Bob Forward's story of two 1980 TR8s 

TR8 # 1

 

In the autumn of 1998 i purchased my first TR8 roadster from its original owner, the car was a Persian Aqua blue manual gearbox version with 90 k on the speedometer.

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On the drive home it started to snow so i got to experience V8 power in a very light British car.  Over the winter i had the rust repaired and painted the  lower half of the car in primer blue so that i could monitor the rust repairs for any issues. Cost at the body shop $3500.00.

The next winter the car was painted its original blue by Maaco for $1200.00.  Exhaust headers and a  4 barrel carb were added at that time.

I enjoyed many road trips to the mountains and car shows in BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

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After doing some research i decided to build a stroker motor for this car which is a 267 cu in  270 hp road rocket now.  Some minor rust re appeared after 18 years so of to the body shop again, prices have gone up and the total bill this time was $11000,00. but the car looks good.

 

TR8 # 2

 

I purchased this car from Regina  the fall of 2023 it is a rare 1980  TR8 roadster with an Automatic transmission  and air conditioning,  this car is also  is also Persian Aqua blue.

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The car has 150,000 km and was off the and road stored in a barn for 20 years it needed  a full restoration which is currently underway. The car runs well but needs more power, so will be on the road   in 2025 with a fresh 4.2 Ltr engine from a 1992  Land Rover.

 

TR8’s are rare there were about 2750 built with the majority being LHD 5 spd models and very few automatic AC cars,

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