• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

TR2/3/3A Newbie TR3 lover here....

Share this page

Dave_H

Dave_H

Member
Offline
Hi all! Glad to find this board. It was 26 years ago when I was just out of high school that I bought my first TR3. It was a 1960 model in excellent condition from California where I lived at the time. Brand new paint job and solid, no-rust throughout. I loved it to death and only paid $1500.00 for it! Restored the interior myself and did some mechanical and cosmetic work on it. Below is my only surviving photo of it. I had it for 18 months, then got engaged and sold it to move back east to Virginia.

So I parted with my first love and now, 26 years later, find myself thinking about getting another one. How easily do you think I can find a nice one for under $10K and in this neck of the woods(SW Virginia)?

BTW, I'm planning to go to the British car show up in Waynesboro on October 2 and hope to see a few TRs there. How many other TR3s owners are on this group?

1960_tr3a.jpg
 
Hi Dave, welcome to the forum! Yes, we have several TR3 guys here. I'm sure some will jump in here once they see your post. By the way, I took the liberty of cleaning up your picture. It had a lot of creases in it, so I used photoshop and cleaned it up, resized it and uploaded it to my server (then edited your post to point to that picture). Is this a picture of your (former) car?

Basil
 
Welcome Dave!
I had a TR3 about 35 years ago myself....great memories and it would be great to have another. Your's even had the fairly rare hardtop (mine had no top of any kind).
I did not see any TR3s for sale in our Classified section here at BCF but the Moss site has several cars close to your price limit:

https://www.britishmotoring.net/bm0402/carmart/carmart.html
 
Welcome, Dave!

Good to see another sidescreen lover here. Check in often - always lots of info and entertainment (not necessarily in that order!), and the occasional offer to sell a TR3.

Don't know of any available right now, but will keep a look out.

Mickey
 
Can you fill me in on the show in Waynesboro on Oct. 2nd?

Do you mean Waynesboro Pennsylvania?
 
Welcome to the Forum, it's great to have another TR enthusiast here. I think everyone loves TR2s and TR3s, a classic and beautiful Triumph.

Here's the link to the Shenandoah Valley British Car Club that hosts the Waynesboro car show Oct. 2. I highly recommend this friendly club to anyone who loves British cars. The Club is very impressive, considering that this area is mostly rural and somewhat isolated. I've been a member for about one year now and remain totally impressed with the club's busy itinerary and number of driving events. Lots of extremely civil and knowedgeable folks as well.

The link is here: https://www.svbcc.net/home.htm

My GT6 is posted on the Member's Cars section.

Good luck, please contact me if you'd like more info about the club.
 
Yes, you can get a good TR3 for under $10K. The keys are 1)STAY AWAY FROM EBAY, 2)Stay away from Hemmings and 3)realize that people's high asking prices are just asking prices. Someone asking $14,000 will (after a few months on the market) sell for $9,800.

You might not be able to get wire wheels, overdrive, leather and a hardtop, but you should be able to get a pretty darn nice TR3.
 
Basil, thanks for cleaning up the photo! I had wanted to do that but never got the time. Yes, that is my former car taken after a nice waxing back in 1976. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I drove all the way up to Hollywood back then to buy the hardtop at a place (forget the name) for only $250!!

Thanks for all the advice about buying a TR3. I'll keep my eyes open. Probably won't be until next summer after my daughter gets married and we find a house with a garage! BTW, the neat thing is that my wife (of 26 years) is also into getting another TR3. That always helps!

My very first car out of high school was a 1965 Fiat 1500 Cabriolet sports car. Neat little car I bought for $900 in excellent shape. But when I saw the TR3 one day I was hooked!! I've also owned a Spitfire (too small for me!) and a couple of custom VW Beetles over the years. Have been driving Olds, Buicks and Hondas since then and am now ready to get a real car again!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Please see my post in the "National VTR Conv Richmond VA" thread by Bev Cox, photo of the show included.
 
Hey Jedi Trainee, I see you're not far from me in C'ville. I'm 2 hours from you in Roanoke. How many nice TR3s do you see runnning about your town? I rarely see them here. Seen many for sale within a 2 hour radius?
 
Welcome to the fourm Dave H. I have owned my TR3 since 1974 and drove it to work today. They really are quite easy to keep up. Good luck in finding a nice one. For your price they should be quite easy. Hope you are /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gifSoon.
 
I lived in Roanoke for awhile, owned a '69 GT6 there many moons ago. Roanoke has an active British Car club, you should join if possible.

There are a few prominent TR3s in Charlottesville, one 1960 white one is driven often and I see it occaisionally. He entered it in the concours judging at the Richmond VTR. I also see a red '57 TR3 about town, the owner drives it regularly, even in the rain!

I live and work in the City here, but don't see a significant number of British cars. There are several MGBs buzzing around, a few TR6s and Spitfires, and three or four TR3s. Mostly see them on sunny weekend days. They also seem to come out of the woodwork with UVA football and basketball games.

The local car clubs really bring out the exotics and antiques autos, apparently this region has more than its share. Sadly, though, I don't see many on the road.

I'm driving my GT6 to Roanoke soon, maybe we can hook up for a chat. Contact me offline to discuss.
 
I think everyone who ever had a TR3 never quite gets over it... often leading to another one years later. There is a good chance a TR as nice as yours was in '76 (in So California) has survived -- maybe someday you will see it again.

Meanwhile, I would suggest you hook up with a local or regional club to help you find a TR3. Perhaps...

https://www.richmondtriumphregister.com/

Good luck and welcome to the Forum.
 
Dave here's the only surviving picture of my TR6... taken in the spring of 1987 as I headed out of my parents driveway to meet up with some friends headed for the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Kurtis
 

Attachments

  • 68240-tr6.jpg
    68240-tr6.jpg
    62.8 KB · Views: 329
Hi Dave,

Welcome!

If you feel like a trek up to Ontario in Canada, there is a nice TR3A for sale (or at least the last time I talked to my friend back in Ontario, fairly recently). I used to live in Ontario and can vouch for this car, my understanding is that he did most of the restoration work himself, the car isn't 100% perfect but still a nice car and a great driver. His price would be around be your price range as quoted... I do have one picture will try to download it later.
 
Dave,

Welcome aboard always good to have another Triumph fan aboard.
 
Thanks for the tip. It'll probably be next year before I seriously start looking. We're in the process of getting our house ready to sell next spring and look for one with, among others things, a garage for a TR3! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I'll be spending the next few months educating myself and looking out for TR3s and their prices and condition. If a real bargain came along I guess I could always store it at a friends house an hour from here. He has a 5-car garage!
 
Welcome to the forum Dave. I noticed that we have a lot in common. I bought a TR-3 in 1976 while in college. It was a 1960 3A, had overdrive and cost $1,250. I sold the car in 1986 for $1,300 after three jobs changes and had to relocate each time. Got tired of moving the car which I had diassembled to restore. Three years later I was looking for a replacement, but couldn't find TR-3 I could afford. I came across a 64 Spit that I bought and still have. But I still want a TR-3.

I also have daughter getting married next month. Good luck.
 
Back
Top