Triumph TR7 Rivals
The cars the TR7 was sold against, in Britain and in America, from 1975 to 1980: what they cost beside it, how the period testers compared them, and which sold better, with the gaps in the record said plainly.
About the pictureA TR7 coupé photographed in 2021.
The TR7 was meant to sit above the MGB, British Leyland's own open car, and to take on what was selling in America: the Datsun 240Z and the VW-Porsche 914, AROnline writes. In Britain the press set it against saloons (sedans) as often as against sports cars. This page compares the TR7 with its rivals by price, by what the testers found and by what is known of sales.source 1source 2
| Rival | Where and when | Price beside the TR7 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford Escort RS2000 | Britain, May 1976 | £16 cheaper | Motor Sport |
| Ford Capri 3.0 | Britain, 1976 | £696 dearer | AROnline |
| Mazda RX-7 | Britain, September 1979 | £8,549, far dearer than a TR7 coupé | Motor Sport |
| MGB | Britain, April 1980 | £794 cheaper than the TR7 drophead | Motor Sport |
| Volkswagen Golf GTI | Britain, 1980 | "a similar price" | Motor Sport |
| MGB tourer | United States, 1975 | Over $700 cheaper | Ate Up With Motor |
| Triumph TR6 | United States, 1975 | About $200 dearer | Ate Up With Motor |
| Datsun 280ZX | United States, 1980 | About the same, both about $10,000 | Ate Up With Motor |
| MGB | United States, 1980 | About $8,000 | Ate Up With Motor |
Who BL aimed at
When British Leyland planned the TR7, the sports cars taking American sales were Japanese and German: AROnline names the Datsun 240Z and the VW-Porsche 914 as the competition. The new car was to be priced above the MGB, which BL kept as its open car, and in 1975 it was: over $700 dearer than an MGB tourer, Ate Up With Motor writes, though about $200 cheaper than the TR6 it sold beside.source 1source 2
Britain, 1976: the RS2000 and the Capri
At the British launch Motor Sport compared it with a Ford saloon:
At £2,999, the TR7 is just £16 dearer than the RS2000, yet has two seats less and reduced boot space and lacks the traditional sports car advantage of fresh air motoring.
Its performance, the magazine thought, was similar to the Escort RS2000's, and its handling better. Against the bigger Ford the TR7 looked cheap, £696 less than a 3.0-litre Capri, but AROnline judges Leyland's claimed figures "still easy meat for the 3.0-litre Ford Capri".source 3source 1
The Fiat X1/9 and the Lancia Monte Carlo
Two Italian two-seaters were on sale beside it in Europe. In 1977 Autocar's Peter Windsor took a TR7 and an X1/9 to a Mayfair pub and let the drinkers choose, as AROnline retells it, and the Fiat won. For the Beta Monte Carlo, with its 1,995 cc engine behind the seats, Lancia claimed 0–100 km/h in 9.3 seconds when Motor Sport reported its launch in 1975.source 1source 4
Britain, 1979–80: the RX-7, the MGB and the Golf GTI
By 1979 the TR7 had new rivals and a new price. Motor Sport's own test of the TR7 that year concluded that, for the money, an enthusiast would do better with Ford's RS2000 or Fiat's Mirafiori Sport, and when it tested Mazda's rotary-engined RX-7 that September, it compared the two:
Mazda horses must be pretty strong ones, for the RX-7 is substantially quicker than the slightly lighter TR7, of identical b.h.p. and more torque . . .
In its review of the year, in March 1980, the magazine said it would be "far better to buy an RS2000 or Golf GTi at a similar price". The MGB was the cheaper choice: in April 1980 the TR7 drophead cost £794 more, and Motor Sport found the MGB "rather ponderous and less well equipped".source 4source 5source 6
America, 1975–80: the MGB, the TR6 and the 280ZX
In America the TR7 was sold beside the car it replaced, the TR6, until the six's production ended in 1976. In 1975 Car and Driver thought the TR6 would lose to the new car in any contest of speed, as the importer's newsletter reported. By 1980 Ate Up With Motor puts a TR7 at about $10,000, the price of a Datsun 280ZX, with the MGB about $8,000 and the V8 TR8 convertible just under $12,000. How the TR7 fared against them in the showrooms is told under Sales.source 2source 7source 8
Sales
No TR was built in greater numbers, the history shows, and the TR7 outlived the MGB, which ended in 1980. In America about 65,000 TR7s were sold in all, by AROnline's account. Against the MGB, though, the record is mixed, and depends on the market.
