1960 TRIUMPH TR3A
This car is part of a twenty years old collection of Classic Cars in Scottsdale, AZ. As the collection manager, I’ve been asked to represent the vehicles for sale.
The owner of this collection had a TR3A in high school and loved it. Then, many years later when he started building his collection, he asked me to find another one.
If you’re a British Sports Car fan, you already know how much fun these cars are to drive. In my opinion, I’ve thought these cars filled a specific spot in the sports car market between an MG and an Austin Healey. I’ve always liked British sports cars because they’re relatively easy to work on, parts are relatively available and “relatively” reasonable priced in comparison to many vintage sports cars. Although rarity doesn’t always mean valuable cars like these are not rare cars. They made a lot of them because people liked them and happily purchased them. Although they were certainly not cheap when they were new they were more affordable than many others. Also, a big factor in their longevity was that you could find the parts to repair it and the parts weren’t crazy expensive.
What determines the value of a TR3 these days is not rarity but, the quality of the restoration. It’s true that you can buy a running, driving TR3 for around twenty-grand, maybe even a bit less. But, if you want one with a professional quality restoration, you’re going to have to pay more, i.e. a lot more! These days, in my opinion, even if you start with a free car that’s running and driving you could easily spend in the neighborhood of approx. seventy-five grand on a restoration to get a TR3 A of the quality we’re selling here.
When we started hunting for a TR3A to purchase, I found four of them for sale here in town. I looked at all of them but, didn’t like what I saw. They were chintzy and they drove “sort of okay” at best but, they definitely weren’t what I call a restored car. Next, I searched nationally by calling on eight or nine of them advertised across the country. Eventually I came across this car in British Columbia.
This TR3A was sold originally in Portland and then found its way to Tucson, AZ. A gentleman in Canada was searching for a no rust California or Arizona car to restore. He told me that after a considerable amount of time searching he located this one, purchased it and then shipped it to Canada for restoration.
The Scottsdale collection I represent purchased the car in British Columbia in late 2005. The Triumph has been part of a static display since purchase. Not just a garage but, a fully temperature controlled showroom with polished floors and vintage signs and memorabilia on the walls. The car was not always kept in a static condition. It was driven occasionally to shows and a few various car events.
Admittedly the restoration is getting up there in age but, the car was done to a very high quality/professional standard and kept in an ideal environment. The car was restored in my opinion to the quality a person would want if they intended to keep it, not flip for a quick profit. As you know that makes a huge difference.
Even though I’ve known the car for twenty years and I’ve been to a lot of car shows during that time I’ve personally never seen a nicer TR3A.
At $46,500 we feel the car is an excellent opportunity for someone.
