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Thirty years ago, Alan was in search of a Triumph Stag ‘I’d been looking for one as I needed a four-seater for the children. I went through all the classified advertisements, and most of them appeared to be in Southampton for some reason – and hardly any South Yorkshire, where I live’.  Mr. Grieve was so keen on the idea of owning one of these fine machines that he spent much of a holiday in the New Forest ‘looking at various Stags’, but many of them were, in his words, ‘rubbish’.

However, on returning home, Alan discovered ‘a neighbour five doors down was selling one!’ OCX 818 M was a “Delft Blue” Mk. II model ‘in a restored condition’. Over the past three decades, Alan has made several improvements, including a new engine and replacing the  Borg-Warner 35 gearbox (a £45.29 extra) with ZF automatic  - ‘it really suits the car and is a massive improvement over the original transmission’.

The Stag made its bow in 1970, and three years later BL introduced the second-generation version. In 1974 the chaps at Car magazine evaluated it opposite the Datsun 260Z and the Reliant Scimitar GTE. As an example of how strange motoring journalism could be in the 1970s, the scribe cited the Triumph’s ‘comfort’ and ‘svelte looks’ as drawbacks! Fortunately, Motor was far more objective, and thought it ‘not only unique in character and a highly desirable property, but that the standard of finish makes it unbeatable at the price’ – £2,744.41.

Alan himself observes that the various details of the Mk. II do combine to enhance the Stag – ‘it is little details such as the head restraints’. In terms of the Triumph’s many “plus points”, he cites the unmistakable engine noise -  and how the Diamonds Are Forever car was overdubbed with the sound of a Herald motor. Then there is ‘the profile – you cannot mistake the Stag for any other car – its comfort, that suspension and the power-assisted steering’.

In terms of drawbacks, Alan is quite adamant the design of the 3-Litre V8 was not without fault – especially the water pump. In his view ‘the Rover 3.5-litre was the superior engine’. Furthermore, despite Motor’s comments, ‘the Stag often suffered from being virtually ‘thrown together; it was a car aimed at the Mercedes-Benz market’.

Today OCX often takes part in Sporting Bears Motor Club charity events and naturally it causes a minor sensation – ‘many people just say “Stag!” “Stag!”. And last year the Grieve Triumph undertook a rather special journey. ‘It was our Ruby Wedding anniversary, and so we decided to tour the West Coast of Scotland to replicate our actual honeymoon journey, visiting Skye and Loch Ness’. But in place of the  Ford Cortina Mk. III in the 1979 photographs, the 2019 trip features a Triumph Stag Mk. II – a fitting tribute to one of Britain’s most memorable Grand Tourers.

With Thanks To: Alan Grieve

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We have links with some of the top classic car clubs around the country and some of our policies even offer discounts of up to 25% for club members.

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• Historic rally cover
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