No source read gives a reliable production or sales total for the RS2000, the Capri, the X1/9, the RX-7, the Golf GTI or the Datsun Z cars in the same years.source 1source 9source 10source 2source 11
Sources
Every source the site cites is on the sources page.
- Primarymade at the time, by the maker or by people who were there
- Referenceserious later work: clubs, specialists, magazines, books
- Uncheckedencyclopaedias and enthusiast sites: cited beside a good source, named in the sentence, or marked Unchecked
- Keith Adams, "The Cars: Triumph TR7/TR8 development story", AROnline, updated 8 Feb 2024, BL's American competition; above the MGB in price; the Datsun 240Z and the VW-Porsche 914; the MGB as BL's open car, the new car priced above it; £696 less than the 3.0-litre Capri; "easy meat for the 3.0-litre Ford Capri"; Autocar, 1977, Peter Windsor's TR7 against the X1/9; the best-selling TR; it outlived the MGB. aronline.co.uk/cars/triumph/tr7-tr8/bullet-development-story Reference
- Aaron Severson, "Way of the Wedge: The Triumph TR7 and TR8", Ate Up With Motor, 5 Feb 2012, pp. 1–5, p. 3, the prices against the MGB and TR6; p. 3, the 1975 prices; p. 3, the 1975 prices; p. 4, the 1980 prices of the TR8, TR7, 280ZX and MGB; pp. 3–4, the TR7 against the MGB in America. ateupwithmotor.com/model-histories/triumph-tr7-tr8 Reference
- Clive Richardson ("C.R."), "Triumph TR7: sports car or two-seater saloon?", Motor Sport, Jun 1976, p. 63, p. 63, "At £2,999, the TR7 is just £16 dearer than the RS2000 …"; the performance "similar to that of the RS2000". motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/june-1976/63/triumpuh-tr7 Primary
- Motor Sport, News, editorials and short items on the TR7 (group), Jul 1975 – Aug 1981; Apr 2002, Jul 1975, p. 67, the Lancia Beta Monte Carlo's claimed acceleration; Sep 1979, p. 93, the RX-7 test: price, figures, "Mazda horses must be pretty strong ones …"; Mar 1980, p. 41, the Golf GTI. motorsportmagazine.com/archive Primary
- Clive Richardson ("C.R."), "The Triumph TR7", Motor Sport, Jun 1979, p. 58, p. 58, the RS2000 and the Mirafiori Sport. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/june-1979/58/the-triumph-tr7 Primary
- "C.R.", "The Triumph TR7 Drophead" ("Sunshine Seven"), Motor Sport, Apr 1980, p. 35, p. 35, £794 more than the MGB; the MGB "rather ponderous and less well equipped". motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/april-1980/35/sunshine-seven Primary
- Clive Richardson ("C.R."), "The TR7 makes a quiet British bow", Motor Sport, Feb 1975, p. 30, p. 30, sold alongside the TR6. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/february-1975/30/the-tr7-makesa-quiet-british-bow Primary
- Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, February–March 1975, Feb–Mar 1975 (vol. 21 no. 2), Car and Driver on the TR6 against the TR7. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAFebMar75.pdf Primary
- Malcolm Paris (compiler), "Triumph TR7 / TR7 V8 and TR8 Buyers Guide", TR Register, the best-selling TR. tr-register.co.uk/resources/buyers-guide/triumph-tr7-tr8 Reference
- Chris Cowin, "History: Exporting British cars to the USA – Part Two", AROnline, 31 May 2025, updated 21 Oct 2025, about 65,000 TR7s sold in the US. aronline.co.uk/history/exporting-british-cars-to-the-usa-part2 Reference
- Motor Sport, "MG versus Triumph sales" (letter), Mar 1978, p. 92, a reader's letter: British registrations, 1977. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/march-1978/92/mg-versus-triumph-sales Unchecked