Comparison
The Stag and its rivals
By Jon Cosson
The Triumph Stag combines four seats, a folding roof and a V8. The comparison below sets out the engines, power and body layouts of its contemporary rivals.
At a glance
| Car | Engine | Power | Body & seats | In a line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Triumph Stag | 3.0 V8 (2,997 cc) | 145 bhp | Four-seat convertible (+ optional hard-top) | Four-seat V8 convertible |
| Mercedes-Benz 280SL (W113 'Pagoda') | 2.8 fuel-injected six | ~170 bhp | Two-seat convertible (Pagoda hard-top) | Two-seat six-cylinder convertible |
| Reliant Scimitar GTE (SE5) | 3.0 Ford Essex V6 | 138 bhp | Four-seat sporting estate (fixed roof) | As practical, rust-free GRP body, but no roof down, no V8 |
| BMW 3.0 CS (E9) | 3.0 six | 180 bhp | Four-seat coupé (fixed roof) | Six-cylinder fixed-roof coupé |
| Triumph TR6 | 2.5 injected six | 150 bhp | Two-seat roadster | Two-seat Triumph roadster |
Versus the Mercedes-Benz 280SL
The Mercedes-Benz 280SL is a two-seat convertible with a fuel-injected six-cylinder engine. The Stag combines four seats with a V8.
Versus the Reliant Scimitar GTE
The closest British rival on paper: a four-seat sporting GT with a torquey 3.0 Ford V6 of 138 bhp and, thanks to its glassfibre body, none of the Stag’s appetite for rust. What the Scimitar can’t offer is a folding roof or a V8; it is a fixed-roof estate with a workaday Ford engine. Practical, characterful, and famously Princess Anne’s choice, but a different sort of car once the sun comes out.
Versus the BMW 3.0 CS (E9)
The BMW 3.0 CS is a fixed-roof six-cylinder coupé, rather than a convertible. Its body layout differs from the Stag's four-seat open-car arrangement.
Versus the Triumph TR6
The in-house question every Stag buyer faced: why not the TR6? Its Lucas-injected 2.5 straight-six gave a genuine 150 bhp and real pace. But the TR6 is a two-seat roadster with a fold-it-yourself hood and a much harder edge; the Stag is the grown-up’s Triumph, smoother, roomier, better-mannered, and V8-smooth with the roof down. Different missions from the same showroom.
Where the Stag wins
Line them up and the Stag’s case is clear. It is the only car here that is both a four-seat convertible and V8-powered. It was never the most powerful (that is the BMW), the most prestigious (the Mercedes), a two-seat roadster (the TR6) or the most practical (the Scimitar). It was the one car that did a little of all of it, wrapped in Michelotti’s styling and that V8 burble. The reputation that later dogged it came down to the cooling system , a fixable fault, covered in detail elsewhere on this site, not the concept, which was arguably the cleverest of the lot.
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