Triumph · 1970–1977The Stag Archive

The car

The Triumph Stag: History, Design and Variants

The car's own story: from a 1965 Michelotti show special on a Triumph 2000 floorpan to the end of production at Canley in 1977, through the design, the Mk1 and Mk2, the transmissions, the colours and the production data.

The Car / Export Models

The US Federal-Spec Stag

The Stag was sold new in the United States for only a short part of its production run in the early 1970s, in Federal specification with an LE-prefix engine, emissions equipment and US lighting. Every Stag is now old enough to be imported into the USA under the 25-year exemption, so most American Stags today are later private imports rather than original Federal cars.

Triumph withdrew the Stag from the American market early. The reasons usually given are the ones the car is still known for, overheating and warranty trouble in a market that drove long distances in high ambient temperatures, with the engine already softened by emissions equipment. British Leyland's US dealer network handled the fallout badly, and the reputation the car earned in America has outlived the cars themselves. Our assessment of the Stag's reputation sets out what was genuinely wrong and what has since been engineered out.

Exact US-market sales totals and the precise final year of American sales are quoted inconsistently in secondary sources. We have not published a figure here rather than repeat one we cannot verify; the Triumph Stag Club of the Americas is the right place to ask.

How to tell a Federal car

The engine number is the check that settles it. Everything else can be swapped, removed or fitted retrospectively.

Engine prefix
LE on Federal cars. The earliest Federal cars carry LD. Home-market and other export cars carry LF.
Side marker lights
Amber front and red rear side markers on the wings, required by US lighting regulations and absent from home-market cars.
Headlamps
Round sealed-beam units to US regulation, rather than the European-pattern lamps.
Instruments
Speedometer calibrated in miles per hour with US-market lettering. Note that UK cars are also mph, so this alone proves nothing.
Emissions equipment
Additional air-injection and evaporative-loss control plumbing on the engine and around the fuel tank. Many surviving cars have had it removed.
Transmission
The great majority of Federal cars left the factory as Borg-Warner automatics with power steering and air conditioning fitted or offered.

Where the stampings are, and how to read the serial that follows the prefix, is covered in full on the identification page.

Emissions equipment and what owners do with it

Federal cars left Canley with additional emissions control hardware that home-market cars never had. In practice, a large proportion of surviving Federal Stags have had some or all of it removed, and many have been converted to home-market carburettor and ignition settings over the past fifty years. That matters in two ways. First, a car advertised as “original Federal spec” often is not, look at what is actually bolted to the engine. Second, if your state has an inspection requirement that touches emissions equipment on a car of this age, a stripped engine bay can become your problem rather than the previous owner's.

Setting the carburettors and ignition correctly matters more on an American car than most, because heat is the Stag's standing weakness and a lean, retarded engine makes it worse. See setting up the Zenith-Strombergs and ignition timing. We do not publish US-specific carburettor needle or timing figures here; take them from the Federal supplement to the Workshop Manual for your car's engine number, not from a UK-spec table.

Running a Stag in the American climate

Arizona, Texas and Florida ask more of a Stag cooling system than Warwickshire ever did. The cooling system is the single component that decides whether the car is enjoyable or exasperating, and it is entirely fixable. Start with cooling upgrades, then starting in extreme heat for hot-start and vapour-lock behaviour, and before a long run before any distance drive.

Fuel is the other difference. US pump gasoline is rated by a different octane method than UK petrol, so an American number and a British number are not directly comparable, and ethanol content varies by state and by pump. Our notes on ethanol-blended fuel and fuel, oil and additives apply, with the caveat that the fuel grades named there are British.

Importing and titling a Stag in the USA

Outline only. Import rules and state requirements change; confirm the current position with US Customs and Border Protection and your own state agency before committing money.

  1. 01 · Age exemption

    Every Stag was built between 1970 and 1977, so all of them are now well over 25 years old. That places them outside the NHTSA and EPA rules that apply to modern imports, which is why classic Stags can be brought into the United States without federalisation work.

  2. 02 · Customs paperwork

    Import is handled through US Customs and Border Protection with the usual entry paperwork, plus the NHTSA and EPA declaration forms appropriate to a vehicle over 25 years old. Duty applies at the rate current at the time of entry.

  3. 03 · Evidence of identity

    Bring the commission number, engine number and, ideally, a British Motor Industry Heritage Trust certificate. American titling clerks are used to a VIN in a modern format; a Heritage Certificate that ties the commission and engine numbers together saves a great deal of argument.

  4. 04 · State titling

    Titling, registration and any inspection or emissions requirement are set state by state, not federally. Requirements for a 1970s import vary widely, check with your own state's motor vehicle agency before you buy, not after.

  5. 05 · Shipping

    Container or roll-on/roll-off from a UK port. A soft-top car in a shared container wants proper bracing; if the hood is tired, ship it with a hard top fitted or the frame supported.

If you are buying from Britain to import, the buying guide and what a Stag costs are written around UK cars and UK money, which is exactly the market you will be shopping in. Add shipping, duty and the cost of putting right anything you could not inspect in person, an unseen car bought at long range is where most import stories go wrong.

American clubs and getting parts

The Triumph Stag Club of the Americas is the marque club for North American owners and the best first stop for Federal-specific questions, local knowledge and cars for sale. The Stag Owners Club in Britain accepts overseas members and runs the spares scheme that underpins much of the parts supply worldwide.

Almost all Stag parts are made and stocked in the UK, and the established suppliers ship internationally. Ordering from Britain and paying the freight is normal practice for American owners rather than a last resort, see our parts and spares directory for who is strong on what, and the resources page for clubs, specialists and manuals. Consolidating one large order rather than several small ones is the single easiest way to cut the cost of shipping and handling.

Federal-specification details vary by build date within the American cars themselves. Verify your own car's specification from its commission and engine numbers, the Federal supplement to the Workshop Manual, and a Heritage Certificate, rather than from any general description, including this one.