The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Im just wondering if like me that sprint ownership is a must have,but sometimes you're mint sprint isnt you're first choice of colour in a sprint ?so what about a exchange of sprint with you're first choice of colour with a fellow mint sprint owner for possibly a cash exchange either way

This works in theory, but breaks down in the face of the fact that most owners don't want a brown one, those that do want a brown one already have one and there is still a surplus of brown cars.

There is somewhere in the region of 550 surviving Sprints (including auto variants, another Marmite choice) in all colours, some more desirable than others. Of the 14 body colours (15 if you count the cost option of Black) listed as available for early cars, a few, namely Emerald Green, Mallard, Ice Blue and Delft Blue are exceedingly rare, none of the later colours have this rarity. I know of one car in original Ice Blue and have never seen or heard of, beyond rumour, of any of the others actually being applied to a new UK Sprint. But unless you want one of these unicorns there is usually plenty of choice, you just have to wait for the right colour to turn up on the market within reach of your budget.

Herein lies everyone's quandary, do you buy the wrong colour at the right price/time or wait too long and risk not being able to afford ANY colour later? If the colour is that important to you, you will wait and hope, if it isn't, then it's not a problem.

I'm a victim myself of this, I hate Red cars (not a fan of Brown either) yet 2 of my 3 Dolomites are Red, (1 Carmine and 1 Vermillion) not from choice, but because that was the colour of the car I could afford which came onto the market at the time I was looking. Colour is a long way down my personal priority list, though it does get a look in, my 3rd car is Slate Grey and the colour was the clincher to me buying it!

Steve

Brown? I like Maple, a lot!

There’s a lot more than 14 colours that the Sprint was sold in, I’m at over 20 just lying here going through them mentally!

The car they trashed on Top Gear was Emerald, but I believe Hammond bought/kept it afterwards.

I know of one Mallard car, though it’s currently Inca, possibly to return to original…

If your Sprint is Sandglow, you’re probably stuck with it!

I would love a sprint, any colour. But they are getting rarer and more spendy.

Happy enough to stick with my little 1500hl though.

In theory a car should be bought based on quality and not looks but lets be honest, if we were doing that would we really buy a car from the 1970's? You could pick up a modern banger for buttons, that would blow a Sprint into the weeds in every department and wouldn't rot.

So why buy a Sprint? Well it is for the way it looks, the way it sounds, the way it make you feel and shallow things like the colour play into that. I wish I could love a 1970's brown car but I just don't.

Though if you can get a car in the wrong colour, without rot, for the right price. You can always get a respray.

Though if you can get a car in the wrong colour, without rot, for the right price. You can always get a respray.

A good quality respray costs way more than the best Sprints ever used to change hands for!

Think you're missing the point i was trying to make ,sometimes an opportunity arises in life and you have to strike when you can,and it might not be on you're top priority of purchase list for a sprint but colour can be a big plus factor ,and as in some reply's you made the decision to purchase for the sheer pleasure of owning a sprint,and some people dont have the time to wait till someone decides to sell the sprint or dolomite of their dreams.so whould you exchange a sprint for a different colour and condition if it was available, now where did that lid go for the can of worms

I didn't miss your point, back in the late 1980's my aspiration was for an Inca Sprint with webasto and overdrive; I bought a Carmine one with neither (and there were a LOT more still surviving back then!)

I've had 103 dolomites so far, but still haven't owned the one I originally wanted; the only Inca Sprint I've owned was automatic with a tin roof!

So what are you offering, and what would you like in exchange?

xvivalve wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 7:56 am Brown? I like Maple, a lot!

There’s a lot more than 14 colours that the Sprint was sold in, I’m at over 20 just lying here going through them mentally!

The car they trashed on Top Gear was Emerald, but I believe Hammond bought/kept it afterwards.

I know of one Mallard car, though it’s currently Inca, possibly to return to original…

If your Sprint is Sandglow, you’re probably stuck with it!

OK I confess, I missed Sienna in the first count! 15 colours (not counting Black) on EARLY cars, ie pre 75, series 1, as listed in the pre 75 parts list for Sprint, other colours are listed for 1500FWD, Dolomite (ie pre HL 1850) and Toledo models, I discounted these as the OP was specifying Sprint.

Later cars, not counting carry over colours like Pimento, Carmine and 19 White comes to a further 10 named colours though there are different codes for the same name on some of them. I've discounted these double entries as they mostly represent the change from old style Triumph 2 number codes to the later BL 3 letter codes. There are some exceptions, Vermillion has 2 x 3 letter codes, CAE and CML but my painter says the recipe is identical for both, so again, only counts once. There are 6 official shades of Russet (in reality I suspect there are many more) but only 2 codes, 93 and AAE, so again, only counts once!

