When I served my apprenticeship in the late 80's one of the mechanics had a Dolomite Sprint, he was a qualified rally driver and god could he make that thing go, handy that it had a brown interior 😂

The dolomite had an ashtray in the drivers door. I miss the 70’s.

The late great Tony Barstable always a fan of him. RiP Tony :-)

Between my dad and I we had a Triumph 1300, a Toledo, a 1500, a Dolomite and my first car a Herald 12/50. Never had any problems with any of them.

I had a British racing green Dolly for a couple of years in the mid 80's it proved to be reliable and apart from a small bit of rust here and there. all easily put right. it was an easy car to live with. comfy and nice to drive.

What a nice car this Dolomite was. When I was a child we were on vacation in GB and I saw this car - nice!! I liked it much more than the BMW. And this lasted until today. This said as a German.

My wife and I bought a Dolomite Sprint 2.0 litre from a fella in Norfolk. I thought the clutch was a bit heavy but the car absolutely flew. Turned out the chap was called real Triumph officianado and had fitted a competition clutch. It honestly shaved the 0-60 time down to about 7 seconds. There are a few cars I regret selling and the Sprint is definitely one of them.

The firm I worked for used the Sprint for a while, back in the day. Unmarked Police vehicle. Apparently they were brilliant in a straight line but described as ‘odd through the wiggly bits at speed’. They didn’t take the punishment that well either and too often bits broke. So they didn’t last on the fleet, not up to the task intended, wrong choice rather than ‘bad car.’ They were, though, excellent apparently for what the name said - a ‘Sprint’ - just not sustained high speed. Having said all that...when they were sold off the Officers who’d had to endure them at work were the first in the queue to buy them as private cars; they loved them. Great fun to drive except when pushed to the edge. I don’t recall many other cars that the advanced drivers - they got the quick stuff - wanted to spend their own money on. The only other ‘ex Job’ cars I remember them wanting for themselves were the Capri’s, the 3 litre and RS versions. And maybe an Avenger Tiger(?). Cars were interesting back then, even though build quality was questionable by today’s standards.

Wow, that Thames intro takes me back to my childhood.

I'm sorry the Dolomite was never sold in the United States. I would have liked to have one.

I worked on BMW 1600 2002 and TI and they were one of the best designed cars I have ever seen . Great visibility great balance good power decent brakes for the time .And a wonderful little engine and drive line.

Mine was white 1974 model, fast car never had a problem with the engine, still love the vinyl roofs today, did a trip form Cheshunt Hertfordshire to Widnes Cheshire 230 miles in 2h 30m.

I came here for the BMW but fell in love with that Triumph, looks so nice.

It was such a good looking car. My current car (e46 bmw 320i) only beats it to 60 by .5 of second. Must have been a crazy fast saloon in the 70s. Luv and Peace.

A mate of mine had a Dolomite Sprint in the early 80's and it was a real rocket ship. In fact it was a great little car.

Funny how his jacket would be fashionable now.

The Sprint was gorgeous and still looks great today and Bodie had one in the early Professional episodes....so it must be good

Triumph used to turn out some hot cars in those days. Not just the Dolly Sprint, but TR6 and GT6 mk3 too.

Fantastic!! I'm a Sprint nut and I have never seen this clip! thank you

My Dad had a triumph said he was never done fixing at it. After 3 years he went and got himself a Toyota

It is lovely that he said one couldn't see the minor instruments with the wheel in the low position in the Dolly Sprint.... That is precisely why it was adjustable. Both the short and the tall could find a position allowing them to see all they needed to see. It wasn't really (as he seemed to imply) about finding a position that suited the driver for style, pose or, "where I quite like my hands to be".

Fabulous quality video tape OB. Expensive and cumbersome in 1973!

The interesting feature about the 16 valve motor is it was a single camshaft design so it gave a more compact cylinder head although it was probably not conducive to tuning valve timing wise.

If only they still made programs like these. And cars too!

