Background
While it may have looked pretty much the same as its TR4 predecessor, the TR4A of 1965 to 1967 was quite a significant upgrade - at least under the skin. The handsome Michelotti-designed TR4 had been a success with critics and customers alike when it superseded the smaller and more primitive TR3A in 1961, but one element that didn’t impress was the somewhat hard ride.
And while that was to be expected from any sports car of the era, in the TR4, it was perhaps a little too harsh, at a time when newer rivals were beginning to incorporate increasingly more sophisticated and compliant suspension systems.
Triumph’s response was the TR4A, and it was more than just a letter added to the name. It also had ‘IRS’ displayed on the boot lid, denoting that independent rear suspension had been adopted in place of the former live back axle and leaf springs that had been a feature of all previous TRs.
The launch of the 2000 saloon in 1963 had given Triumph a model incorporating coil springs, semi-trailing arms and telescopic dampers at the rear; it wasn’t a huge engineering leap to come up with a revamped chassis for the TR4A that incorporated the same system (albeit with lever arm dampers instead of telescopic ones, for space-saving reasons).
Not everybody liked the advance - for example, dealers in the USA asked for a live rear axle option as well - but overall, the improved TR4A was well received by most customers.
It offered a softer, more comfortable ride, and slightly better handling, and was easily the most civilised TR up to that point - especially as it now incorporated a wooden dashboard as standard.
And there was a bit more power too.
