2002Tii VS Triumph Dolomite Sprint

[glemon]

I always thought the try competitor to the 2002 was the Alfa GTV coupes of the same era, the Alfa had a similar power to weight ratio to a tii, was prettier, but less practical and reliable.   But I imagine someone shopping for a sporting European coupe in the late 60s or early 70s might look at those two cars.  Poor man's alternatives in the day were the already mentioned Datsun 510 as well as the Fiat 124 Sport Coupe and Road and track even did a compare pitting a 2002tii vs. an Alfa and an Mazda RX2. 

 

When my dad was looking for a car to replace his Renault R10, I think about 73 give or take a year or so, I was just awakening into my appreciation of cars and suggested he get a 2002 as he liked to drive smaller imports, but he said the price had crept up quite a bit from the sub $3000 dollar wunderkar that they had written about in Car and Driver a few years before that and was now more like 5 or 6 grand or something like that, so he ended up getting an RX2, which he loved until the seals went in the motor, and loved it again for a while after Mazda replaced the motor for free, but I think he saw the reliability writing on the wall and didn't hold onto the car for very long

Edited February 25, 2014 by glemon

[Benjamin A.R.]

The TRs had independent rear suspension very close in design to the bm and proceeding it by quite a few years and this is the suspension I was referring to. On the mini note current prices for mins are a reflection of current demand and not the price at the time. I cant speak of other markets but a tii was the same price roughly as an e-type jag in Ireland. A mini was only about 500 pounds! I had a mk 3 mini 1983 last of the 10 inch wheels. Was a blast to drive on tight twisty roads. Was a low mileage car will about 20k on the clock. Had its faults. Leaky selector seals very bumpy ride ect and very buzy on the motorway at 80

I understand that the pricing is in today's market. Even so spending 12,000+ on a mini, even a cherry one like hers, makes no sense to me. But about the suspension, semi-trailing arm rear ends have been around long before either Triumph or BMW ever used them. It's kind of like the invention of the flashlight, amazing at first but common knowledge after a while.