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The Le Mans TR7 story starts back in 1977 from a redundant Left Hand
Drive TR7 that had been used by Janspeed as a development vehicle for
British Leyland Motorsport. Jan Odor brought the car from BL, planning
to modify it for Modsports racing but by the time the necessary parts
had been gathered together, a change in the modsports rules thwarted
the project. Instead the car was restyled with racing body panels and
fitted with a turbocharged Rover V8
engine.
At this time Jan Odor was seriously planning to develop this car into
the Group 5 Silouette Class, dominated by the Porsche 935 but progress
was slow till the ADA (Anglo-Dutch-American) Engineering helped on the
scene. ADA's Ian Harrower and Chris Crawford were seasoned campaigners
at Le Mans and keen to race this all British sportscar. Negotiations
were entered into and a deal was struck, with Janspeed loaning the car
to ADA - who would finance the project - whilst Janspeed carrying on
the development of the engine. This Rover 3500 V8 engine had a pair
of Rotomaster Turbo-Chargers fitted and Twin 2in SU carburettors, providing
well in excess of 500bhp from 3619cc. This engine development programme
was an ambitious job, with special attention paid to the interchange
cooling and belt driven ancillary oil pump to keep al the vital bits
cooled. The suspension was largely unaltered but fitted with Bilstein
Dampers and Formula One brakes, covered by 15in Compomotive wheels.
(10in wide front & 14in wide back fitted)
This TR7 Turbo was entered into the 1980 Le Mans 24 hour race - becoming
first Triumph at Le Mans for 19 years and taking over 3 years in development
from the purchase from BL Motorsport. ADA had tried to raise necessary
sponsorship from the British motor industry, including BL, but the results
were pitiful, causing a British Motorsport Tragedy; with this car arriving
having undertaken no serious track testing beforehand. The car failed
to qualify! Despite being timed at 201mph on the Mulsanne Straight it
had previously achieved only 175mph due to drive shaft vibration and
other minor problems.
Undeterred ADA entered the Triumph TR again in
1981, employing Derek Bell for testing, and entering the car in the
Silverstone 6 hour race beforehand. Initially the vehicle ran well -
after previous testing comments from Derek Bell that the car, as it
stood, was not anything like good enough. Unfortunately the car crashed
heavily and with only having one car there was no chance of carrying
out effective repair in time for Le Mans race, and so the entry was
withdrawn.
The final entry, by ADA, was in 1982 but this was withdrawn again -
this time due to lack of funds -, which has been the Achilles heel for
both Janspeed / ADA. A sad conclusion to the last TR entry at Le Mans.
At the end of 1983 the car was purchased by the British Sports Car Centre,
in Goldhawk road, West London and then the car was sold abroad. I believe
the Car is still in existance.
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