Triumph TR250

The TR250 is what America got instead of the TR5, and there are nearly three times as many of them: 8,484 built from CD1 on 11 July 1967 to CD8594 on 19 September 1968. Body, chassis, suspension and brakes are identical to the TR5 — only the fuel system, the trim and the US-compliance items differ, plus the transverse bonnet stripe that is the easy way to spot one. Instead of Lucas injection it has twin Zenith-Stromberg 175CD carburettors, 8.5:1 compression, 111bhp gross and 104bhp net at 4,500rpm, with 152lb ft of torque.

That 104bhp is worth understanding, because the headline numbers mislead. Net against net, the TR5 makes 142 and the TR250 makes 104 — and 104 is exactly what the four-cylinder TR4A made. So on paper the American six bought no power at all. What it bought was torque: 152lb ft against the TR4A’s 132.5, delivered lower down, which is a different and arguably better car to drive on the road. On parts, the useful thing is the overlap. Anything that is not fuel system crosses with the TR5, and a great deal crosses forward into the TR6, because the Karmann restyle only changed the TR6’s nose and tail.