TriumphTR7

The Last Triumph TR7

The TR7 with the last chassis number of all, 408534: a right-hand-drive drophead built at Solihull in October 1981, registered MOV 542X and now at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon.

A pale gold Triumph TR7 drophead with its tan hood up, seen from above the front three-quarter in a museum.
MOV 542X from above at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon, in 2018, with its tan hood (soft top) up and tartan (plaid) seats through the screen.Tony Hisgett, CC BY 2.0

When Rover's Solihull works stopped building TR7s in October 1981, BL kept one back: the car with the last chassis number of all, a drophead (convertible) registered MOV 542X. It has never left the company's collection, and the British Motor Museum at Gaydon shows it.⁠1​2​3

The car

Sources for The last TR7

Paul Towle and Rex Holford (update) and Mark Elbers (update), "TR7 & TR8 Identification & Production Data Explained", TR Drivers Club, 1987, updated (© 2016)⁠1; Keith Cox, "Gaydon cars with a TR7 connection", TR Drivers Club⁠3; triumphtr8.com, Variant pages (group): "FHC TR8 (ACN) 1977", "FHC TR8 (TCN) 1978–1979", "TR8 (TCV) 1979 DHC", "TR8 (TP) 1980", "DHC TR8 (SAT) 1981/82"⁠4

A champagne convertible with its hood up beside an information board in a museum.
The car at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, in December 2007, with its information board on the black stand in front of it.MilborneOne, CC BY-SA 3.0

The TR7s of 1981 were built at Solihull, and from May that year their VINs began with SAT, in a series that ran from 406001 to 408534. This car is the last of it, and no TR7 or TR8 was given a higher number. It has right-hand drive and a hood (soft top), and triumphtr8.com, which records the TR8s built at Solihull, agrees with the TR Drivers Club that BL made it a TR7.

The full code the club prints for it probably has one character wrong and lacks the SAT of Solihull's later codes, as the identification page explains. No source read gives the factory's name for its paint or trim.⁠1​3​4

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Built in October 1981

The TR7's end had been settled in May 1981, when BL announced the end of car building at Solihull. The last TR7s were built in October, AROnline and Ate Up With Motor agree, and this car's number puts it at the end of the run.

A champagne convertible with its hood up seen head-on in a museum.
Head-on at Gaydon in December 2007: the closed headlamp covers, the round badge and the vents and bulges of the bonnet (hood).MilborneOne, CC BY-SA 3.0

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The museum's board

Beside the car the museum keeps an information board, which the TR Drivers Club has transcribed:

This vehicle was the last TR7 to come off the line and there was no new open two-seater sports design to replace it.

British Motor Museum information board, as transcribed by the TR Drivers Club

The board also gives the car a top speed of 183 km/h (114 mph), which no road test read supports.

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At Gaydon

MOV 542X belongs to the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust, whose museum at Gaydon also shows SJW 540S, a works rally car, and the prototypes of the Lynx and the Broadside. The drophead page tells the story of the open TR7.⁠3​1

The tail of a champagne convertible with its brown hood up and TR7 lettering, in a museum.
From behind at Gaydon in 2018, TRIUMPH across the boot (trunk) lid and TR7 on the tail, between other cars of the collection.Tony Hisgett, CC BY 2.0

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Where it has been

  1. 1981

    Built at Solihull, the last TR7 by chassis number

    October 1981. A right-hand-drive home-market drophead, the last number of the 1981 series. Its VIN is recorded by the TR Drivers Club as TPAD37AA408534; TR8s may have come off the line after it

    Paul Towle and Rex Holford (update) and Mark Elbers (update), "TR7 & TR8 Identification & Production Data Explained", TR Drivers Club, 1987, updated (© 2016)⁠1; Keith Adams, "The Cars: Triumph TR7/TR8 development story", AROnline, updated 8 Feb 2024⁠2; Aaron Severson, "Way of the Wedge: The Triumph TR7 and TR8", Ate Up With Motor, 5 Feb 2012, pp. 1–5⁠5; triumphtr8.com, Variant pages (group): "FHC TR8 (ACN) 1977", "FHC TR8 (TCN) 1978–1979", "TR8 (TCV) 1979 DHC", "TR8 (TP) 1980", "DHC TR8 (SAT) 1981/82"⁠4

  2. 1981

    Kept by the heritage collection from new

    The museum's board, as transcribed by the TR Drivers Club: "This car has been at the Museum all its life and has never had an MOT". It is at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon

    Keith Cox, "Gaydon cars with a TR7 connection", TR Drivers Club⁠3

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Sources

Every source the site cites is on the sources page.

  • Referenceserious later work: clubs, specialists, magazines, books
  1. Paul Towle and Rex Holford (update) and Mark Elbers (update), "TR7 & TR8 Identification & Production Data Explained", TR Drivers Club, 1987, updated (© 2016), Solihull: the 1981 series, 406001 to 408534; Solihull; Solihull: the 1981 series; SAT from May 1981; the last car's VIN; the last car, in the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust's collection. trdrivers.com/tr7_-_tr8_vin_numbers.htm Reference
  2. Keith Adams, "The Cars: Triumph TR7/TR8 development story", AROnline, updated 8 Feb 2024, timeline, October 1981; timeline: Solihull's closure announced, May 1981; the last TR7, October 1981; timeline. aronline.co.uk/cars/triumph/tr7-tr8/bullet-development-story Reference
  3. Keith Cox, "Gaydon cars with a TR7 connection", TR Drivers Club, the last TR7; the last TR7: MOV 542X; the last TR7: the museum's board as transcribed, "This vehicle was the last TR7 …"; Cowley; 114 mph; the cars at Gaydon. trdrivers.com/articles21/gaydoncars.html Reference
  4. triumphtr8.com, Variant pages (group): "FHC TR8 (ACN) 1977", "FHC TR8 (TCN) 1978–1979", "TR8 (TCV) 1979 DHC", "TR8 (TP) 1980", "DHC TR8 (SAT) 1981/82", DHC TR8 (SAT) 1981/82; DHC TR8 (SAT) 1981/82: BL made the last car, 408534, a TR7; DHC TR8 (SAT) 1981/82: 408533, 12 October 1981. triumphtr8.com/fhc-tr8-acn-1977 Reference
  5. Aaron Severson, "Way of the Wedge: The Triumph TR7 and TR8", Ate Up With Motor, 5 Feb 2012, pp. 1–5, p. 4, the end of production; p. 4. ateupwithmotor.com/model-histories/triumph-tr7-tr8 Reference
  6. Rex Holford, "A Brief History of the TR8", TR Drivers Club, the last car, 5 October 1981. trdrivers.com/articles/historybrief.html Reference
  7. triumphtr8.com, "Production Figures for the TR8", 5 Jan 2026, 408405, 20 October 1981. triumphtr8.com/production-figures-for-the-tr8 Reference

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