Oooh, I remember my burgandy coloured Dolly Sprint. Had a switch on top of gear lever called overdrive. Most comfortable car I ever drove, it fitted around you. And £1600 new, ffs. I would gladly give him 2 grand for that in the mint condition its in. Such a brilliant and nice looking car. 👍👍👍

A friend of mine had one of these back in the 80's; astoundingly good. No reliability problems. But it was assembled here not the U.K. so no surprises there. It handled brilliantly in the shingle. Astoundingly fast over the Gentle Annie (Napier-Taihape road) even up to its ankles in snow when the road was closed.

my god there is a hole or rust spot in the paint already - next to the Sprint badge

Interesting he didn't mention that even with 16v it remained simple because no dohc was required.

The Dolomite Sprint was a great car to drive but the 16v design meant the cyclinder head was much wider than that in most cars and used to warp, causing a blown head gasket. When that happended, main dealers used to quote for a new cylinder head costing hundres of pounds, so being in the motor trade at the time, I used to buy them up for around £50 per time, spend £10 having the head skimmed, £10 on a simple head gasket and then get around £800 pounds resale. I loved them :)

A little mimosa yellow dolly was my first car, and I still own her to this day

My Dolomite was called " Bessie " Great little car, and handled brilliantly! Only issues were the fuel tank went rusty, because it sat inside the boot, the rubber gasket between the twin SUs became perished and therefore was letting too much air in the mixture, but God i loved that little car!👍🤪

I had a dolomite sprint they were years ahead of their time not just the 2litre 16v engine the chassis and brakes were good fit a sporty cam kit bigger carbs and induction and they were superb

I reckon Triumph would've lasted a lot longer if it hadn't been swallowed up by BL. Great clips, more please!

Tilt and reach adjustable steering column in the early 70s, on a mass market car. Now that is ahead of its time.

An adjustable steering column but no door mirrors on either side. Great stuff.

He reminds me of Alan Partridge. I'm surprised how potent the Dolomite was.

When the presenter looks like a gangster from Get Carter, you know your in the 70s 😁

The Professionals ( TV show with Bodie & Doyle ) used a Dolomite-sprint for their car at first rather than a Capri...

Read a bit of info recently that Janspeed quickly figured out that the original exhaust was junk and simply replacing it would bring them up to 142bhp instantly. Would love one of these now, brings back memories of my Mum's 1500HL she had when I was a kid.

My first car, as a 19 year old in 1982, was a 1974 BMW 2002 tii. Bought it for £825.

Magenta - RUO 706N was mine, automatic and flew like nothing else!

The British have always been good at making engines. Cosworth made the best F1 engines throughout the 20th century. It's... the rest of the car that they always had trouble with.

The triumph dolomite sprint.......... Just in case you just bought a BMW 2002. Truly an awesome car for it's time, I had three in succesion in the late 70s early to mid 80s. Yellow, red and finally green all gearshift overdrive models. Learned very quickly to take care in the wet especially transiting the roads across Salisbury plain

I had a Sprint, used to love the Overdrive button on the gearknob, which gave you 2 extra gears. When accelerating in 3rd gear, you could just select the overdrive button and you had an extra gear for hard acceleration! The only problem with the Sprint was the engine needed further development, as head gaskets would blow, timing chains would break, and the radiator was not really upto the job. Triump tuning firms knew how to remedy these features, but British Leyland only spent £5 on the cars improvements from 73-80!

The sprint was a big deal when I was a lad I didn’t realise it had 130 Bhp though that’s good going even for today !

My Dad had a Sprint in racing green and although it was a great performance car, He carried a large bottle of water as there were recurring issues with its cooling system and the engine always overheated and the car was taken back to the dealers on numerous occasions for repair.

I like how he talks specs and engineering rather than dumbing it down and talking nonsense!

My old man had a purple Sprint. Loved that car.

Ah yes, the joys of having a vinyl roof. Very 1970s !!

I Loved the dollies dash

Tony Bastable literally looks like he's been beamed in from a 2019 Pretty Green photo shoot. That jacket also wouldn't be out of place with a Fjall Raven logo on its sleeve. Absolutely mind-blowing how fashion repeats itself with subtle twists. Great clip too.

