This is the first in an occasional series we’ll be running that will review a wide variety of books and other items and services of interest to club members. Interested in writing a review? Submit your review to our webmaster for publication.
When I first started researching little British Cars a few years ago, I found a hugely valuable resource in the Original series published by Motorbooks. I wound up picking up volumes on MGBs, big Healeys, Sprites and Midgets, and Triumph TR4-6 among others. The only one I was looking for and couldn’t find was the volume on the Triumph TR2-3A, which was long since out of print and very expensive to find used.
Recently, however, I found out that Motorbooks is reissuing and updating some of their titles, now under the Collector’s Originality Guide title. The first of these I have run across is a new book on the Triumph TR series covering the entire TR series from TR2 through TR8, Collector’s Originality Guide, Triumph TR2-8 by Bill Piggott. When I say new, this is really the combination of the previous three separate books by Bill Piggott on the Triumph TR series into one massive tome.
The new combined book is definitely a comprehensive look at the entire Triumph TR series of cars. While not a Triumph expert by any means, I did take the time to compare the older book Original Triumph TR4/4A/5/6 with the sections in the new book covering the same cars, and the bulk of the older material seems to have made the cut into the new book. The other 2 original volumes seem to have been brought forward as well in a similar state.
I found this new Collector’s Originality Guide to be as informative and useful as I expected, given the high quality of the books in the Original series and the other books by Bill Piggott that I have read. A plethora of photos accompany each section of the book and serve to illuminate the details present in the well written text. Though in no way a full restoration guide, it does offer enough detail to be helpful.
The Collector’s Originalty Guide: Triumph TR2-8 neatly balances two competing purposes; it is both an engaging introduction into the Triumph TR series of cars and a useful reference for current TR owners. If you already own the previous three titles you will not have much to gain by acquiring this new book, but for anyone (like myself) who only had one or two of the previous books this is a nice addition that you’ll be happy to have in your library.
-Andrew Frink
Note: Motorbooks provided a copy of the book for this review.