Triumph Toledo Buying Tips

The Rovering Member

Well-Known Member
Who has any? My stepson & girlfriend seem to be hankering after one.
He had a Mk1 Fiesta a few years back as you may or may not recall. More recently he had a motorbike which somebody pulled out in front of a few weeks back. No serious injury but it looks like the insurance compensation is going to be spent on a small classic & the sights seem to be set on a Toledo. I don't know anything too specific about them bar a good prod at the body parts & a general drive around noise & shakability test. Prices seem to be around the £2.5/3k mark.
I've seen a tidy Mk1 1300 FWD for that which l would plump for over the later car but thats me & l guess they're a little more complex than the later RWD car. I do have good recollections of the BSM Dolomites l had my driving lessons in, l'm guessing they were 1300's. They seemed nice, comfortable little cars.

What tips are to be had from you chaps?
 
Hi, Without appearing rude, do some more research. Because the FWD, the Toledo and the Dolomite are all different and some parts are not interchangeable. The FWD is a bit more complicated and slower because it has a subframe and one off gearbox / transaxle. The Toledo and Dolomite are different lengths broadly speaking in the bonnet because of the different engines offered and boot area. They are nice economical and comfy cars.

Colin
 
We had a 1500TC & 1500HL (both RWD) many years ago.

Both were good cars & relatively straight forward, but I can’t comment on rust etc as they were both in pretty good nick that way, except round the headlights, which was my first welding experience :confused:

As Colin says, comfy cars indeed!
 
I never really liked the FWD back in the day, but the Toledo was better, and the Dolomites a step up from those. I always thought they drove well (Dolomites) and were really quite nice inside where you spend all your driving time. The 1500 pushrod engine is weak and not very long-lived, the slant engine is better but has its own problems. IIRC Dolomites had 2 types of manual gearboxes, one of which was very weak. The BW65 autos are pretty good though. They all like to rust, and aren't particularly well served with panels. So personally I'd steer clear of the FWD, some jobs on them can be a PITA.

Some parts used to be really expensive back in the day, but then they were genuine, now they are repro, but still expensive .
 
Ta muchly.

It won't be a FWD, that's just what l'd tend to go for, it being a little more of an interesting design. ;) l guessed it would be a bit more complex though.

It'll be a Toledo or l guess a 1300 Dolly. He's mainly looking at the former AFAIK. Best to keep it small & simple as possible I think, small engine for insurance & London parking permit costs. Not sure if an auto is being considered, it's an option. Of course rust is often a big problem, sills & apparently the bulkhead can suffer. He's checking the owners forum & been in contact about this one:

triumph toledo | eBay

Looks ok, some large panel gaps maybe, new front panels mentioned. Never welded apparently with some surface rust. We'll see, might take a run up to view it.
 
As long as the above isn't from wikipedia I stand corrected, after all, I did say I didn't remember them, not that they weren't available.

The 1300 is a far better engine than the 1500
 
In the 70's I had a 1300 Toledo as company car. Pleasant car, went on for ever, never any trouble. Good handling with advanced, for BL 70's suspension.
1300 FWD was a completely different beast, much more luxurious trim, and more to go wrong.
have not seen either on the road for ages.
For a hobby classic, I would go for the 1300 FWD. For a daily driver, the more basic Toledo. For performance, what about a Dolomite? I remember works 1800's in saloon racing.
 
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