From “Men and Motors” we have the very first Triumph TR5 off the production 
line brought along to the Classic & Sports Car Show by Nick Goldthorpe from ‘Classic Motor Cars Ltd’. Yes, the very first one, and a beautiful survivor.
The TR5 was little more than a one year only car, very late 1967 to 1968, and was really just a stopgap between the aging TR4 and not quite ready TR6. As such, it had the body styling of the former car and the six-cylinder engine of the latter. In the UK the car was petrol injected while in the USA it was carburetted and known as the TR250. Seems our US regulations couldn’t quite handle the fuel injection – or maybe it was the other way around.
These TRs have gone up dramatically in price recently, leading me to wish I still had the pale yellow one I was driving about 27 years ago. Of course, back then no one knew these were investor cars. And in truth, I really wish I still had it just for the driving experience, forget the value.
I enjoy this video because, like the Aston Martin we featured a few weeks ago, it is a survivor car. There is a place for everyone and every type of car in the hobby, from the beaters to the trailer queens to the modified cars, but personally, I am a fan of survivors. These cars have voices and tell stories, and I am always willing to listen.
Note that in the video there is a reference to a 1969 TR5 – that would have been a car that was made in 1968 but not licensed and registered until 1969. Hence the model year discrepancy.
Michael Carnell is the editor and founder of the Just British Online Motoring Magazine. As a lifelong British car enthusiast, he has owned or driven British cars of all ages from Austins and MGs to Jaguars and Triumphs. He currently owns a 1966 Vanden Plas Princess 1100 and a 1977 MGB. But there is always room for more - no matter what his wife says.
