The story of the great British motor car is shared by us all.
Whether it's the everyday run-around, classic sports car, or the off-road workhorse.
But these stories are rusting away, buried in the back of barns or lock-ups.
And For the Love of Cars, something's gotta be done!
SCREECHING TYRES
So I've chosen six home-grown motors...
Minis, bloody thousands of them.
And with one of the country's best mechanics, Ant Antstead...
Ah, it's like a can of beans.
..we're going to scour Britain to unearth hidden wrecks...
Get that off.
Blimey, feel like I'm in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
..and then we're going to bring them back to life.
This is turning into a nightmare.
And while Ant gets his hands dirty...
Foot off the brakes.
..I'll be finding out just why we love them.
Think it's back in the '50s.
But can we pull off the best restorations ever attempted?
Ha, ha, ha ha...
This is what I want to do to our Land Rover. You're joking, right?
And when it's all over, can we smash world records at auction?
46...
And find our cars new, loving owners?
Sold!
Tonight...
There's nothing quite like it when you watch that bonnet lift up
as you put your foot down.
..we're restoring a car that represents the best..
It's got a lovely purr to it.
..and worst of British motoring...
Don't break down! Grr.
It's a Stag! It's a Stag!
Grr!
With its powerful V8 engine, and sports car looks,
the Triumph Stag was to lead Britain into a new era, the 1970s.
You can't stop smiling.
But just seven years later...
Kill it there.
..it's reputation was in tatters.
And our car industry on its knees.
I want to give it a second chance. I quite like it.
Maybe it's time to be proud of the Stag again?
So, Ant, the Triumph Stag?
See, I quite like this car. No. Listen, the Stag's terrible.
It's a bad car and a really bad engine.
It a good job we've got you, then, isn't it?
Like it or not, Ant's going on a Triumph Stag hunt.
I'm not a great Stag fan.
These Triumph Stags are notorious for rust,
but occasionally you come across a hidden gem.
There you go. There it is.
# It's a God-awful small affair #
Finding one should be a fairly easy job.
It was my dad's.
He was going to do it up, but
Right, OK. Do you mind if I have a look? Course you can.
Because of the 26,000 Stags that were made,
an estimated 5,000 are waiting restoration.
Yeah, the chassis is rotten.
That is a pile of junk.
Stags are renowned for rusting. There's no hope for this one.
Time for Ant to move on.
There it is. Under the cover. This is the one I've had I was 21.
I was going to renovate it with my boys, but the boys aren't interested.
Got to move on.
Unfortunately when the Stags weren't rusting,
they had a habit of breaking down.
It's had a Rover conversion? It has.
So a lot of people simply swapped the Triumph engine for something a bit more reliable.
An unrestored Stag can cost up to two grand
and we're willing to pay a premium for one with an original engine.
Simon, how are you doing? Haven't seen you for a while.
Yeah, if you're brave enough.
ENGINE STARTS
Now that is a rare sound.
A genuine unrestored Stag engine.
ENGINE REVS
Because it's a heap of (BLEEP) and I didn't think anyone would ever buy it.
You're a trader, we're mates, I want a mate's rate.
Let's do a deal, how much for it?
To you, no messing, two grand.
Not going to argue.
# Give a little bit #
I've chosen the Triumph Stag.
The Stag represents '70s porn.
I mean, let's not beat about the bush...pardon the expression.
Just the name, Triumph Stag.
I remember it as being...
...Quite a tasty little motor, back in the day.
I think a lot of people think it's a bit rubbish, really.
But, I quite like it.
Erm, and so I want to give it a second chance.
Oi, oi.
Hi, man, how's it going? I'm good, how are you?
Yeah, I'm really good, thanks. Great. Here she is.
I only asked for an oil change, what have you done? Know what it is?
Is it a car? It's not any car, it's the one you asked me to get.
Is it?
This is the Stag. Come on, let's see it.
It in a bit of a state, isn't it?
