Triumph Stag
I give way, way too much thought to the relative quality of car names. Given the slow death of real names in favor of alphanumeric jumbles, I'm evidently in the minority in this--but I'm guessing Car Lust readers might be fellow connoisseurrs of fine car names.
I like to think of car names as a spectrum from terrible to wonderful. On one side of the spectrum of car names, you find the awful, the misleadingly uninspired, and the utterly meaningless. On the other side of the spectrum, you can find the clever, the compellingly grim, the fantastic, the surreal, and the comically ironic.
The Triumph Stag blows them all out of the water. Triumph Stag... I don't know that a team of PhDs could engineer a name more archetypally British, more redolent of the early-to-mid-20th-century British sensibility. Just hearing the name makes me want to do the following, in order:
A Briton friend of mine is another admirer of the Stag; whenever I bring it up, he invariably says,"Triumph Stag--now that's a proper blokey name!" Quite.
But what about the car? Did it live up to the stellar name? Well, yes and no, depending on how you define the question.
The Stag was nowhere near as fantastic a car as the name it carried; but it was nearly as prototypically British as its name, which is to say it was as quirky, flawed, and nevertheless appealing as one would expect.
In 1970, when the Stag debuted, Triumph was best-known in the United States as a maker of sports cars in the original meaning of the term--light, low-powered, agile convertible two-seaters with just enough space to hold a loved one and a picnic lunch. The TR2, TR3, TR4, TR6, Spitfire, and GT6 Coupe were all variations of this theme.
The bare facts suggest that the Stag represented a move upmarket from Triumph's history of basic, elemental sports cars. After all, the Stag featured Italian-designed styling, a luxurious four-seat cabin, a targa roof with an optional hard top, and an overhead-cam V-8. Those would normally be considered the primary ingredients for a large, powerful, luxurious 1970-era grand tourer in the mold of the Mercedes-Benz SL and the later Porsche 928 and Jaguar XJ-S.
In practice, the Stag was what sports fans know as a "tweener"--the Stag was not as powerful, fast, or luxurious as a true grand tourer, nor was it as inexpensive, light, or agile as a true sports car. It wasn't exactly slow; the V-8 pumped out 145 horsepower and pushed the Stag through the 0-60 sprint in the 9-second range. That's bog slow today and didn't exactly qualify the Stag for high-performance status when it debuted in performance-mad 1970, but when performance cratered a year or two later, the Stag's straight-line performance looked a little better by comparison.
More damning for a car with sporting aspirations, the Stag was helpless on twisty roads. Car and Driver castigated it as wallowy and imprecise, with near-terminal understeer and a complete lack of response. Its brakes were also awful--the Stag took a, well, staggering 323 feet to come to a stop from 80 mph, a dismal 60 feet longer than the much heavier Jaguar XJ sedan. That worked out to a dismal .66G braking performance, which is roughly what you'd expect from a school bus full of portly children making a panic stop on black ice.
As one would expect of a 1970s Triumph, the Stag did not distinguish itself with its reliability. Aside from the build quality issues endemic to British cars of this era, the Triumph V-8 had issues of its own. Most of those issues related to overheating and resulting in expensive repairs. Many Stag enthusiasts have taken the logical route of replacing the flawed Triumph engine with the ubiquitousbut powerful ex-Buick Rover V-8 that powered the Triumph TR8, Rover P6, and a variety of other British hero cars. It's a great idea; had the Stag come from the factory thus equipped, it might have come closer to fulfilling its potential as an Ur-XJ-S.
I haven't yet figured out if I like the Stag's looks. In a way, it looks like an awkward marriage between a TR6 and a late 1970s Datsun, and the roll-over bar is a bit gawky. I'm not sure all the pieces work together; there are awkward angles and good angles. Yet ... there's something compelling about the Stag's looks. There's a little bit of Lancia Beta there, only with more sinuous flanks. I think I like it, if only because the more I look at it, the more right it looks.
I probably wouldn't have bought a Stag new in the 1970s, but I'd drive one now, especially one that has been retrofitted with the Rover V-8. The Stag would be fairly quick in that configuration--and even without the upgrade, it would retain its weirdly stylish and unique cachet. And, above all else, it has that fantastic name. Consider people's responses when you tell them you drive a Triumph Stag--that look of awe and/or confusion would be worth the price of admission right there.
All of the images with the exception of the side image of the yellow car came from the How Stuff Works Triumph Stag page; the remaining photo came from WebRides.TV.
--Chris H.
Ingram Powell on April 20, 2009 at 12:10 PM
The Stag was introduced without proper development, courtesy of British Leyland. All of its faults have long since been cured, and no-one still converts to a Rover V8. What outdated classic car mags have you been reading, Hafner?
