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TR4/4A Where are all the 4a's?

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Winston

Jedi Trainee
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Is it just me or has anyone noticed the scarcity of the 4a model.
I've gone through the last two volumes of Hemmings and they seem to be scarcer than hen's teeth.
Believe me I love the Michelloti lines but I saw a Volkswagon bus much like the one I had in college sell for 200K in Barrett Jackson.
I'm presuming since the economy is so lousy nobody want's to sell low.
This does'nt mean I'm trying to sell "Ruby", but..............
 
I had checked the market frequently while trying to get Barn Baby over the last year. Availability was real spotty with prices for primo restores around 30k+ , nice restores in the 20-25k range, with "for restoration" 5-8K. But that's all based on my remembering and i have CRS pretty bad. Since I just recently joined i dont know the history of classifieds on the forum for 4a's? Hopefully, everyones driving them and sales are just herd thinning.
 
Car listings always cycle like that, the nice Green 4A on ebay is the only one on that list as well.

The number built / age of the model also come in play, hence you can always count on plenty of TR6's and Spitfire 1500's.

More 4's were built than 4a's - although a little older, they should be available in larger numbers as well.
 
I've owned my 1966 4A since 1969 and there was a time in the 80's that I rarely saw another one and I do a lot of driving and go to shows, TRF Summer Party etc. Recently there have been more out there in my opinion. I'm partial to the 4A and the 250's as I like the little extra trim over a TR4.

I've come to really like the TR6's as of late even though they are everywhere it seems. Much of my enjoyment of these cars comes from their racing heritage and the sound of a well prepared 6 cyl Triumph at full song is just plain music to me. I remember the TR6's and GT 6's of Group 44 racing at Mid Ohio and Watkins Glen in the late 60's and early 70's and it's a sound you'll not soon forget. If you ever get to see Kas Kasners 250K racing you'd understand immediately.

I'm just finishing my restoration of the 4A after all of these years and hope to have it's coming out party at the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix in a few weeks.
 
They show up on Ebay quite frequently it seems. Not all need work, though some do. I'm partial to the car. I think the solid axle 4A is among the best the 60s ever had, at least in its class.

If there's a good one out there, jump on it. My wife knows I would, but for some horrible rules of survival. The car is an absolute pleasure to work on, and quite easy for anyone willing to work with wrenches, especially if Randall, Brosky, the Dr., George, and others are online to help, and they usually are--and what a relief at times.

There's no substitute for a good body, but if anyone has access to a good shop, and someone who won't take months, I wouldn't shy away from one needing fender, minor rust or door work. There are plenty of fenders out there, even new ones, and hundreds of old doors.

The car will live on if we help it.
 
They're out there...there were are couple of '4As at the Collingwood show in Alexandria, VA back in May. What worries me is the general lack of ANY British sports cars on the road. I see MAYBE one a month in the summer.
 
There have been a number on Craigslist (9) in the past few weeks from $200 to $22000.

Scott
 
I've been noticing it for about 6 months. When I decided I wanted one, It was like a Friday in the end of February. Well, I always wanted one, but I became "ready." I bought one the next Sunday, on March 5th. I got very lucky and got the car I wanted...a red 4A with overdrive and wire wheels. I would have loved the live axle, and I also would have gone for a black 4A, but I am by no means unhappy with my little red one. It's a GREAT car.

It's a pity they were so weak, it's one of the reasons they are so scarce. As much bad luck as I had with my late model MG, it really is a better built car. I like my 4A much, much more, and the motor is a much stronger motor, but the unibody structure of the MG, if un-rusted, is much stronger.

KVH is right, they're just the easiest darn things to work on and with a little help from extremely generous folks on here, you can pretty much solve anything.
 
I bought a 4A in the 80s, I started going to the all brit car show in Kansas City shortly after that. The show would always have maybe a dozen TR3s and a dozen TR6s, and one or two TR4-4As. The TR6s were mostly original and the TR3s of course restored, nobody (few anyway) was really restoring them back then.

Situation has improved, still much fewer than the other TRs, but lots of well restored 4s and 4As, well represented at the Triumph anniversary thing a couple years ago in Topeka.
 
LBCs_since_1988 said:
They're out there...there were are couple of '4As at the Collingwood show in Alexandria, VA back in May. What worries me is the general lack of ANY British sports cars on the road. I see MAYBE one a month in the summer.
Click to expand...

Actually, there was just one 4A at Collingwood this year because I drove it in. The other two cars were 4s. The same thing at British Car Day in June, just me and three TR250s. There have been more 4As in past years, some of them REALLY nice, so I think people just aren't driving them for one reason or another, too.

If anybody wants to put together an all 4A drive in the Mid-Atlantic, I'm game.
 
Jeremy,

Let me know when it is and I'll go sit in my cars and make vroom-vroom noises.... :smile:

Scott
 
Saw just a couple (beside mine) while at Carlisle back in May. Seems to run in streaks - there are times when I feel as if they must have all survived,
 
Went to a local "all makes" car show yesterday where a guy showed up with a BRG live axle 4A he'd just found.

Weird how cars just keep bubbling up.

Its easy when we are immersed in our british car world to lose perspective on how unique the cars really are.

I can remember going to a local resort town as a kid where B's and TR6's were all over the place. Now, seeing one is a rare treat.

TR6's seem to be dime a dozen to us in brit car world: today there are 19 TR6's listed out of 60 Triumphs on Ebay.

Now perspective: there are almost 700 Camaros and 1300 Mustangs...

Cheers,
 
They are after all Massey tractor engines.

I ashamed to say this lame post is bcause I noticed I was close to 300 post's.

I would like to thank Basil, and remember to support NAMI.
 
How about this twist on your question - How come I see waaay more TR4a models around than the one that they made 5x as many of? While they aren't my cup of tea and aren't all that bad a car, they made 5 times as many TR7s as 4a's yet I rarely see them at all.
 
The 7 it seems to me was not bought by the same crowd of LBC enthusiasts. It was a new buyer who liked the modern look but was less attentive to the cars needs resulting in less survivors.

I suspect many 4A owners that we don't see on the road are saying the same thing as I; soon, very soon. Events have held up getting on the road this year.

Got mine 5 years ago. Driven it some every summer. Before that I had been watching pre 1968, mainly MG A&B's, TR 3&4's and Big Healys. I was still only watching when I saw my 4A and that was it. Knew very little about them, never been in one. The boxy lines somehow flow into a beautiful curves. Just about as simple as you get. Parts overnight. They are just cool.

BTW Winston, even though I broke my neck in a VW bus would love to have one.
 
cheseroo said:
How about this twist on your question - How come I see waaay more TR4a models around than the one that they made 5x as many of? While they aren't my cup of tea and aren't all that bad a car, they made 5 times as many TR7s as 4a's yet I rarely see them at all.
Click to expand...
That one's easy. The TRactor motor is infinitely rebuildable and darn near indestructible. TR7 motors turn to slag heaps with just minor neglect. Sure, you can drop in a Rover motor and build a faux TR8, but that was a lot of work when they were worth practically nothing.

OTOH I bought a TR3A that had literally been driven until it would not move. Drug it home on a rope, fiddled with the motor a bit, drove it all summer that way. As I recall, the rebuild cost about $300 (most of the parts came from Whitney/Warshawsky including a liner set for $80).
 
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