Look, you can tell it's '70s, it held together with sticky-backed plastic.
What a hunk of junk.
Come round, come round get in. OK. Go on, drink in that '70s aura.
I can smell the '70s.
Here's the key. How do I do this?
Come on, Phil, you probably stolen cars before. Hotwired.
Go on.
ENGINE STARTS
It's all coming back. Give it some beans.
ENGINE REVS
It's a Stag! It a Stag!
Let me show you under the bonnet. OK.
So this is the original Triumph engine which weren't
renowned for their reliability, were they?
No, it overheated.
The problem is, the cooling system is inferior.
When it got too hot they blew up.
That was one of the shortcomings of the Stag.
This was designed in the '70s, so it has '70s technology.
Well, look at me, I was designed in the '70s, mate. Exactly. So we can...
I'm still going. Only just.
We can not only make this engine more reliable,
but I can make it sound better,
Looking forward to it. Let's talk about colours.
You can choose any colour you like. I think red. Red?
With a black interior. You seem quite certain about this. Yes, I do.
OK.
Because of the Stag's reputation, Ant is going to
have to strip this car down and inspect every single part.
The major worry is the original engine.
This needs rebuilding from scratch.
Only then can a modern cooling system be fitted to stop it overheating.
The body of the car is going to be sandblasted to remove the paint
and show any hidden rust.
Once that's repaired Ant's going to paint it in my chosen colour.
A beautiful deep red.
OK. Right, Mike you give me a hand stripping out the interior.
Ben, let's get this engine out. OK.
Oh, my God.
But my biggest worry about restoring the Stag isn't the car.
It's Ant.
OK. Absolutely destroyed it. Well, you know it took me about 30 seconds.
But it is a Triumph Stag and I've got no respect for it
and I just want to get it done.
I'll be honest, the Stag is rubbish.
I don't think I would ever, given the opportunity,
drive, even be a passenger in a Stag.
I just don't think it's a great car.
What a pile of junk.
Fortunately helping Ant is specialist Stag restorer, Ben Porter.
Ben, I can't believe you like these cars.
I notice he's go this Stag Owner's Club wristband.
It's cos I love Stags.
I wish I wasn't restoring a Stag.
I wish Philip chose another car.
Just get on with it!
Whatever Ant thinks, Ben isn't alone in his love affair with the Stag.
In fact, the UK's biggest owners' club for any one model of car
is...you guessed it. The Stag.
I think the Stag bit like women. It's matured gracefully.
The looks on it are absolutely stunning.
I get little boys about seven years old shouting, "nice car."
I just love driving it. We have lots of fun.
Yeah, that's what it's all about.
To find out more about Stag owners' love affairs with their cars,
I've come to meet Roger and Leslie Philips.
They've promised to show me a good time in theirs.
Hello. Leslie?
Hello. I'm Phil. Roger.
Thank you.
Roger and Leslie haven't just taken their relationship with
the Stag into their hearts, they've taken it into the living room.
Roger, Leslie, how long have you owned a Stag? 25 years.
We just love the car.
It's really changed our lives since we've had that.
We go to Europe three times a year.
Down to Spain, France, Belgium,
doing two or 300 miles a day stopping off and have several
days down there and work our way back on a different route.
In driving over 125,000 miles in their Stag,
Roger and Leslie have been doing
ARCHIVE: Monte Carlo. Opulent jewel of the Cote d'Azur.
A place of ancient elegance and modern fashion.
In the age before cheap flights and package holidays,
the Stag was designed to let aspiring international jet-setter types see Europe in style.
Powering down to the south of France with the wind in their hair,
impressing those continentals.
ARCHIVE: This is the final act from the creation of a new car.
They sound beautiful, you don't need a radio, to us that's music.
As a teenager I'd seen them
and heard them coming down the road and thought they were a lovely car.
It's a nice car for a lady to drive actually,
because it's got powered steering and so on.
