As a Stag owner, I thought this was a very fair review. It is worth pointing out that most, if not all, the original issues are understood and can be fixed if you know what you are doing. My stag has an uprated radiator, a 4 barrel carb on an opened up intake manifold (which gives much better performance) and various other small mods that make it more fun and quite reliable.
I read about the Stag back in my teens ( 79 onwards) and thought they looked great, but living in country NSW we just didn't see them. Flick forward 20 years and I had the opportunity to buy one, albeit when the owner was ready to sell. It took 10 years for the ducks to line up but the day at last came and I laid down my cash for a low km Stag, the first one I ever saw in the flesh. The best drives I've ever had have been in this car, my son drove it on his L's (pretty small club I'd say) and it never fails to please. The V8 noise is unique Stag, once read that it sounded like 100 yards of ripping calico (never would have come up with that description myself but will go with it); it's a car that somehow make you feel like you're doing 120 when doing 90, a speed it will do all day and at only 23.5mpg! Everyone (with a tool box) should have one and aside from all these benefits, the Stag fraternity is the best.
Hi Adam, I'm here in Oz, loved the review and yes I'd like one and are aware of the DIY issues re 'running a classic'. I think Triumph should have swallowed their pride (as it would have helped their budget with the car) had they fitted the lighter Rover 3.5 Litre V8, which would have saved a lot of issues when the car was new re continued sales/reputation! Yes the 3-Lire V8 has a glorious exhaust which I do not doubt, probably one of the best V8 sounds of all time, but just think where this car would have gone back then if the light alloy 3.5 V8 had been fitted to start with. Under the Leyland empire, there would have been more for Triumph to improve the car (we'd have had a Mk.III hopefully etc.) and Triumph would have been able to put more of their stamp on it. Still a lovely car, and we are blessed here in Oz with on the whole rust free examples. I've had a number of Triumphs in UK in past (2 x GT6s and a 2000) but here in Oz own a 1975, P6B 3500S, lovely motor. Thanks M
Thanks for a great review. Agree with your comments regarding the necessity for additional maintenance, as the youngest Stags are at least 40 years of age now (as is mine, which is an Australian-delivery '77). Mark, I agree that the RV8 may have made the Stag more successful in the short term, but there was little prospect of Leyland continuing with the Stag, given it was costly to make, labour-intensive to build, and Leyland had invested all of its eggs in the TR7 basket, which became BL's 'corporate' sports car. It is also unknown whether GM's licensing agreement would have permitted the RV8 to be sold Stateside (the RV8 was only certified for the SD1 and TR8 in the late 1970s/early 1980s, but by then Leyland's sales volumes were so small, they would not have been considered any type of threat to GM's sales). Essentially, the Stag was the last-ever Triumph (which disappeared, really, with Harry Webster's departure and Stokes' replacement by Edwardes). My exhaust parted ways with the centre silencer about 18 months ago, but was repairable. Adam's video has made me ponder what to get if the cast iron manifolds fail though. Probably bite the bullet and buy a set of headers and a straight-through exhaust. Cheers, RD.
Adam - Hi Gen, thanks for the comments. After looking a bit more closely (once everything had cooled down) it turned out the manifold was actually ok. We could feel a puffing of air of the bottom side of it initially, but it turned out the downpipe had a very long split in it. A new stainless steel downpipe was fitted and now all is well. We did however find replacement manifolds for sale in the UK, so should you ever have a problem it would probably be possible to ship one to Australia.
IMO, Triumph should have put their own cyl. head design on the Rover V8 block. They then could have had tailored their engine design to their needs but saved massive costs on using a common block. Furthermore, A halved Jag V12 engine as a 2.6 V6 could have been a smaller-engined option too.
I wish I'd had the money to buy my friend's Stag when I lived in England. It was a beautiful little auto, with a lovely murmuring motor. Wonder still if I'd have been able to bring it back to the USA, but still one of my all time favourite cars.
Enjoyed that very much. My Dad had an Austin Maxi with that same type of 'shlurp shlurp' feel on the seats if you were wearing shorts in the heat. Thanks for posting. I'd like a fully reworked Stag as a plaything, no doubt about it...
So funny you mentioned 'constantly listening" 🤣 I owned two in the mid to late 80s and I was constantly listening, often telling a friend or two to shush! I must own another...MUST!