I'm not convinced Hammond's car is (or was) Emerald, I rewatched the show on youtube and it looks more like a faded BRG to me. Since they paid for the cars with their own money, it's entirely possible the car is still lurking in a shed in Gloucestershire somewhere. If he hasn't sold it to help pay for his latest folly "The Smallest Cog".

There are only 2 Black cars that I know of and one of those is almost certainly a repaint, not original.

There is also a lone T reg Sprint auto floating around in "Aqua" a sort of pale seafoam green, i've only seen pics of this car and it looks like it could be original or, more probably, a very good bare metal respray. Aqua is not mentioned anywhere in Dolomite specs, but I believe it gets a mention in early TR7 parts lists.

Steve

So you're still missing the point after 103 dolomites you still not got the one , what im saying is ,is it possible to exchange like for like but a different colour ,for a fellow sprint owner to enjoy like me who was fortunate to own a sprint when i was 19 years old back in 1983 when the club was very young and i was a member and the days of SODIT

Carledo wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 9:28 pm

xvivalve wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 7:56 am Brown? I like Maple, a lot!

There’s a lot more than 14 colours that the Sprint was sold in, I’m at over 20 just lying here going through them mentally!

The car they trashed on Top Gear was Emerald, but I believe Hammond bought/kept it afterwards.

I know of one Mallard car, though it’s currently Inca, possibly to return to original…

If your Sprint is Sandglow, you’re probably stuck with it!

OK I confess, I missed Sienna in the first count! 15 colours (not counting Black)

From the top of my head without reference to colour charts:

Mimosa
Inca
White
Carmine
Honeysuckle
Sandglow
Maple
Russet
Pimento
French Blue
Ice Blue
Delft Blue
Sapphire
Flamenco
Vermilion
Emerald
BRG
Brooklands
Pageant Blue
Magenta
Mallard

Rgf wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 10:24 pm So you're still missing the point after 103 dolomites you still not got the one , what im saying is ,is it possible to exchange like for like but a different colour ,for a fellow sprint owner to enjoy like me who was fortunate to own a sprint when i was 19 years old back in 1983 when the club was very young and i was a member and the days of SODIT

Yes it is possible, but what are you offering and what do you want? Unless you disclose that information, it would remain impossible.

I'm not convinced Hammond's car is (or was) Emerald, I rewatched the show on youtube and it looks more like a faded BRG to me.

The guy the BBC bought it from was on here at the time; it was Emerald with a grey interior.

I've seen a Sienna 1850, but was it an option on the Sprint?

Isn’t it funny that the best colours are the rarest?
Ice, Delft, Sapphire

Whilst I do know at least one exists, I have never seen a Valencia blue Dolomite.
I think a Sprint would look good in this colour…?




Ian

xvivalve wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 11:33 pm

I'm not convinced Hammond's car is (or was) Emerald, I rewatched the show on youtube and it looks more like a faded BRG to me.

The guy the BBC bought it from was on here at the time; it was Emerald with a grey interior.

I've seen a Sienna 1850, but was it an option on the Sprint?

Ok i'll give you that! But if it survives, it's probably now one of 1, in the UK at least (think Jeroen has one too, a LHD example)

I owned a Sienna 1850, was my first Dolomite and was actually a non HL Dolomite registered on a 75 P plate, so the colour was still in use during the reign of the series 1 Sprint and the earlier palette. It's listed in the '75 Sprint parts list as a possible colour, beyond that I don't know.

The 15 series 1 colours are:-

Pimento (72) Carmine (82) Magenta (92)
Sienna (23) Maple (83)
Mimosa (64)
Emerald (65) 75 BRG (75)
Sapphire (96) Mallard (106) Ice blue (116) French Blue (126) Delft (136)
White (19) Honeysuckle (39)

With the 76 range rationalization came a colour pallette revision, colours retained from the early palette are:-

Pimento, Carmine, 75BRG, White and Honeysuckle.

Colours added are :-

Flamenco (CAD) Vermillion (CAE/CML) NOTE Flamenco was only used for a single year between 77 and 78.
Russet (93/AAE) Sandglow (AAJ)
Inca (94/FAB)
Brooklands (HAE)
Tahiti (146/JAE) Pageant (JAG)
Leyland white (NAF) Porcelain (NCG)

25 colours in total.

Given my "druthers" i'd ruther have French blue or Sapphire than the Vermillion I have!

Steve