Yes, nice touch for the ladies. Yeah.
There wasn't just power steering. Oh, no.
Electric windows, power assisted
And it was a four-seater,
giving the Stag saloon car luxury with sports car performance.
What's the top speed on this?
We've had it up to 120. Really?!
Slam your foot hard down.
Nice
I can safely say that Roger and Leslie's car Stag is beautiful to drive.
I'm just really hoping that Ant is also beginning to appreciate
just what a lovely motor this is.
Oh, yeah.
Our Stag is back from the blasters.
This isn't the same car.
Now Ant can easily spot any problems that had been
hidden by the layers of filler and paint.
It's had an accident.
And that's been poorly put right.
The inside of the car has been buckled and bent.
What the person's done to repair it,
they've taken a new section of the wing
And a lower portion of wing
And made three bits make one wing.
That was hidden under a load of filler.
What were going to have to do is take this whole wing off.
And there's worse to come.
Oh, God. Look at the floor.
The whole body is riddled with rust.
I can literally pick that off with my fingers.
Ant already disliked the Stag, now he's going to have to spend
a whole lot more time in its company than he'd imagined.
This car has gone from a fairly simple restoration into a...
Mammoth rebuild.
Ant and his team are hard at work
repairing the body of our 1976 Triumph Stag.
And I'm delighted to say Ant's mood is only getting worse.
The Triumph Stag was known as the Triumph 'Snag'. Now I know why.
When I start cutting one panel,
it reveals another problem on the next panel.
It's hard to believe this rusty, battered old body was designed
by one of the greatest names in the history of sports car design.
And he wasn't even a Brit.
He was a foreigner.
This is Giovanni Michelotti -
the Pablo Picasso of car design.
really good.
Based in Turin, he designed Lancias, BMWs,
even Maseratis.
Lovely.
At Triumph, he styled the Herald, the Spitfire, the GT6 and the TR4.
Not a dud among them.
When he took another one of his own designs, the Triumph 2000 saloon,
chopped the roof off, cut the middle and sexed it up a bit,
Triumph immediately saw the potential
for a British world-beater.
But it never happened.
Just seven years after its launch in 1970,
Stag production came to a sudden end.
It was curtains.
I want to find out where it all went wrong,
and what better way to do that than by taking a Stag
on a grand tour with somebody who knows a bit about cars.
Morning. Good morning.
Comedian and motoring journalist Alexei Sayle.
Paris? Why not? Jolly decent of you, old man.
We've got a nice day for it. Yes, lovely.
In the past, Alexei has survived a string of affairs
with classic British cars.
His first was with the Stag's close relative - the Triumph 2.5.
His second, a Rover P5B.
So he's quite familiar with this sort of thing.
We need to go... was that a backfire?
I think it was a backfire. Don't break down. Grr.
It doesn't sound very happy, this car, I have to say.
Oh, (BLEEP). We've stalled.
It's bringing it all back, owning the Rover.
I remember leaving Lenny Henry
sitting in a restaurant called Pomme de Maur for two hours,
The AA always used to say, "Very reliable, these cars."
"Well, why do I see you...why do I know what your kids' names are?"
By 1968, Triumph, Rover and most of the big names in British motoring
had been sucked into one mega car company.
'Austin, MG, Triumph, Mini,
'Jaguar, Daimler, Princess, Morris, Rover.'
The British Leyland Motor Corporation.
The dream was to compete in a tough global market.
The reality was very different.
Disappointing cars that struggled against the competition.
#.. a great deal more from Leyland, Leyland cars. #
It's stalled again, it's stalled again.
There we go. That's dead isn't it?
Shall we push it...? Yeah, I need a push.
Actors and comedic car journalists, of course, do not push cars.
Never mind getting to Paris, we haven't even made it out of London.
Yeah, that's an engine. Yeah!
It's broken.
Expect assistance at 11.15pm. OK. That's half an hour.
See his face when he brings his computer out
and tries plugging it in. Diagnostic!