Quite enjoyable, the fact that classic cars, not just stags, do benefit from being used. The obvious downside of only getting a car out once a year is maintenance issues. Depending on the standard of maintenance so the reliability level. Also, the soft top can be put up literally in seconds, far quicker than the modern fold down roofs. Try putting an MGB soft top up!
Bought my first in 1983 ( magenta) with a Ford V6 3.1, manual with overdrive in all 4 gears. I bought another in 87 (British racing green) auto with the original TR V8
I've got three triumphs, a Stag, A 2500S and a sprint ST 1050 motorbike. I love them all. mostly I like the Stag. I enjoyed your review very much.I thought that you missed the point as to why the stags were so unreliable. It was because of bad assembly rather than the items themselves. NOT removing sand from the cast parts and not using the correct bolts or tightening them up correctly. So, If we build the car up again, which many people do, then the car becomes much more reliable. As far as the measly 140 Hp is concerned, many owners upgrade theirs to the 3500V8 Rover to generate a more healthy 200horses and still others upgrade to its big brother, the 4.4litre V8 which is still leyland , so it is in keeping with the british leyland umbrella company. The company parts Rimmers, sell wind deflectors that have chrome handles and fit neatly in the boot when not in use, turning the car into a two seater with rear tonneau and vertical deflector. I drove mine daily, but now I'm redoing the car for the 21st century touring.
Aah yes, the two person needed for removal of steel top. A beautiful '72 Chocolate Brown, we had in 305 Miami , back in early '80's . What a Fun driver of a Classic .
Have owned a Stag here in Oz for 25 years. Found it not overly hard to maintain and relatively easy to improve. SOC is a great club, even out here, parts are not hard to come by, the survival rate is very impressive. But they can be fussy old B'.........s, thus, NEVER lose your temper if fittings suddenly become uncooperative
The water pump failure was down to coolant leakage when hot because of where it was placed and the water dropped below the pump so even after top up, the pump had often already failed, apparently.
What do you mean with more costs and more work? I mean , one hour ride 3 hours work? Or is a good Service once a year enough? I am thinking about buy one...but I am not a mechanic. .
A famous actor in Australia was given one of these new. After 3 months of one disappointment after another he gave it back and bought a Mercedes 350 SL.
That really is a great lookin bodystyle, and I'd love to own a 73 or older Stag with the original Triumph v8, but I'd have to have one that has the steering wheel on the correct side of the vehicle, that being the lefthand side, of course :) lol
Brill program. I have owned a 2.5 version for 20years. Think i fancy the real thing now. sounds beautiful especially in blue and cream interior. Any one got one for sale?
I was a mechanic at a Triumph dealership when this came out and we had nothing but trouble with them. The engine was troublesome and getting access to it was ill thought out. They used to allow 24 hours labour to replace the timing chain.
Dealers were the problem, they were never really understood how sensitive to cooling system was. Mines 47 years old now engine is strong and all the old problems are in the past.
I think the 2500S is a nicer car than the Stag. No engine probs, better fuel consumption [if 23MPG is good] and a full 5 seater. If only there was a soft top 2500S I would be in heaven
Older cars are not that unreliable. In fact the more you use it the more reliable they are. Would be better to see more of the car than pictures of the presenter.
No it's under the tonneau cover just behind the rear seat. The cover pops up and you can pull the soft top on its frame out. Takes less than a minute or so. I find that even if it is raining you can keep dry as log as you keep moving ;)
I don't know, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he was demonstrating that the soft top does not encroach into the boot space. This is the issue that I have with my Saab convertible, too much in the boot, no roof down on a sunny day. On the other hand, my Stag doesn't have that problem. :)
It's a massive shame that Triumph insisted on developing the v8 for this and didn't go with the rover v8 power plant. Would have been a classic car to drive and not just look at as you can't trust it to take you to the corner store and back. Absolutly love the stag but i wouldn't buy one.
I've got one of these yet I think they look a bit crap. The sloping B Pillar, IMO gives the car a "falling over" look. The narrowing boot section seems to make the rear wheels look too exposed. It maybe unfair to make this comparison but the Jensen Interceptor does the Italian-styled British GT look far better.
