Seriously, it was a Triumph. Capital-T Triumph. No ifs, ands, or buts about that one. But it might not've been a triumph compared to its stablemates.
The fact that the Triumph TR4A is often overlooked alongside its more brash brand contemporaries like the Triumph Spitfire and the Triumph GT6 is a bit of a sad one. Sure, those cars had more powerful engines, and they were more stylish, and sold in greater numbers, but it's not like the TR4A deserves to toil away in obscurity.
The "A," in "TR4A," stood for Independent Rear Suspension, in case you hadn't figured that out yet, and who wouldn't. It was supposed to be the more comfortable traditional British roadster, with its fancy new suspension, and it was also supposed to be pretty powerful, too.
With its itty-bitty 2.1-liter four-cylinder engine pumping out 104 horsepower, however, it's not like it was going to be burning any barns down, contrary to the claim of the ad here. But then again, it weighed just 2,240 pounds, so it's not like it was painfully slow, either.
The TR4A was eventually succeeded by the TR5, which wasn't such a huge change even cosmetically, and then the perennially gorgeous TR6, which sold in massive numbers.
But when the TR4A first went on sale, it was going up against another sporty convertible – the Ford Mustang.
And no matter how hard the little Triumph tried, it couldn't outdo the competition. Which is incredible, considering how when it first went on sale, it was priced at the equivalent of just a hair over $18,500 in 2014 dollars.