Where...where? Where's your USB port? "Get your hands dirty."
As a fan of the Stag,
I think it's fair to say I'm feeling a bit frustrated.
POLICE SIREN
Sadly, as two mechanically challenged luvvies,
the only thing we can do is sit and wait for rescue.
I'm all right, thank you. What can I do for you, sir?
You can try and get this car started.
There you go.
This is the ownership experience of having a classic car.
It makes you feel like less of a man as well. You feel emasculated.
Stags were notorious for overheating
but this time it seems our car's problem is just a dodgy battery.
So, will it get us to Paris?
No, no, not to Paris. To a garage, yeah.
To a garage. Ha-ha-ha!
Sensible people would take this breakdown man's advice
and take it straight to the garage.
I think we'll probably just keep going.
So, we're off to Paris!
And anyway, back in the day,
breaking down on the side of the road was a quintessential part
of a Stag driving experience.
'Finnish cars are still subject to a stringent over-check procedure...'
I spent ten years working in British Leyland dealerships
and quite a bit of that time was on the Triumph Stag.
We had them breaking down and overheating.
The workshop, as such, was chock-bang full of Stags.
99% was blown engines.
'This is quality control with a vengeance.'
You'd have some customers who had an engine replaced
and even a replacement engine would suffer from overheating issues.
Some of our mechanics used to disappear
because they hated working on the bloody thing.
Some people believe the Stag engine is fundamentally flawed
because of a rushed development period and underfunding.
Back in the late '60s, when the Stag was being developed,
Triumph knew that if it was going to appeal to the all-important
American market, it needed a big gutsy engine, known as a V8.
Triumph had long been interested in developing a big brother
to one of their smaller engines called the Slant 4.
By using the same parts and technology,
they could quickly and cheaply produce an engine
V for victory.
Or very, very bad idea!
Amazingly, our Stag has made it across the channel.
Right, we're in France. It's completely different to the UK.
Completely. Look, there's Toys'r'Us there.
Shall we put some stickers on? Yes. To show that we're British.
British, mate. British!
Triumph does not exist.
It goes straight from Toyota to VW.
DRUMS BOOT OF CAR
That looks in keeping.
What side do we drive on? I've forgotten.
But, sadly, after our breakdown, we're not going to make it to Paris.
This stag has let me down.
Time magazine apparently named it as one of the worst cars ever made.
Do you think it deserves that? No.
It was a decent car apart from the engine, which was a catastrophe.
The reasons for the failure of the Stag are obviously complex
but I think people blame both the workers and the management...
You mean the unions? Yeah.
During production of the Stag,
British Leyland was in terminal decline.
Strikes were commonplace.
It's a protest against the company's refusal to buy what they agreed to buy.
Management style out of touch
and quality control ineffective.
Boy, did it ever suffer.
Our jolly to Paris may have been cut short,
but this journey has definitely been an eye-opener for me.
All in all, the intention behind it was all very well and good... Yeah.
..but it didn't quite make it, a bit like us.
Never made it to Paris. Just about made it across the Channel.
In the end it's a story of what might have been, really.
If the engine had worked,
I think it would have been a very successful car.
As it was, it was a catastrophic failure because everything else
in Britain was a catastrophic failure.
Ant, hi. It's me.
Yeah. No, I'm in France.
Normandy.
We were supposed to go to Paris but we didn't make it.
Mm.
No, no. I'm going to get the train back.
Drag it over to the bench.
In the workshop, Ant is finding out that before he can check the engine
he has to take it apart.
They're pretty right.
It's not having it. It's really seized.
I already dislike this car.
Argh!
Ant is a man with a lot of tools.
When he's forced into customising them before they fit,
you know there's a problem.
That was close. That was nearly in the crown jewels.
This is now the new patented British Leyland get-out-of-jail spanner.
And it turned.
Years on the road have caused the engine to, sort of, fuse together.