And to think that all this time I thought the Stag was one of the absolute worst nightmarish most horribly engineered automobiles ever devised! Oh wait-I was right. (Great job reviewing the Stag though)
The engine was simply awful and were quite literally unable of going 25,000 miles without a major engine service. Overheating, timing chain, water pump drive failures and head warping are ‘normal’ occurrences in the day-to-day ownership experience
I supposed that the manifold had parted from one of the heads because the alloy in the heads was more like cheese than aluminium so the studs stripped all the time. The only studs that stuck tight were the ones that held the heads on - which meant you couldn't take the heads off to fix the manifold studs! And so it goes on. Still want one again! Why? Dunno. Bertrand Russell wrote about the 'comfortable level of wrong' . Stag has that in spades!
As a Stag owner, I thought this was a very fair review. It is worth pointing out that most, if not all, the original issues are understood and can be fixed if you know what you are doing. My stag has an uprated radiator, a 4 barrel carb on an opened up intake manifold (which gives much better performance) and various other small mods that make it more fun and quite reliable.
The best car exhaust notes, EVER!!!
I read about the Stag back in my teens ( 79 onwards) and thought they looked great, but living in country NSW we just didn't see them. Flick forward 20 years and I had the opportunity to buy one, albeit when the owner was ready to sell. It took 10 years for the ducks to line up but the day at last came and I laid down my cash for a low km Stag, the first one I ever saw in the flesh. The best drives I've ever had have been in this car, my son drove it on his L's (pretty small club I'd say) and it never fails to please. The V8 noise is unique Stag, once read that it sounded like 100 yards of ripping calico (never would have come up with that description myself but will go with it); it's a car that somehow make you feel like you're doing 120 when doing 90, a speed it will do all day and at only 23.5mpg! Everyone (with a tool box) should have one and aside from all these benefits, the Stag fraternity is the best.
Nice story Ross you must be so pleased you finally got one, and yes the sound is very unique. We like the description about Calico :)
do you have the rover v8 or the triumph engine?
... and Bond drove one in 1971's Diamonds Are Forever... before driving the Mustang Mach 1 in Vegas.
Hi Adam, I'm here in Oz, loved the review and yes I'd like one and are aware of the DIY issues re 'running a classic'. I think Triumph should have swallowed their pride (as it would have helped their budget with the car) had they fitted the lighter Rover 3.5 Litre V8, which would have saved a lot of issues when the car was new re continued sales/reputation! Yes the 3-Lire V8 has a glorious exhaust which I do not doubt, probably one of the best V8 sounds of all time, but just think where this car would have gone back then if the light alloy 3.5 V8 had been fitted to start with. Under the Leyland empire, there would have been more for Triumph to improve the car (we'd have had a Mk.III hopefully etc.) and Triumph would have been able to put more of their stamp on it. Still a lovely car, and we are blessed here in Oz with on the whole rust free examples. I've had a number of Triumphs in UK in past (2 x GT6s and a 2000) but here in Oz own a 1975, P6B 3500S, lovely motor. Thanks M
Thanks for a great review. Agree with your comments regarding the necessity for additional maintenance, as the youngest Stags are at least 40 years of age now (as is mine, which is an Australian-delivery '77). Mark, I agree that the RV8 may have made the Stag more successful in the short term, but there was little prospect of Leyland continuing with the Stag, given it was costly to make, labour-intensive to build, and Leyland had invested all of its eggs in the TR7 basket, which became BL's 'corporate' sports car. It is also unknown whether GM's licensing agreement would have permitted the RV8 to be sold Stateside (the RV8 was only certified for the SD1 and TR8 in the late 1970s/early 1980s, but by then Leyland's sales volumes were so small, they would not have been considered any type of threat to GM's sales). Essentially, the Stag was the last-ever Triumph (which disappeared, really, with Harry Webster's departure and Stokes' replacement by Edwardes).
My exhaust parted ways with the centre silencer about 18 months ago, but was repairable. Adam's video has made me ponder what to get if the cast iron manifolds fail though. Probably bite the bullet and buy a set of headers and a straight-through exhaust. Cheers, RD.
Adam - Hi Gen, thanks for the comments. After looking a bit more closely (once everything had cooled down) it turned out the manifold was actually ok. We could feel a puffing of air of the bottom side of it initially, but it turned out the downpipe had a very long split in it. A new stainless steel downpipe was fitted and now all is well. We did however find replacement manifolds for sale in the UK, so should you ever have a problem it would probably be possible to ship one to Australia.