I ran an old Triumph 2500 saloon for a while (shared floorpan), and found its handling entertaining enough. Terminal understeer? Not if you threw it into the corner right!
And styling? In this beholder's eye, it's a beauty.
CHris D on May 23, 2009 at 02:26 PM
I own a Stag. Let's start with the negatives. The brakes are not Brilliant especially if you've come from driving modern cars. But you can take steps to improve them. My car has the original TV8 engine. It used to overhead. Until I put a bigger grill on it and a Kenlow fan. Now it's fine.
Now the positives. The engine is BETTER than the venerable Rover V8 when it's cooling issues are resolved. It sounds better and is a lot more modern as a piece of engine design. It starts first time, everytime. It looks great and I can get some mates in the back, just about. So it's fairly practical for a 2+2. So here's the thing. If you own any classic tweak it gently with modern tech. Upgrade the brakes, the cooling, replace the points. Strike a balance don't kill what made you fall in love with the car. And like me you will find cars like the Stag go from being lovely but troublesome to being just plain old lovely.
samuel steinberg on May 26, 2009 at 06:57 AM
I owned a 1972 stag. Purchased it new. I kept the car 25 years. Sold it to a British car collector. He still owns it, and to the best of my knowledge, drives it. It was all original and a beautiful auto. Many, many problems. Transmission repaired seven times, Engine out twice. Installed extra thick (?) head gaskets, extra thick (?) radiator, oil cooler. Took the car on the road very few times. Couldn't drive it "in town" during the summer-overheated. Don't know why I know it so long. Looked good in my garage, wife loved the way it looked. Seemed like third world tec.
Pommie Stag on May 29, 2009 at 02:39 AM
Staaaaaaag!!!!
Try It!!!
Own It!!!
you WILL begin to understand!!!
You can only love them!!!
Rich Cregar on June 04, 2009 at 08:35 AM
I was a service manager in a British Leyland/Jag/MB/Datsun dealership in the 70's. The first time I set my eyes upon a Stag I knew I must own one someday, even though I knew I was seeing the Stags because they were coming in to remedy all their troubles.
I had heard that there were some modern head gaskets for the Stag that could tolerate the difference in torque retention between the very long upper head studs and the very short lower head bolts so I purchased a mimosa (yellow) 73 model with blown head gaskets. (The seller had actually soldered the cooling systems's blow off pipe shut to try to mask the head gasket problem!) No matter. I installed new gaskets and it has never overheated or lost coolant since. That was 6 years ago.
My car has no rust and looks and runs very well. I just had it repainted this winter and plan to install a Holley carb conversion in the next few weeks. Yes, somebody out there actually makes a kit! I love driving the Stag. I have had many 107 type SL's, have driven TR-6's also. The Stag is superior to both. It handles beautifully, has a light touch to the wheel and, in my opinion, does not understeer at all. And there is that burble in the exhaust that only the British can produce.
I see some Camaro in the Stag's lines, and the Italian influence is obvious. One time, getting fuel, the car was parked facing the convenience store front. The elderly lady taking my money looked out at the Stag, with it's big front emblem, and said "I didn't know John Deere made a sports car".
I do have the Union Jack on the wall in my garage, can sing "Rule Britania" and love obscure tobaccos and deep red leather chairs. Go figure.
jps on June 07, 2009 at 09:54 AM
Me thinks they doth protest too much...
My 71 Stag- I'm the 2nd owner- bought oxidized head warped in 1979.-- is all original except for using the rad. overflow kit from a 73 (read the tech info!) and minor rerouting of the heater hoses.
virtually ALL of the engine issues had the root cause that the cooling flow through the heads was, as my teen age son would say, "sub- par"-- steam pockets would form, further reducing cooling action leading to the cooling system suddenly emptying out, overheat, head warpage, remaining coolant filling the odd cylender, on the next start other cyl could fire while the water filled one came up, hit top and things broke. Techs would plane warped heads, take off too much meat, some drivers (usually with manual gearboxes) would take the engines to redline, run the pistons into the valves, break timing chains, etc).
Other issue w/Stags not used in daily driving-- before strorage, you should shut off the fuel pump by pulling up the top of the electric impact disconnect mounted to the fire wall and let the carbs run dry, otherwise the varnish formed when the fuel evaporates will "glue" the floats down, on the spring start-up, if not carefull, the carbs will overflow fuel into the engine, leading to (worst case) a piston/rod break when a fuel filled cylender attemps to compress as little as 50cc's of fuel. Other less sudden damage from this issue is highly diluted (w/gasoline) engine oil leading to all sorts of issues. how about toasted and spun main bearings...
so to recap:
14-15 psi in the cooling system
don't let the fuel evap and glue your floats down.
