5k: Some Assy Required: 1971 Triumph GT6
The Triumph GT6 started life as an attempt by Triumph’s racing program to gain speed advantages on the long straights of Le Mans – and it was successful with a Spitfire modified to GT6 fastback shape winning first in its class in the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans. It is one our favorite classic European fastbacks because they are light, simple to fix and cheap to buy. The Triumph GT6 market has been reasonable for as long we can remember, so buy a GT6 not for collector status or future appreciation, but to use as a daily driver. Find this 1971 Triumph GT6
for sale in Henderson, MD currently bidding for $3,550 with a few hours to go.
This GT6 isn’t a minty clean classic– in fact it has rusted panels and hasn’t run for a few years. It does however look decent for the current asking price and perhaps could be turned into a running/driving car with a few weekends and some fresh seals.
The GT6 is powered by Triumph’s over-head valve inline-6 that displaces
2.0 liters and puts out 104 horsepower. The GT6 isn’t a fast car in today’s
overpowered minivan traffic, but it was fast in comparison to the small
displacement inline-4 powered Triumphs, Austins and MGs of the day.
The interior looks like someone set off a hand grenade inside this green machine, but those parts can be picked up from various internet sellers like victoriabritish.com
See a better GT6 for less? email us here: tips@dailyturismo.com
Everything is available for these cars and they are so easy to work on. Spend the time to clean up the electrics, attend to that bit of rust bubbling in the rear passenger's sill (and any elsewhere) and enjoy. Bargain fun.
This and the BGT are on my radar…perpetually. The later years had the better suspension layout, right? These seem to have that narcotizing waft of accessibility that has landed many a novice in hot water with the household COO/CFO. I am no exception.
The MkIII model didn't change over to the swing-spring setup until '73. This model still has the rotoflex donuts, which should be the best setup, though potentially requires more attention than the swing-spring setup. A bit of discussion –
=== club.triumph.org.uk/cgi-bin/forum10/Blah.pl?m-1230551366/
There were 3 original GT6 suspensions
Swing axle: on the GT6 Mk1
Rotoflex: Mk2, early Mk3
Swing spring: late Mk 3
In order of motoring delightfulness, they are
1. Rotoflex
2. Swing spring
3. Swing axle
with rotoflex of course being the most delightful. This is not to say there is anything distressing or deadly or fundamentally causing ruin of a day's drive about the swing axle, the swing axle was fine for most driving short of the track. The swing spring was really an economy move to cut down on manufacturing costs.
The rotoflex suspension doesn't require attention once a year, the donuts must be replaced more like every 3 years in regular driving.
It's interesting that Sam C & Craig both have the non-rotoflex suspensions in their GT6s, but they are different suspensions!
If Craig's interested, he can easily change from his Mk1's original swing axle to the later-type swing-spring for a little more confidence in the turns. It's pretty much a matter of swapping out the rear spring for a spring from one of the swing-spring Spitfires. The BL/JRT US Competition Dept. issued a memo on how to do it:
geocities.com/rotoflex/gt6-mod.htm#_Swingspring_conversion