Bry-nylon broad cloth. Makes me excited just thinking about it.

Dolly all day for me. I remember the one my Grandad had, wood dash. Loved it.

Tony Bastaple. Where is he now? A pretty good mathematician as I recall with a programme called, 'Figure it Out'. The Dolomite Sprint there is a bloomin' automatic though. No-doubt BL didn't make one available to Thames Television. They even have the camera angle such that while Tony is fiddling about with the adjustable steering column you cannot see the transmission tunnel and selector tray, even though he makes mention of manual with overdrive. My first car was my uncles mint '74 1850 with man/o/d in French blue with black interior. Superb, though lost in a race against a Sprint badly! Later got a '72 2.5PI man/o/d and that bloody flew!

The Sprint was an amazing car and well ahead of its time, I would love to have another one now having been a lucky owner in the late seventies. The single OHC 16V design (direct buckets on inlet and rockers to exhausts) won a design council award in 1973 and was British innovation at its best.

I cherish my Dolomite 1850HL from 1980 along with my Rover 75 V6 from 2000. Both lovely British designs and a joy forever.

I was waiting for a race between them!

Britain made some really nice cars at one time but hopeless management with an adversarial union relationship was always a problem. Once the designs stopped being so desirable too, imports started looking very enticing.

The Dolomite sprint was the world's first 16 valve production car. They were one of the first to introduce "overdrive" too. Which is nothing more than fifth gear really. Lol. It was a quick car for its time. I'd love a mint example today. More for nostalgia than anything. Nothing beats a bit of nostalgia, being able to relive your childhood. Only this time from the driving seat instead of the back seat. Lol. 5 1/2 inch rims sounds hilarious today! Front spoiler to "keep it glued to the deck" 🤣 Yeeeeaaah right.

Both cars are designed by Giovanni Michelotti. Triumph could have been equal to BMW into the 1990s had it been built properly.

I owned CWK590K for a few years. Purchased from a truck driver in Tile Hill who utterly cared for it. Totally reliable and bloody fast since it weighed only 900kg.

It sounds bloody glorious.

I owned a dolomite sprint way back , it was a good car but did not like hot days in traffic.

The cars and the theme of Thames TV makes me so nostalgic for old British tv series like The Saint, The Persuaders, Department S, The Baron, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), The Champions etc. etc.

wow what extras: vinyl roof...a "sprint" badge!! what we settled for back then... my brother had one, a shame that he always had the bonnet open... :-( 4:11 no advantage as explained above. 1800 quid is about 21 grand in today's cash :-0 I bet the beemer held its value.

Key takeaway: "2 headlamps and 2 doors LESS" from the BM.

Good old Triumph Dolly. Great car, when it would start.

I always assumed that we Americans were behind the rest of the world because my father's VW Type 3 had mirrors on both sides, while the Fords and Chevys in our neighborhood only had one on the driver's side (the RH mirror wasn't required until the mid 1980s). But I've never seen a car anywhere with no outside mirrors at all. They must have sold a lot of those freaky front fender mirrors to the owners of these cars.

Leyland rear side in black color painted, I always liked that sport touch. Probablely that British car was designed by Pininfarina house. British TV quality of image is impresive, perfect colors, perfect white balance, sharp image, PAL system was simplely so much better than American NTSC. Greetings to all from tve far city of Santiago, Chile.

Got to be said,Dolomite looks better than the BMW.

A mate Nearly rolled a second hand Dolomite in 1977 when he was test driving it. Scared the crap out of me. The handling was diabolical

In the US we got all the gorgeous British 2 door sports cars, but never the beautiful 4 doors.

What a British car to match the Germans , please don’t tell Jeremy Clarkson it’ll only give him nightmares

My dad had one like this - same colour, the lot - in the 80s for a while. He didn't have it for too long as it went up in smoke, ironically outside a fire station. I can't remember the exact details, but I remember talk of the electrics causing it - presumably with a leaky fuel pipe in the mix.

those dolly sprint engines were great until you had to work on the exhaust manifold to downpipe bolts , it makes my back ache even thinking about it . im sure the car in this video is siting far to high , great armchair seats and a great dash though :)

Dolomite utterly streets ahead in every respect !!

