Conned?

Sir,

I took delivery of a brand new TR6 in February this year. Fortunately I have not had the troubles your Assistant Editor has had but there are some remarkable similarities. The point which has annoyed me most, however, is the de-rated engine. Until I read your article I was at a loss to understand the fall-off in power over 100 m.p.h. No use explaining this to a Triumph service engineer, they will not test a car at over 70 m.p.h.! Whereas I do not wish to career around the countryside at 125 m.p.h., I do feel that I have been slightly conned because I assumed (wrongly it now turns out) that the lower rated engine was specifically for the American market.

I also own a second-hand 280 SE Mercedes (the fifth second-hand Mercedes I have owned) and also at some time various British models. The comparison that I make between foreign and British cars (especially my present example of British manufacture) is not that one is necessarily better than the other. The whole trouble is that the men in Stuttgart and Munich take much more trouble and pride over the quality and finish of their cars than the men in Coventry and Dagenham.

Shrewsbury. T. D. Free

(You should think yourself lucky that your TR6 does not have the American specification engine, Mr. Free. That has twin Strombergs instead of PI and produces a mere 104 b.h.p. With performance to match!—C.R.I