Oh, you're joking!
from the block, the bottom half of the engine.
On a Stag engine, this is notoriously difficult.
The head, the top portion, is made of aluminium,
and the bottom portion is made of cast iron.
These metals, over time, fuse together.
You bled on my desk. I know.
This is turning into a nightmare.
Ant's relationship with this car was already troubled,
but, like so many Stags, now it's completely broken down.
This is a disaster.
'We're halfway through the restoration of our 1976 Triumph Stag.'
Let's have a look. Oh, wow! It's got quite a lot of corrosion.
I've got a lot of Triumphs. They rust, they are unreliable.
You know, British Leyland took technology that already existed
and fudged it to make it happen.
They cut an engine into pieces and made it kind of work.
They never really threw their soul into it.
Oh, that is proper grimy!
'It seems Ant is having something of a crisis with the Stag.
'I need to show him that this car is worth restoring.
'Because the Stag has one thing going for it that I think is just unbeatable.'
ENGINE REVS
The V8 engine, it plays a wonderful tune.
It sounds absolutely awesome! ENGINE REVS
The most fantastic burble. That V8 burble. Lovely V8 burble.
When I'm driving my mine, I, um, dip the foot and rev it a little bit. SHE LAUGHS
'But even on this, Ant is determined to prove the Stag is second rate.
'So he's borrowed a Stag and asked me to meet Him at MIRA
'a car testing facility where they can analyse engine sound.'
'The Stag's here but where's Ant?'
We've got to be back by Tuesday, but, er...
Oh! Here we go.
Even I know what that is!
'The Jaguar E-type.
'One of the most beautiful cars ever made.'
'And with its more powerful engine,
'the Stag could well be in for another kicking.'
What better way to test the theory that our V8 sounds so wonderful
than against a British icon? You up for it? Let's go meet Josh.
Look at me, I can't wait.
Phil, Josh. Nice to meet you. Josh!
'Dr Josh Reiss has been studying how the human ear reacts
'to mechanical sounds for over 20 years.
'And I'm guessing for much some of that time,
Wow! It's a lot like a sort of...weird movie set, isn't it?
What's it made of? Just like foam. Yeah, it's foam.
But it's the shape of it that absorbs all of the sound.
'First up - the Jag.
'And Ant's looking confident.'
You're really excited about this, aren't you? This is proper.
This is science and cars. Does it get any cooler?
Thrilling(!)
Start the car. Start the car!
Rev!
ENGINE REVS
That should do it. Done? Yeah.
So now comes the interesting bit - we're going to take tape those recordings and analyse them
and see if we can find out what's so interesting in the sound.
'As Josh gets stuck in to his data - I'm off.'
Where is he? I don't know. Where is he?
'I'm going to fetch my secret weapon.'
Now this is driving, baby!
ANT LAUGHS
'This Kubota G21 ride-on mower is going to be the baseline for our experiment.'
Can you drive a little faster? I need grass!
I wouldn't go any further, though.
'So even if the Stag loses out against the E-type, it has to beat this thing. Surely?'
I think we're finished. What? I think we're finished. You're done.
analyse and see if it's an interesting sound.
Yeah, that doesn't really provoke images of...
'Finally, it's up to the Stag to show what it's got.
SOUND ON ENGINE REVVING
'Can it outdo Ant's E-type and my lawnmower?
Look, this is why he doesn't like Stags,
because his head sticks out the top.
'Well, at least the engine's running.'
And that's good. I think you can cut it now.
'With all his years of experience, Dr Josh sets to work
'comparing the data.
'This could take some time...'
Let the lesson beginneth.
The Triumph shared some aspects in common with the lawnmower.
'This does not sound good.'
They're both very rhythmic. In comparison, the Jag signal also
has a lot of noise and a lot of power and big blasts of energy,
but it doesn't have much rhythm.
The Triumph has rhythm and also power but without being noisy across all frequencies, so it doesn't
appear just like...
