Car Spot: 1973 Triumph Stag

British engineering meets Italian design …

The public was teaming with anticipation to the point that the Stag was instantly on backorder in Britain when it was introduced in 1970. A star was born…literally! The Stag’s celebrity status was secured when it starred alongside Sean Connery’s James Bond in the worldwide #1 box office smash Diamonds are Forever. Unfortunately, the Triumph Stag wasn’t forever … failing to survive for even a decade.

How could something born so beautiful turn so ugly overnight?

It was simply an issue of reliability. Already two years behind schedule, Triumph was under intense pressure to rush the Stag to market, resulting in the ill-fated decision to install its new 3.0-liter overhead cam V8 before it had been properly tested.

What followed was one massive motor meltdown. Anything that could break … broke. Anything that could leak … leaked. Issues with Triumph’s V8 escalated to the point that Time magazine rated the Stag as one of the 50 worst cars ever made.

The public pummeling of the Stag wasn’t fair to Giovanni Michelotti, whose design genius was well-represented at Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Maserati, BMW, and more.

Unfortunately, Michelotti’s reputation couldn’t save the Stag. Already weighted down by a hefty $6,699 price tag (nearly double that of an MGB), only 2,871 Stags ever made it to the U.S. out of a sparse total production run of 25,877 across seven years. By August 1973, the U.S. stopped importing the Stag altogether due to its high warranty costs.

This 1973 Stag on display at The Automobile Gallery & Event Center, courtesy of owner James Fritschler, isn’t just rare; it is one of the last to ever reach American soil. Purchased new in Las Vegas in July of 1974, Mr. Fritschler’s Stag is deeply rooted in originality, even holding on to its original Triumph V8, which was rebuilt in 1998 to fix all the failures built-in by the factory.

We’re all familiar with Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale about the ugly duckling that grew to be a beautiful swan. The Triumph Stag is a twist on that tale. While it cannot escape its ugly history, the Stag remains a beautiful addition to anyone’s collection!

The reason this one caught my eye is that it’s the car that James May drove in the last Grand Tour program on Amazon, and with Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, rode off into the distance in the final episode airing Sept. 13, 2024.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out this week’s spot. Come back next Sunday for another one of my finds, along with some of its history. Have a great week.