Triumph TR4

What The Experts Say...

No prizes for guessing what car Peter Johnson of Yorkshire Triumphs prefers and, if possible, the solid axle TR4 which he considers not only a better driver’s car than the MGB but also as good as a TR5 or TR6 if accordingly tuned. Dale at Moordale agrees and says the A is nicer as a road car while the TR4 is best for competition work. TR6 buyers are a different breed to TR4 fans adds Dale. James Barton runs Croydon Classics, one of the UK’s major MGB specialists, and he dismisses comments about the MGB market stagnating. “It’s going haywire – we sold six last week”, he told us, all chrome bumper convertibles to be fair. “I just can’t get enough hard tops so you can have the best of both worlds”, he adds.

Magazine Subscription

Subscribe to Classic Motoring Magazine and save over 20%

Subscribe NOW

Available at all good newsagents including WHSmith

For many, Triumph vs MG is like two fierce rival football teams – let us be the referee then…

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY

No prizes for guessing what car Peter Johnson of Yorkshire Triumphs prefers and, if possible, the solid axle TR4 which he considers not only a better driver’s car than the MGB but also as good as a TR5 or TR6 if accordingly tuned. Dale at Moordale agrees and says the A is nicer as a road car while the TR4 is best for competition work. TR6 buyers are a different breed to TR4 fans adds Dale. James Barton runs Croydon Classics, one of the UK’s major MGB specialists, and he dismisses comments about the MGB market stagnating. “It’s going haywire – we sold six last week”, he told us, all chrome bumper convertibles to be fair. “I just can’t get enough hard tops so you can have the best of both worlds”, he adds.

Triumph or MG – what gets your allegiance? Last month we pitched the MGC against the TR6 so this time we thought we’d compare their smaller brothers to see how they fare. But before we do it’s best to note their pecking order within their own family.

The MGB has always been liked better than the bigger brother MGC, which, although gaining an improved reputation over the years, is still seen as the poor relation. On the other hand, it was a masterstroke by Triumph to slot in an enlarged 2000 saloon engine, which felt made for the car, despite its fuel injection woes in service. We’ll go further and say that to the casual car enthusiast, rather than a TR aficionado, the TR6 – and to a lesser extent the TR5 – is the only Canley classic to have. So the TR4 is already on the back foot (or is that rear tyre?-ed) before we even get going…

WHICH ONE TO BUY?

IT’S ALMOST TRIBAL!

Both are roadsters, but what may be the defining factor is the choice of alternative headgear. With the MG there’s the truly excellent GT, and one of the first sport hatches. Add a 60’s fabric sunroof, and many did, and you have a quasi-roadster with saloon car practicality. Triumph didn’t officially offer a TR4 coupé but left it to specialist coachbuilders instead such as Dove and Harrington.

It’s an often overlooked fact that the TR4 was actually a 2+2 roadster (albeit only with the hood folded), whereas the MGB was only a treat for two.

On the MGB GT, the folding rear seat could accommodate two small children or an adult laying uncomfortably sideways, but it’s hardly a pleasant experience on either car. What Canley did provide TR4 with was a novel optional Surrey top, where the curved rear windscreen was fixed – a clever semi-roadster feature that strangely rarely figured on the later TR5 and wasn’t an option on the TR6.

This stylish hardtop was certainly preferable and quicker to use than the time-consuming framed hood, although the MGB did change to a conventional folding type in the 1970s, and not before time.

Launched within a year of each other, the MGB remained in production the longest by far, right up to 1980. While the design received almost zero development after 1975, it’s to the car’s credit that it always looked good – even when those horrid rubber bumpers were grafted on. The Triumph looks the more muscular, and perhaps the more classical.
The wood veneer dash on the TR4A certainly lifted the Triumph’s previous austere appearance; the MGB started off well but fell behind the times in the 1970s, although the Abingdon car arguably sports the more comfortable and civilised cockpit.

WHAT’S THE BEST TO DRIVE?

SO HOW OLD IS OLD?

Similar in performance with that charming old-school sports car feel but it’s how they go about their business. Without doubt, the TR4 feels the most vintage because it relies upon a chassis that dates back to the early 1950s. Some may like this Morgan-esque feel but compared to the stiffer monocoque MGB there’s a lot more flex, shake and rattles about the Triumph. This can be eradicated by strengthening it (as specialists do when supplying new frames) but overall we’d say that for those new to classic sports cars, they will prefer the feel of the MGB, which by no means perfect, does give an impression of sturdiness.

Neither corner or hold the road brilliantly by today’s MX-5 standards, but the MGB perhaps is the more faithful and predictable. Arguments rage about whether the independent rear end (taken from the Triumph 2000, but due to the TR’s more limited ground clearance not as effective) fitted to the TR4A is an advantage over the TR4.

Some say it’s the superior, with more rear end grip, plus rides better (although it’s hardly comfortable). Others swear that the simpler rear end set up appeals to the hardcore enthusiast who likes to hang the tail out and have fun without that infamous TR twitch on the TR4A model, caused by the simple driveshaft couplings locking up under load.

In contrast, the MGB has no such vices, although the handling severely suffered in 1974, when the suspension was crudely jacked up to meet US crash laws (considerably improved for 1976, thankfully). But the MGB is more praised for its predictable nature rather than cornering speed, which was being outstripped by humble saloon cars by the late 1960s. The 1974 revise hurt handling and roadholding further but it did mellow the ride and MG experts say rubber bumper models make the better car for motorways and touring.

Perhaps the yesteryear driving experience is part of the pleasure of both the MGB and TR4… Otherwise you opt for an MX-5, right? Both Brits can be considerably improved with some proven owner club accepted modifications, without spoiling their inherent character.

With is bigger, beefier 2.1-litre engine, and 132.5lbft against the B-Series’ 110lbft pulling torque, the Triumph is notably the lustier, plus has almost 10bhp advantage. In a Motor road test of the (heavier) TR4A in ’65, it spurted to 60 in a respectable 10.9 seconds – that’s almost two seconds to the good of the MGB and on par with an average out-of-sorts TR6. Overdrive is seen as essential on both cars (optional, except on mid 70’s MGBs when it was made standard) and, with the TR4, you actually gain in effect a seven-speed gearbox, since o/d is available on all cogs, apart from first!

Whether or not you use the overdrive so avidly is debatable, but there’s always a right gear for the Triumph, unlike the MG which has always suffered from a yawning gap between second and third ratios albeit thankfully masked by the engine’s lusty nature. If you want an automatic, then only the MGB provided it.

OWNING AND RUNNING

PRETTY MUCH A DEAD HEAT

Thanks to the excellent club and specialist support, few classics are as easy to maintain, or restore, as this pair. Anything from a humble widget to a new bodyshell (in the case of the MG, although they are mega expensive at almost 10 grand) are on the shelves, meaning a nut-andbolt restoration is feasible. The Triumph features replaceable bore liners, making an engine overhaul fairly easy. On the other hand, there’s more B-Series units about– so it’s really swings and roundabouts. Given the MG’s much longer production run, there’s more second-hand stuff knocking about, so the prices can prove appreciably lower. Talking of prices, due to greater numbers, the MGB can be decisively cheaper to purchase, especially in the case of the later rubber bumper cars. But TR4 values are very much on the rise and £20,000 cars are not unknown. In terms of investment potential the Triumph trumps the MG.