'I think what Dr Josh is saying is that the Jag is a bit like a lunatic
'playing a piano. Lots of notes.
'Very loud. Not much rhythm.
'Whereas the Stag has just one deep note being played quite fast, very, very nicely.
'And the lawnmower? Well, that's just a lawnmower.'
If we're thinking that what we want out of an engine sound
is something somewhat musical or at least having rhythm
but also conveying a sense of power, the Stag does very well
and seems to do better than the Jag.
Yeah, I'm a little bit gutted.
The Stag sounds better than an E-type...
I can't get my head around it!
Plus, it means Phil's got one over on me.
I'll leave you to it, Chief.
'Just another six weeks' work, and the Stag's off to auction.'
This shell is finished and ready to go to the paint shop.
Do a good job, please. I'll have a go.
The car's transformed, just in the last 20 minutes.
That is unbelievable. It looks like a brand-new car!
'Our engine is also looking rather tasty.
'Once it's slotted in, Ant's got a plan to make it sound better than ever.'
These tail pipes are larger than the standard exhaust that Triumph
put on the car. This is going to help produce that really throaty V8 sound.
Let's have a look.
(That's proper.) Yeah?
That's awesome.
'Ant's suddenly appeared to have
'Unlike many drivers back in the '70s.
'Leyland had dreamt they'd sell 12,000 Stags a year.
'Instead, its terrible reputation
'for overheating meant it was struggling to sell just 3,000.
'In 1977, finally, Leyland pulled the plug,
'and production of the Stag came to an end.
'Thing is, plenty of Stags are still on the road.
'So what's the story with the engine? Why did it keep breaking down?'
'To find out, Ant's taking our Stag to somebody who's been testing engines their whole adult life.'
Hi, you must be Jeff? I am. Yeah, nice to meet you.
'Jeff Peters has been studying car engines since he fell in love
'with Patrick McGoohan's Lotus 7 in '60s TV show The Prisoner.
'But today, he's not a number -
'he's a principal lecturer in motorsport engineering!
'And just about every Formula One racing team
'has at least one of his graduates working on their cars.
'In other words, if anybody can test our engine
'and tell us if the cooling system is up to the job,
'it's Professor Jeff.'
So, really after today, we're going to be able to put this rumour to bed?
that other people probably haven't got so far.
This is science. A bit of science.
'Our Stag is placed on a rolling road, a sort of treadmill for cars.
'And Jeff wires up the engine to gather the data that
will show if it is overheating.
That's perfect. And there's...
On a race car, we'd have instrumentation all over it.
760 channels of data.
That's why we're putting these things on now.
measure the hot water. And another temperature sensor in the bottom hose
which in theory should be cooler cos it's come via the radiator.
And a pressure...gauge which will measure
the pressure in the whole water system. Yes.
'This will be the first time our rebuilt original engine has been put through its paces.
'And Ant is getting a bit protective about the old girl.'
I just... I'm a bit precious about it.
It's just been rebuilt...
Obviously, we've just spent ages rebuilding our new Stag engine, restoring the whole car -
the last thing you want to do is take a brand-new built engine and rev the nuts off it on a rolling road.
Certainly, the radiator's working really, really well.
This is the...the water in. So that's the hot water.
And down here - blue being cold - absolutely text book.
'The experiment underway.
'To everyone's relief, the engine appears to be working perfectly.
'No overheating, no breaking down.
'Jeff's test appears to be rewriting over 40 years of hurt...'
NOISY RATTLING, SCREECHING
'..or maybe not.
That didn't sound good. Yeah, let's kill it there.
'It seems the Stag's reputation for unreliability is here to stay.'
Yeah, kill it.
Even after he and his team spent 1,000 man hours rebuilding it,
just like so many Stags in the '70s, it's broken down.
Right, something on the engine made a horrible sound.
I'm really concerned now, because it's a freshly built engine.
Shouldn't make a noise like that.
Good news or the bad news?
