• Same owner since 1973
• Always been kept in a garage
• Original wooden dash in great condition
• Only two owners from new

Built by the Standard-Triumph company between 1966-73, the Triumph GT6 is a sports coupe based on the popular Triumph Spitfire. From the outset, they were fitted with the bigger 2.0l which necessitated a longer bonnet with a rather sporty looking bulge.

Producing 104bhp the little 2.0l could push the more aerodynamic Mk.3s to 112 mph making it more than a match for the MGB GT.

By the end of production in 1973 around 41,000 GT6’s had been produced. There are now believed to be only around 1,000 GT6’s left on the roads of the UK, making it a very rare British sports car.

After being produced in 1971 at the Coventry Standard-Triumph factory this GT6 made its way down to Luton. The first owner only had the car until 1973 where it was then bought by the current owner. During the past 40 odd years, this car has been run as more of a weekend, fun in the sun car, as the current owner always ran two other cars for the family.

Whenever this GT6 wasn’t in use it has been kept in a garage, never outside.

The current owners have looked after this car well. It has always gone in for a service when necessary, any other type of mechanical or aesthetic works have been completed to the highest standard and under the watch of members of the GT6 owners club. A couple of big changes have been a full exterior colour change from yellow to this rather fetching blue and more comfortable seats have been installed.

There is a fair amount of paperwork that comes with this GT6, they include the usual V5, MOT certificates and invoices for work. A couple of the invoices are of interest, one of them indicates that in 1999 the car was converted to run on unleaded petrol and at the same time the car also had the entire suspension system overhauled with some original parts being stripped, blasted, and painted.

The biggest invoices are from the early ’00s which included the majority of the exterior bodywork being replaced and the new, more comfortable black seats being fitted, this bill ran into the £3,000 mark. You can see on this invoice that new wings (front and rear), arches, valances, sills, door skins and a whole lot more were replaced. It is thanks to this that the car now sits with solid panels all around.

The interior of this GT6 is a lovely place to be, thanks to the aforementioned interior re-fit a few years ago. The newer seats are far more comfortable than the original offerings, these new seats show little signs of wear with no rips or tears. The original wooden dash panel is in excellent condition, it is rare to come across them in this condition, the black plastic dash is also in great condition with no cracking.

When the seats were changed the carpets and other trims were also replaced and due to the low mileage completed since the re-fit these also look brand new. A more modern safety feature that has been installed are the retractable seat belts rather than the original non-retractable variants.

Overall the interior of the Mk.3 GT6 is in great condition and the new owner will be able to jump straight in and not have to worry about restoring it.

The exterior styling of the GT6 has always been likened to that of the infamous E-Type Jaguar and you can see why. The sweeping lines, bonnet bulge and rear hatch all resemble that of the E-Type but with the bonus of being a fraction of the price.

The exterior of this particular GT6 is in good condition, when it left the factory in 1971 the car was painted in a bright yellow, but the current owner decided to change the car to this original triumph blue. It is thanks to this full-body re-spray that the car now looks as good as it does.

A few little things of note on the exterior are that the rear chrome bumper is showing signs of deterioration and will probably need to be replaced and a couple of the rims are showing signs of wear.
But apart from these little snags the rest of the exterior is in good condition and ready for the new owner to lavish some care over it.

Fitted with the 2.0l Vitesse engine this lightweight sports car drives nicely up and down the road with few issues. Being based on the Spitfire it has fairly decent reliability, unlike the Triumph Stags of the era. The current owner has made sure that when any mechanical work was needed it was completed by people who knew what they were doing.

The engine bay may not be in a Concours winning condition but everything important under there works and it appears to be dry.

The car pulls well in all gears, with the addition of the overdrive making higher speeds more comfortable. It stops in a timely fashion without pulling to the left or right. She also starts on the turn of the key.

This GT6 is an excellent example of British engineering at its finest. With amazing exterior looks, simple interior and great performance, it has all the ingredients to make a great drivers car. The pokey little 2.0l sounds great and when prodded will provide good performance. 

All you have to do is look at the several Triumph Sports Six Club valuation certificates to see that since 1989 this car has slowly been appreciating, a trend it is likely to follow as working examples get rarer.

It may only require a little bit of TLC to bring it up to outstanding, show winning quality, but when it gets to this standard it is sure to continue to turn heads well into the future.