks to a respray, three or four years ago. This respray was only because the original paint had faded somewhat, not because of any rotten panels, etc. The original wheels have been refurbished in the past few years and really set the car off well – the polished bits are still ‘polished’, rather than being painted. The chromework is all good, with minor signs of age here and there, but has a superb shine to it. I imagine a lot of it will have been replaced when the car was restored. There are a few bubbles and marks here and there in the paintwork but there is no ‘rot’ to speak of – both bodily and structurally. You can see that the car is very presentable indeed.
The car retains its original Triumph engine and box, which both function very well indeed. The car starts readily (fitted with electronic ignition) and the gearbox kicks down as it should, and doesn't ‘clunk’ into gear. It starts, runs and drives just as you’d expect. There are no nasty mechanical rattles, crunches or bangs, and the car pulls smoothly. The car has a stainless steel exhaust fitted, and sounds fantastic!
There are no issues with the cooling system – this has been flushed out yearly, and a replacement radiator has been fitted in the past few years, too. Other recent work includes a new differential, and a new brake master cylinder.
The car comes with both hard and soft-tops – the hardtop is a metal one, in good order. The soft top is in good condition but there is a crack in the rear window and a slight split in the fabric, too. It would keep the rain out if you were caught out in a storm, though. The interior is also in very good order, as you can see from the pictures. The carpets are all good, although they haven’t been replaced for 20 years or so. The wooden dash is in good order.
The car is MOTd until September 2015, and. I can’t see it needing anything apart from the exhaust manifold to downpipe joint. It will become tax exempt in 2016, thanks to the new rolling tax exemption. The car has history which dates back to the early 1980s – it has clearly been well cared for throughout! It has covered a documented 102,000 miles, and this can be backed up with the paperwork.
Again, this is a car that’s basically ready to use and enjoy, and I feel that it’s priced very fairly indeed for a car in this order. It’s important to realise that this car isn’t a show-piece: however, it’s in very good order and looks externally fantastic on the road! Of course, a car of this age will require some TLC to ensure it remains as healthy as it is now. However, these cars are so simple in terms of design that even the amateur home mechanic can tackle most jobs.