Triumph TR3 Review

The first American test was Karl Ludvigsen's for Sports Cars Illustrated, in March 1956, of the importer's first TR3: a hard-top with overdrive, wire wheels and an occasional rear seat, still on drum brakes. He found a car "designed to provide a maximum of performance at minimum cost". It understeered strongly, but when the tail went it moved out in a way he called entirely predictable and controllable, and he judged the handling "nearly foolproof". He thought the ride quite good, though the short wheelbase and the suspension settings brought some pitching over big bumps; the gearchange was "a delight to handle", and the rear curtain holder was "a particular elbow-knocker". The hard-top, he warned, did not make the car a coupé.

In October Motor Trend published its test of a standard TR3. Its inside rear wheel lifted and spun under power in corners, and the magazine recommended the competition springs and dampers (shock absorbers), which cost little; the seats were "not overly comfortable on long trips", and the bonnet (hood) and boot (trunk) opened only with a separate T-shaped key. None of that outweighed the price:

SKV 656, The Autocar's test car for 11 January 1957, was a disc-braked hard-top with overdrive and wire wheels, and the magazine drove it in Belgium. Its verdict on the brakes was unreserved: "One of the few real innovations of recent years has been the application of disc brakes", it wrote, and in hard use it found "never a trace of fade". It liked the smooth engine, with its "reputation for economy and long life", and the high-geared steering, which made corrections easy; but on poor surfaces the back of the car was less steady than the TR2's had been. Its car also broke its rear axle during the test, when the crown-wheel bolts sheared, which the magazine called "a freak fault"; the Standard and Triumph concessionaires in Belgium sent a replacement.

For Sports Cars Illustrated's April issue Ludvigsen tested a disc-braked TR3 and set out to make the discs fade: on a winter's day he made 10 emergency stops, one after another, from 97 km/h (60 mph):

He found moderate understeer this time, but warned that "the transition from tracking to sliding can be sudden and choppy", and with the soft top up the sidescreens still left a gap at the back that let the weather at the driver's elbow. Of the heating he wrote: "It's definitely no coupe".⁠source 2​source 5

The TR3 was not a car for top-speed tables. In March 1957 Motor Sport left it out of a survey of cars that could exceed 161 km/h (100 mph), because it "would require Le Mans mods. to meet our maximum-speed requirement".

Bill Boddy tested a hard-top with overdrive for the magazine's July issue. He called the brakes "superlative", "foolproof and fade-free", stopping the car "without anxiety with a mere caress of the pedal". The gearchange was apt to be harsh when the synchromesh was beaten, the seats were not particularly comfortable, rust was forming on the fittings by 16,000 km (10,000 miles), and the steering he found "rather 'dead'", with a tendency to dart about. The price had risen since the TR2, but the car was "still definitely in the value-for-money class", and he ended on its sales:

Wayne Thoms tested a TR3 for Motor Trend's September issue. He called the engine "one of the sturdiest, most trouble-free and reliable engines going today", granted that "some consider its body lines uninspired", and wrote that "a few hundred miles behind the wheel" made him wonder why anyone could want a bigger engine in a sports car. His brake test raised smoke from the sixth stop, with "a very little fade and a slight swerve to the left". His summing-up was short: "we liked the TR-3".⁠source 10​source 3​source 8

Looking back on 1957 in January, Boddy wrote that the engine gave "the impression that it is indestructible" and that the gearchange was about the best there was.

Len Griffing tested a TR3A, which Standard-Triumph's American company sold as the TR3 of the 1958 model year, for Sports Cars Illustrated's March 1958 issue, a roadster with the 4.11 axle and no overdrive. "The appearance is a lot smoother because of these changes", he wrote; the brakes, after more than 10 stops, left "absolutely nothing to be desired", and on snow at Lime Rock the car spun but stayed, he said, always under control. His complaint was the old one: the flat side curtains sat badly against the curved doors and let in draughts. No source read gives a British magazine's test of a TR3A, or any magazine's test of a TR3B.⁠source 11​source 6

Read together, the tests agree on more than they differ. The value for money comes up in test after test, and every test of a car with disc brakes praised them. The engine was smooth, economical and, in Boddy's word, seemingly indestructible, and the overdrive on three gears, which made seven forward speeds, was liked in every test that had it.

They agreed on the faults too. The sidescreens let in draughts; on rough roads the short car rode firmly or pitched; the seats tired their occupants on long runs; and the bonnet and boot needed the special key. Above all, the tail could step out on a bumpy bend:

Some of those faults outlasted the facelift: the draughts that Ludvigsen met in 1956 were still there for Griffing in the TR3A two years later.⁠source 2​source 3​source 4​source 5​source 6​source 7​source 8