IMO, Triumph should have put their own cyl. head design on the Rover V8 block. They then could have had tailored their engine design to their needs but saved massive costs on using a common block.
Furthermore, A halved Jag V12 engine as a 2.6 V6 could have been a smaller-engined option too.
I wish I'd had the money to buy my friend's Stag when I lived in England. It was a beautiful little auto, with a lovely murmuring motor. Wonder still if I'd have been able to bring it back to the USA, but still one of my all time favourite cars.
they don't murmour, they burble like a tug boat lol
Enjoyed that very much. My Dad had an Austin Maxi with that same type of 'shlurp shlurp' feel on the seats if you were wearing shorts in the heat. Thanks for posting. I'd like a fully reworked Stag as a plaything, no doubt about it...
So funny you mentioned 'constantly listening" 🤣 I owned two in the mid to late 80s and I was constantly listening, often telling a friend or two to shush!
I must own another...MUST!
Quite enjoyable, the fact that classic cars, not just stags, do benefit from being used. The obvious downside of only getting a car out once a year is maintenance issues.
Depending on the standard of maintenance so the reliability level. Also, the soft top can be put up literally in seconds, far quicker than the modern fold down roofs. Try putting an MGB soft top up!
I bought one when I was 21 in 1978 for 2 grand in mint cond and kept it for 8 years. I loved it.
Bought my first in 1983 ( magenta) with a Ford V6 3.1, manual with overdrive in all 4 gears. I bought another in 87 (British racing green) auto with the original TR V8
I have a Stag myself, I love it, this is a killer video, thanks for sharing. "CHROME,CHROME,CHROME,CHROME,CHROME,CHROME" CLASS!
Me too, great cars I'd never sell it.
I've got three triumphs, a Stag, A 2500S and a sprint ST 1050 motorbike. I love them all. mostly I like the Stag. I enjoyed your review very much.I thought that you missed the point as to why the stags were so unreliable. It was because of bad assembly rather than the items themselves. NOT removing sand from the cast parts and not using the correct bolts or tightening them up correctly. So, If we build the car up again, which many people do, then the car becomes much more reliable. As far as the measly 140 Hp is concerned, many owners upgrade theirs to the 3500V8 Rover to generate a more healthy 200horses and still others upgrade to its big brother, the 4.4litre V8 which is still leyland , so it is in keeping with the british leyland umbrella company.
The company parts Rimmers, sell wind deflectors that have chrome handles and fit neatly in the boot when not in use, turning the car into a two seater with rear tonneau and vertical deflector.
I drove mine daily, but now I'm redoing the car for the 21st century touring.
How much do you have to spend to keep this car running?
Dont gun this beautiful V8. The tick over grumble is enough to give goosebumps
Lovely review. Well done, nice overview. I enjoyed your ease, and your correct explanations.
Greetings from Belgium!
Aah yes, the two person needed for removal of steel top. A beautiful '72 Chocolate Brown, we had in 305 Miami , back in early '80's . What a Fun driver of a Classic .
I like the styling-amazing that parts can still be found for such a limited production model.
Parts are still being made.
I had 3 Triumph: a Spitfire, a TR 6 and a 2500 PI; beautiful but of poor quality. I would have liked to have a Stag; today she is still so beautiful !
Only two things I did to my stag to improve it was electronic ignition and Continental tyres with an outer rim instead of Michelin
Have owned a Stag here in Oz for 25 years. Found it not overly hard to maintain and relatively easy to improve. SOC is a great club, even out here, parts are not hard to come by, the survival rate is very impressive. But they can be fussy old B'.........s, thus, NEVER lose your temper if fittings suddenly become uncooperative
The water pump failure was down to coolant leakage when hot because of where it was placed and the water dropped below the pump so even after top up, the pump had often already failed, apparently.
Some were refitted with a small Buick V8 in the states. More reliable and sounds the same with a deeper growl....
What do you mean with more costs and more work? I mean , one hour ride 3 hours work? Or is a good Service once a year enough? I am thinking about buy one...but I am not a mechanic. .
I agree with every word. Subscribed
Headrests adjusted to neckbreaking height...
Great sounding car..
It may lack in hp but probably has tons of torque all the way.