Result:
Very happy Stag
Hope this helps...
BTW- thirty eight years, all original, one head plane...
JPS
Roy Carvana on July 06, 2009 at 04:29 PM
I agree with many of the comments, but on the continent, the Stag is almost unknown and a true eyecatcher. Most people think it is an unknown Alfa, cause of the Italian design by Michelotti. The same Michelotti who created his own design of the fantastic BMW 507 Roadster(from Graf Goertz). Have a look at the side view of that BMW and you will find a close shape to the Stag.
Tune up your Stag, with real leather trim, two tone coloured, as well as a two tone paint (perhaps black top with dark red or silver flanks, high gloss walnut dash, 15inch wheels...not more...and a well prepared Triumph engine, be sure even next to Jags, Ferraris or Bentleys - many people would first look at the Stag.But you wouldn't have to pay as much as for the other ones. What does a Mustang, Pontiac or Corvette have better than a Stag except of more "muscles"? Prettier? No! Better handling? No! Better performance figures? Not really, compared with a properly tuned Stag V8(190-200bhp)
So we enjoy our Stag, with or without leather cap and moustache.
Roy
Da Coyote on October 16, 2009 at 04:23 PM
I had a brand-new red one - purchased in 1972. I loved the car...when it ran. However, I was in the military then and destined to go overseas sans wife. I was not cruel enough to abandon my wife to a British car without me around for the daily repair. Sold it after 18 months and during that time managed to have it fail on me only twice. Nothing expensive, however...just the normal Lucas (prince of darkness) moments with the electric fuel pump. Moved far away upon return so that the buyer could not find me for revenge.
Adrian Pettet on February 04, 2010 at 07:34 AM
What a brilliant car. I was lucky enough to own LD20, the first Stag ever sold, back in the early Noughties. White with red seats. Mmmmmmm. Early cars definitely nicest, built before BL disease really took hold. And that engine, though it won't take abuse, is much nicer than the Rover unit (I've driven both). It's OHC not pushrod; it's sweeter, smoother and much freer-revving. Getting and keeping a good one is a different story, but has there ever been a better touring car for four since they disinvented running boards? Had a Merc 107 SL afterwards. Dull, dull, dull!
Peter on March 10, 2010 at 12:16 PM
I owned a 1973 Stag, and yes, there were mechanical problems: Overheating, warped heads, closed points in the distributor. But, when it ran it was a joy to look at and drive. I changed to electronic ignition and the power and reliablilty were much improved. The climate in Atlanta was not what the engine was designed for, but fine for top down cruising.
Jason on April 17, 2010 at 03:22 PM
Can anyone tell me how much would a Triumph Stag would have cost in 1970?
Bergisman on May 01, 2010 at 05:37 AM
I own a 1974 Stag which I bought 2 years ago. The cooling issues with Stags have long been historyhistory - regular (at least once every 18 months) coolant change and back-flushing the system is normally enough to ensure reliability.
I bought my car in Cornwall, UK and immediately drove it 400 km to my son's home and the next day I drove it 880 km to my current home in Germany without the slightest problem.
It's comfortable, roomy, has a decent-sized (for a sporting car) boot and, with its amazing torque and flexibility, is a super touring car. The hood is very easy to raise and lower and is very effective in wet weather. The only real weak point of the car is wind noise at anything over about 110 kph. But the fun of the car is rumbling along with hood down and, occasionally embarrassing the odd modern car which tries to tailgate - the Stag accelerates rather well for a car of its age (0-100kph in about 9.5 seconds but without much need to drop a gear - just switch out the overdrive and press the right foot!)
Stags are very rare in Germany and mine always attracts attention and questions and is a great starting point for making new friends. The sound of its V8 is very discreet but very sexy and distinctive - a fellow Stag owner came running to find me, having told his wife "I can hear a Stag!"
1970 UK list was GBP1995.17.6d for the manual soft top and GBP2041.11.5d for the manual hard top.
Joe on August 26, 2010 at 06:08 AM
I love my Stag. It doesn't have the Triumph or Rover V-8 but it's a beautiful car that constantly turns heads in Atlanta. I don't long for the Triumph V-8 either...my Sprint engine is enough "hands on" for me!
bryce on November 07, 2010 at 02:24 AM
This may amuse you the Stag engine is actually 2 SAAB 4s on a common crank it was not reliable, why 2 saab engines I hear you ask well SAAB used a Triumph motor to begin with being incapable of designing their own That motor came from the Dolomite and could be had with 16 valves being the first of its type.