Any news. The viscous has gone.
Oh, this is typical.
On the front of the engine, there is a plastic fan,
known as a viscous fan.
And the coupling that holds the fan to the engine has broken.
So, the test's over.
But, even though the experiment might be over,
Professor Jeff has managed to collect enough data.
We're finally going to find out
whether the Stag's cooling system actually works.
The data's been perfect. I mean, absolutely textbook.
The waters, we've been getting 35 to 40 degrees C delta,
difference between the hot water going in
and the hot water going out.
It's textbook.
Million-dollar question.
Is this British Leyland radiator - yes or no -
sufficient to cool the British Leyland engine?
Yes. Categorically yes?
Categorically yes.
Which begs the question, what's the difference between our Stag
and the ones breaking down back in the '70s?
This is a properly built car.
You've probably spent time bleeding it,
make sure there's no air in it.
It's a careful... You've got time.
In a factory, you've got to put a car together in 20 hours.
You're saying, actually, the cooling system is sufficient to do the job.
It's a combination of the pressures that British Leyland staff were
under at the time, and after the cars were sold,
the owners that maintained them...
Maybe didn't spend as much as they should have done
on getting the right coolant, etc.
This is the root of the rumour, then.
The problem isn't actually the engineering... No.
I think, clearly, it works, because it works as a car.
A lot of Stag owners still running them.
They haven't done anything different.
They just put it together carefully, correctly.
There's nothing in there that scares me.
And I'm easily spooked.
I'm a little bit surprised.
I mean, the car has a reputation for overheating,
but, actually, what Jeff's done is proved that it doesn't.
What should have happened is,
instead of the Stag having a history of failures,
it really should have been replaced with a history of success.
Back at the workshop,
it's time for Ant to eat some good old-fashioned humble pie.
But he has to be quick, because after today,
our Stag is released from the workshop back into the wild.
Now, I managed to get hold of -
in fact, I'd already ordered, stubbornly -
a modern aluminium radiator.
But, I think, based on all the evidence I've seen,
we've got to keep it original.
Finally, yes. Let's crack on with it. OK, mate.
There, look. There you go.
Don't scratch it!
Our Stag's really good.
Better than it would have been back in the day.
British Leyland built these cars under a circumstance that
meant it was probably destined to fail.
And it will be remembered as a car that always overheated.
That looks the business.
But, we've put our car together using the same technology,
the same components.
CAR ENGINE REVS
Well done, man. We made it. Yeah.
We're done.
Off to see Anthony and see the completed version of the Stag.
Basically, I want to get into the workshop before Ant
so I can have a look at it before he starts slagging it off.
So I'm just intrigued to see if he's had a change of heart
Because I've got a feeling it's going to look a bit tasty, actually.
'Ant wasn't happy when the Stag arrived four months ago,
'bearing all the signs of a car left unloved for decades.
'Its battered blue body was a patchwork of rust.
'It's cream interior was shabby and stained,
Oh! Wow.
Look at that!
I think it looks really great. I do.
It looks like the sort of car you want to get in
and go for a spin, taking it down the boozer.
My lovely red Stag.
A few finger marks there.
I'm getting quite possessive with it now.
Hi, you've let yourself in, then.
Ha-ha! Hey?
What do you think?
Well, I think it's amazing! It's a beauty.
Put a lot of work into this, mate.
Yeah, tough, tough job.
Like the colour. You chose it. I know.
This is called Carmine Red,
which is a British Leyland colour, with a gold stripe.
It looks classy, though, don't you think?
I tell you what it is. It's an Italian designed car
and, when you think of Italian cars, you think red.
I think it's stunning. My front room is this colour.
Your front room?
Is this why you chose it? Mm.
Under here is where a lot of the work was done.
So I don't know if you remember how it looked,
but now it's a work of art.
That's very clean and tidy.
You know, the Stag has rumours about reliability, cooling issues.
But we've rebuilt the same engine,
we've not changed anything.
