The TR6 was the last link of a long evolutionary trail that dated back to the early 1950's, and perhaps even earlier. The TR story started in 1952 when Harry Webster's design team, along with body designer Walter Belgrove, showed their concept of a new ‘Triumph Sports Car' at Earls Court. Public reaction proved positive and over the following winter Webster's team worked hard to develop a production model.

Based on the Standard Vanguard wet liner engine, a sturdy Flying Standard Nine chassis and front suspension from the old Triumph Mayflower, Belgrove's team introduced the TR2 to an excited public at Geneva. From here on the evolutionary process began that led to the TR5 and finally the TR6.

Following minor facelifts and engine alterations seen in the TR3 and TR3A models, the TR grew into a more sophisticated beast when, in 1961, Giovanni Micholotti styled the TR4. Under the body however, it was still essentially the original TR, though the evolutionary process was now well under way.

The 1965 TR4A may have looked the same as the TR4 but was transformed with a redeveloped chassis and independent rear suspension. In the US, the new "bell" chassis was modified lightly so that the older live rear axle could continue in use. It had been felt that US drivers would not be comfortable with the more sporting characteristics of the new irs axle!

Two years later, the TR5 and TR250 was introduced with its six cylinder 2.5 litre engine. Now much sought after, the TR5 (and the TR250 of America) gave a new lease of life to this enduring classic.

The TR5/250 didn't last long though. After only fifteen months the TR5 and TR250 were replaced by the TR6 in November 1968. Micholotti was unavailable to design the TR6 body, busy on a number of projects and so, after an exhaustive search, Karmann of West Germany were selected to produce designs. The new TR6 used the same chassis, inner shell, screen, and (if you look closely) even the same doors. Stylish and understated, losing none of the raw aggressiveness and purposeful design of the earlier TR models, the new model was another evolutionary step forward - retaining the best aspects of the classic TR.

Wider wheels were used on the new model while beneath the skin, the suspension geometry was revised and an anti-roll bar was added. In 1970 revised wheel trims were included, while inside the car a new steering wheel was fitted and seat designs were improved to protect against whiplash injuries.

1971 saw a new gearbox, taken from the new Triumph Stag. Being much stronger than the previous unit it was more able to deal with the powerful engine that it had been mated to. The old "A" type overdrive unit was replaced with the more durable "J" type, the only negative point being that it operated on third and forth gear only. Overdrive became standard fitment in 1974.

In 1973 a front spoiler was added, wheel trims revised, matt black wipers introduced - with revisions to instruments and switches. New external badging was provided. Wire wheels, rarely requested as an option, were deleted in the same year. Seats were revised again and, externally, new overriders were installed on USA models.

Throughout the development and production life of the TR6 the corporate owners of Triumph, British Leyland, were making changes affecting the whole organisation. Triumph had run its own, albeit small, competitions department until British Leyland gave responsibility for a competitions programme to Peter Browning of Abingdon's Competitions Department.

In the US, Kas Kastner headed up North American efforts, and a canny, clever man he was too, knowing all the wrinkles of the SCCA rule book inside out.

The SCCA, or more properly the Sports Car Club of America, was the premier American racing organisation. Kas' reputation for turning the TRs into rocket ships had suffered setbacks with the introduction of the TR5 which, with its bigger, difficult to tune engine, was put in a class with more predatory fish. However, following the introduction of the TR6 Kas discovered to his delight that a change in the rules meant that he could run the new TR6 with fuel injection. Better still he could run any sort of fuel injectors with trumpets.

With the original fuel injection system in place but disconnected, Kas ran a modified injector set up through the trumpets, blasting fuel straight in and giving the engines a massive 255 bhp. It provided a new lease of life on the tracks against competition such as Porche, and battled manfully on for a few more seasons to great success.

The last fuel injected TR6 left the Coventry factory in July 1975, the last Federal version a year later. During this time the new TR7 was introduced and the two models, radically different in every way, were manufactured side by side for a short while.

Some cars just refuse to lie down and the Triumph TR6 is no exception. In the late 1980's Britain's great export took on a star role in "Three Men and a Baby".

Triumph enthusiasts were buzzing with excitement when, in 1992, British Motor Heritage re-introduced the TR6 body shell. Undoubtably recognised as the last "macho" British sportscar, the new shells, all manufactured using original tooling and jigs, gave Triumph's classic a new lease of life.

Re-introducing the TR6 shells was the culmination of years of research and hard work, but on their own make up only part of an amazing story. More parts are available for the whole range of TR sports cars than ever before thanks to the unstinting efforts of enthusiasts around the world. Old tooling is continually being re-discovered and used again to produce obsolete parts, while reproduction components, often better than the originals (thanks to modern material use) are arriving on the scene everyday. Specialists around the world have bent all their thoughts and skills to keeping these cars on the road and thanks to their efforts the TR owner has back up and technical support that almost defies equal. It would be hard to imagine the owner of a TR ever having to scrap a car now.

It's hard to believe that the six cylinder engine that powered the TR5, TR250 and TR6 had its humble beginnings in the 803cc Standard 8 of 1954. Harry Webster's 4 cylinder engine was used in the Triumph Herald, Spitfire and eventually even in the MG Midget, having grown into a 1500cc engine. Along the way, the engine gained two extra cylinders and, with a capacity of 1998cc, was used to power the Vanguard Six, Triumph 2000 and GT6 and, in reduced capacity initially, the Vitesse!

For TR use however, the engine needed even greater performance and though the rally engined Triumph 2000s were getting 150 bhp out of triple Weber carburated cars, this was at the cost of economy! The whole family of engines on which the TR engine was based used a stroke of 76mm. The only way forward was to increase the stroke to 95mm - flying in the face of modern engine design at the time. To do this, the block was extensively modified to take a new crankshaft. At the same time, the cylinder head was completely redeveloped.

With a slightly wild camshaft, the new fuel injected engine gave 150bhp. The carburetted "Federal" version offered 104bhp. The Lucas fuel injected cars were given an engine prefix of CP, the carburetted versions had a prefix CC. In 1973, with the introduction of a milder cam (to improve TR performance in heavy traffic), the prefixes changed from CP to CR and CC to CF.

The fuel injected cars maintained a compression ratio of 9.5:1, though the Federal cars began life with a ratio of 8.6:1, reducing to 7.75:1 in 1971 (coupled to new Stromberg 175 CDSE(2) carburetters) and then to 7.5:1 in 1973 (this time with Stromberg 175 SEV carburetters being fitted.

Exhaust and emission restrictions gradually stifled the performance of Federal/Californian cars eventually to TR4 standards. Even so sales of the cars continued alongside the newly introduced TR7.