The records basically consist of factory internal memos relating to the experimental fleet from October 1979, right up until the fleet was broken up, and disposed of in the summer of 1983. They also consist of individual car disposal records which give a run down of specification, condition, and method of disposal of the TR8's.
Finally there are comprehensive records of the legendary Measham Auction when the majority of the TR8 fleet was disposed of. These include the actual auction sale brochures with handwritten annotations made on the day of final price that each car made. There are also post auction records of the dealers who purchased the cars.
For the purposes of this record the cars model, TR8 in this instance, will be as described by the department. This usually bears no resemblance to the chassis number of a car which might indicate to those not in the know that they were originally intended to start life as something completely different. It seems that part finished cars were taken out of the production stream and finished in the experimental shop to the final model type. If Triumph called it a TR8, then its good enough, it's a TR8 regardless of initial chassis number. A good proportion of the cars taken "part built" from the production lines appear to have been LHD, with RHD cars being relatively few and far between.
If you want to know more about the TR7/8 chassis numbering system, please go to "Spec Data" and then "TR8 I.D & Prod Data Explained" elsewhere in this website.
In each case I have included a description, where appropriate, of the car’s background and also the registration number of the car as I know it today.
Here is a link to a short video about the sale :- Measham Sale