It's the original engine.
We've kept the original cooling system and this car is fine.
So what was the fault then? Man or machine?
It's difficult to say,
not necessarily an engineering problem. Right.
So we're sort of re-addressing the history of this car, a little bit.
Or quite a lot. Yeah, I guess we are.
And by doing it properly, we've proven that the Stag is reliable.
I can't get over the colour. Who thought of that colour?
I can't get over it. Yeah, you got it.
Love the walnut dash. This is lovely. I like all this.
That's why it's marvellous!
Just the colour alone.
Yeah, changing the colour was... Who thought of that colour?
Damn, if only that was me! I know.
Good job. Thanks.
Shall we take her for a spin? Yeah, yeah. Go for it.
Oosh! Oosh!
Yeah.
Yeah. This is a car. That is a burble.
HE LAUGHS
You can't stop smiling! It's great.
Hello! Getting waved at.
It just wants to get going, doesn't it?
You're converted, aren't you? I have been converted.
Is it the colour?
This is the British countryside.
We are going off-piste.
Look, even the horses are having a little look.
Thinking, "Is that a Stag?"
So, now that you've driven it, would you change anything?
No, I wouldn't change a thing, mate.
So, we've ticked all the boxes.
All we're missing, really, is having
a little teasmaid in the car.
Hello.
Red, white and blue.
I have this overwhelming surge of patriotism. Yeah.
# Land of Hope and Glory... #
'It's taken a long and winding road for the Stag to become
'a classic British motor.
'From its start as a GT car for the masses, it's endured
'a troubled production and dismal sales,
'but, these days, it's become something of a phoenix,
'rising from the ashes of British Leyland.
'In fact, a quarter of all the Stags ever made are still on the
'road over 40 years later,
'largely thanks to a fanbase who've proved there's more to the Stag
'than a roadside recovery bill.'
Don't touch it! Get back.
LAUGHTER
Who wants to have a sit in?
Where's the oil leaks? They're standard.
Very nice. The dash is very nice.
Probably better than the original, to be honest.
This is brilliant, yeah.
He's resurrected another Stag. He's done a damn good job.
Lovely to see it standard, no additional cooling fans
and all the other bits and pieces.
As it was supposed to be.
How does it compare to your dad's car?
Probably a bit in better condition.
What do you think of the colour?
I took the advice of a lot of standards.
It's nice, isn't it? That was my choice. Was it?
It's very difficult to kill a reputation. They did give trouble.
But I think this is exactly the sort of way to kill the myth, hopefully.
Bit of a problem with the wiper. It's not on right.
Oh, there we go. There's got to be one, hasn't there?
There's always one.
So, the Triumph Stag.
Has there ever been a more maligned British car?
I think it's about time that we drew a line under the nagging
doubts about the Stag's reliability.
I mean, after all, the engine worked. We proved that.
Well, Ant proved that.
'It's a car with a lot to offer.
It's a great design, Italian design.
'A great sounding engine.'
had an air of rather British, caddish sex appeal.
Maybe it's time to be proud of the Stag again.
'Next time...'
What do you think? I love it.
'The car that didn't just "blow the bloody doors off."'
Don't start the engine!
"It blew up the whole bloody drawing board!"
my face is going to light up.
'Revolutionising car design...'
'Nothing short of wizardry on' wheels.
Today we're going to show you an act of magic.
'..and rewriting British racing history.'
The Mini was extremely good, no two ways about it.
'Sometimes you meet a car that changes your life...'
Wow! Is that my Mini?
'..but we'll be reunited with the car that changed everything.'
AS MICHAEL CAINE: "Minis, bloody thousands of 'em."
Kill it. You want a Coke or anything?
No, I'm all right, mate. Thank you.
I need the keys. That would help.
Why won't they come out, Ant?
Foot on the brake again.
# Well, you can bump and grind
# It is good for your mind
# You won't fool the children of the revolution
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd