What became the troubled #TriumphStag started when Giovanni Michelotti asked Triumph’s design chief Harry Webster for a donor car for use in a new concept for the 1965 Turin show. Webster sent him a Triumph 2000 sedan on the condition that if Triumph liked Michelotti’s concept, they’d have first refusal. As it turned out, Webster loved Michelotti’s sleek, clean convertible and it never even got to a motor show stand before Triumph decided to build it. It was a fateful decision. - Stag development began in early 1966 and was part of an aggressive expansion plan, but by the time it reached the market in the fall of 1970, lots of things had changed - Triumph merged first with Leyland (read: Rover) and then into British Leyland, which saw Webster depart to Austin-Morris. In 1963 Triumph began planning a new family of related slant fours and V8s. The Stag was originally supposed to use either the straight six from the 2.5 or the forthcoming V8, which would also be used in a “Triumph 3000” sedan. - By 1968 Rover engineer Spen King was managing the Stag. King felt the six wasn’t powerful enough, so it would be powered only by the Triumph V8. But it would be the only car to use that engine, because Rover’s cars were prioritized over Triumph’s expansion and the “3000” cancelled. The Stag’s unusual “hoop” roof was needed to make it rigid - early prototypes were unacceptably shaky. When it finally arrived the Stag’s muscle-car looks belied a relaxed GT - complete with an optional Borg-Warner Auto, but it was pretty and good to drive. - Sadly the V8 proved the Stag’s undoing. The high-mounted water pump could mean poor coolant circulation and overheating. That could warp the aluminum heads - which weren’t big enough to skim. Too-long timing chains developed tension problems and needed replacing after only 25K miles - on an interference engine. - The Stag was offered in the U.S. from the spring of 1971 until the summer of 1973, and just 2,871 were sold in the U.S. The Stag lingered on until 1978, but BL’s lack of funds meant even though it was periodically updated in small ways, it could never be properly fixed. Enthusiasts did make it run properly - but only later. https://www.instagram.com/p/B2uLMnNlz69/?igshid=5v0ddr7c9scl