Rake ánd reach adjustable steering in the 70's : impressive!

I worked with a bloke with an 1850. Used to transport 5 big lads across London with no probs. Great acceleration for a 1980 car.

My first job was at BL Cars. My manager had a Dolly Sprint as a company car. I loved driving it. Shame they didn't put the Sprint engine in the TR7.

Back then car reviews were so much better then the crap presented today, Totally honest, no nonsense. Unlike the crap we get where ALL the makes and models are presented as the best! None of their shortfalls / disadvantages are shown. The dolomite was quite advanced for its time, nice car!

Surely the entire purpose of having an adjustable steering wheel and column is so you can position it to not block the instruments? He’s pointing out the fault that the solution has removed.

In the motor trade it was known as the Doloshite lol

My crazy mate had about 20 cars in the space of 5 years.....each one was driven to destruction.....a sprint was one of them.......I nearly died several times!

127bhp was a big deal back then and 16valves was a big innovation at the time.

2 years later, triumph had the dolomite Sprint and BMW had the 323i

I grew up loving tr7s as a kid and ended up with a few tr7s and fitted sprint engines in them as it was an easy stop. In 1989 I swapped a lancia beta spider which I got for 250 quid for an early dolimite sprint which went well, but then I lost reverse in the gearbox and then to my HORROR the steering became disconnected from the steering rack due to the small clamp that connects it together. Considering I used to thrash it around with all my mates in it we could have all been killed so I sold it. I would still love another today though if I could find one at the right price. British receding green and the sunburnt orange and the mauve are my fave colours.

"Two headlamps and two doors less", not to mention less trips to the mechanic. Sigh, I wish this wasn't the case, but BL really could have been a competitor with some decent and consistent quality. If only....

That dolomite was 20 years ahead of its time.

When he lifted the bonnet he was checking the head gasket hadn't gone (again)!

BMW 2002's were not the vonderauto the passage of time has tended to make it. Their brakes sized, they rolled like a git when the suspension bushes wore and they rusted oh how they rusted. The triumphs were every bit as good a car and better trimmed inside. I was around and driving these at the time and this is purely a personal opinion. Also I learned to drive in a Triumph Herald so might just be bias

i owned a 1973 BMW 2002 , you could go 100 mph like you were standing still, awesome car

The Sprint was going to be called the Dolomite 136 , named after the power output, but it never got taken up

I was driving through Edinburgh one day under 30mph , after cruising through the countryside at national highway speed, when the back of my Dolomite rose in the air then past me rolled one of the back wheels. As the car sat in the middle of the road past drove a police car without stopping at all. what had happened is the nyloc nut holding the rear bearing assembly onto the half shaft had come loose - the bearing assembly moved out abit causing the woodruff key which locates the assembly on the half shaft to break then the whole lot came of the car leaving the axle half shaft sticking out the axle housing and the wheel bounced around the road. By luck across the road was a scrap yard where I used to get part for minis and they has some Dolomites - within 20 minutes I had another axle shaft in the car and the wheel bolted back on. So if your running around in an old Dolomite these days it would be an idea to keep an check on those nyloc nuts at the end of the axle shaft!

Tony has a real easy style, someone you can rely on

Never heard of Triumph Dolomite... But back then we were on the other side of the Iron Curtain. And yet BMW said us something. 🙂 Interesting color.

Hairy hill! Tony, electric cars. 0 to 80 in 3 seconds. I'm being flippant but I remember the Dolomite Sprint. It really did pull. I thought it was Italian for 40 years until I watched this!

The Rover 3500 engine fits in this. If only Triumph had made and sold a Dolomite 35000. They could have also done a nutter lightweight 2 door Toledo 3500.

Top Gear thrashed a Dolly. They couldn't afford to buy a good 2002, let alone hammer one. One has gained massively in value, one has not! And I know which of the two I would now own.

Such a perfect car. Rustproof one and its even better. (Dolomite)

I really like these Triumphs. Right, time to go look in the classic classifieds.