A famous actor in Australia was given one of these new. After 3 months of one disappointment after another he gave it back and bought a Mercedes 350 SL.
There was only one triumph worth owning. The TR8. I had one in 1980. Best car I ever owned.
About 45 years ago a co-worker had a Herald wagon
That really is a great lookin bodystyle, and I'd love to own a 73 or older Stag with the original Triumph v8, but I'd have to have one that has the steering wheel on the correct side of the vehicle, that being the lefthand side, of course :) lol
good review
The AI generated subtitles are a scream "Mitchel Oti" 😂😂😂
007 ( the REAL one) drove one; enough said.
But for some dumb reason they dubbed a herald over it?
i love my 74 stag it holds the rd better than modern cars and loads power
Hi. On my way to work.
Did that car have the same 3500 cc V8 motor that Rover used in the 3500 v8 saloon and Range Rover at that time ?
No, it had it's own 3.0 V8 designed specifically for it. That was their mistake.
James Hazell!
A Staaaaaaaaaaag. “Jeremy Clarkson”
I am from the island of St Lucia I am looking for a inline 6 2500 cc
collectable
stags hve side protection bars built in v door, n roll cage.
Brill program. I have owned a 2.5 version for 20years. Think i fancy the real thing now. sounds beautiful especially in blue and cream interior. Any one got one for sale?
Rear drives shafts rust up plagued with exhaust rattles rear diff mount get hard and make lots of vibs nothing complicated
SHOULD HAVE aBS AND 4CALIPERS DISCS
I was a mechanic at a Triumph dealership when this came out and we had nothing but trouble with them. The engine was troublesome and getting access to it was ill thought out. They used to allow 24 hours labour to replace the timing chain.
Dealers were the problem, they were never really understood how sensitive to cooling system was. Mines 47 years old now engine is strong and all the old problems are in the past.
I think the 2500S is a nicer car than the Stag. No engine probs, better fuel consumption [if 23MPG is good] and a full 5 seater. If only there was a soft top 2500S I would be in heaven
I’ve got one :-D it’s 15 years older than me hahaha
Look on my profile and you can see it. It’s Gunmetal grey. Original engine :-D
Older cars are not that unreliable. In fact the more you use it the more reliable they are. Would be better to see more of the car than pictures of the presenter.
soft top in the boot ?
No it's under the tonneau cover just behind the rear seat. The cover pops up and you can pull the soft top on its frame out. Takes less than a minute or so. I find that even if it is raining you can keep dry as log as you keep moving ;)
Stopped watching after reviewer opened the boot lid, and insinuated the soft top was stored in the rear! oh dear
I don't know, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he was demonstrating that the soft top does not encroach into the boot space. This is the issue that I have with my Saab convertible, too much in the boot, no roof down on a sunny day. On the other hand, my Stag doesn't have that problem. :)
It's a massive shame that Triumph insisted on developing the v8 for this and didn't go with the rover v8 power plant. Would have been a classic car to drive and not just look at as you can't trust it to take you to the corner store and back. Absolutly love the stag but i wouldn't buy one.
Well done … I have one great car
I've got one of these yet I think they look a bit crap.
The sloping B Pillar, IMO gives the car a "falling over" look.
The narrowing boot section seems to make the rear wheels look too exposed.
It maybe unfair to make this comparison but the Jensen Interceptor does the Italian-styled British GT look far better.
And to think that all this time I thought the Stag was one of the absolute worst nightmarish most horribly engineered automobiles ever devised!
Oh wait-I was right.
(Great job reviewing the Stag though)
The engine was simply awful and were quite literally unable of going 25,000 miles without a major engine service. Overheating, timing chain, water pump drive failures and head warping are ‘normal’ occurrences in the day-to-day ownership experience
BUT it's a ST-A-A-G-G....
Also the price and an address or phone number so I can make some calls
I supposed that the manifold had parted from one of the heads because the alloy in the heads was more like cheese than aluminium so the studs stripped all the time. The only studs that stuck tight were the ones that held the heads on - which meant you couldn't take the heads off to fix the manifold studs! And so it goes on. Still want one again! Why? Dunno. Bertrand Russell wrote about the 'comfortable level of wrong' . Stag has that in spades!
Chuck the crappy Triumph engine out and fit a Rover 3500 engine.
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junk