Keeping up with the Triumph Stag is no problem if you've got the money

“The Stag’s closest European rival in character and performance costs over £4,655.”

Motor wrote this in 1970. There have been a few changes to the Stag since then ; overdrive and front scat head restraints are now fitted as standard. Yet the price gap has become even wider. Quite simply if you want to match the Stag, double your money.

The Stag is not cheap. But it is outstanding value for money. Here’s what you get.

First, a stunningly beautiful coachwork, now with a double coach-line, and the option of 5-spoke aluminium alloy wheels shown here. (They’re more than just pretty : they reduce unsprung weight.) But the Stag has brains as well as beauty. The famous Triumph 8-light warning dial keeps tabs on all its systems. And the steering column adjusts four inches in length and two inches in rake.

Out of sight (and almost out of earshot) is a 146 bhp 3-litre V8 engine, with overhead camshafts. It’s a superbly efficient power plant, and overdrive makes it even more so—adding the benefits of smoother performance and improved economy to an already outstanding engine. The Stag returns an overall consumption of 20.9 mpg with overdrive (Motor).

There’s also a 13-blade fan, with a special viscous coupling to reduce noise and power-loss at high speed. A no-loss cooling system. Fully independent suspension, with the rear mounted on a rubber-insulated sub-frame. Separate braking systems, for your own peace of mind. An inertia-operated switch to turn off the fuel pumplin the event of a collision.

The special refinements of the Stag would fill a book. They do—it’s called a catalogue. Any Triumph dealer will let you have one. It’s an eloquent testimony as to why the Stag can only face compartson with cars costing twice its price.

Rover Triumph, British Leyland UK Limited, Coventry. Phone : 020-75511.

Triumph