1983 Triumph Acclaim HL from UK and Ireland - Comments

A very small amount of rust on the wheel arches and sills, but not very much at all.

The only thing I ever added is an exhaust and a new air filter after 17 years running!

A fine car, quite nippy and it looks the business. Can easily pass my friend's Nova. It also took his Citroen AX and his Renault 5, until he crashed them trying not to be left too far behind by me.

My first car was a Triumph Acclaim, I loved it to bits for all of the same reasons.

Also - who cares if devout Triumph owners club fanatics claim it is not a 'Real' Triumph, after all, it's their loss!

Respect.

Very underrated car, and perfect for us skinflints! I had a water pump go, but I'd gladly swap my Renault 21 for another clean example.

I agree with all of your points, the Triumph Acclaim is a class vehicle, mine has had no problems and is a very capable little car!

It may not be a "Real" Triumph according to those devotees, but at least it was built properly and worked when you wanted it to. I had one for a while and it was totally reliable.

The designers came up with an amazing car when they thought of the Acclaim. Totally reliable, quick, and smooth. Very under-rated.

Truly great cars - big hearts and good friends. Unfortunately difficult to obtain spares - looks like mine is on the way out, does anyone need for spares, as the idea of taking him to a scrap yard kills me. Contact Steve Kent on 01604 624425 or stevekent@breathemail.net.

I have one of these wicked little cars, but need to fix it up first! It needs a new cylinder head/engine and I'm in search of one, can anyone help?

I'm on fumochu@yahoo.com

Thanks, adios, Mo.

The Acclaim I have is a semi auto. New rings fitted after I bought it. Now it's very reliable, doesn't look much, but I don't care, it gets me to where I want to go and back.

The semi auto box was ahead of its time. I've gone off manual gears now. An excellent cheap, reliable car - recommended.

Yes, I have owned two Acclaims, and I quite agree. Both were sound vehicles, and very well designed. It can keep up with some larger engined cars, and is smooth and completely reliable. A top choice for all 18 year olds, maybe. Indeed, it may not be a true Triumph, but it's a better car than the rest of them!

Its hard to believe that the Acclaim was on sale at BL dealers the same time as the last Ital's! I can remember the Acclaim being launched and at the time feeling very positive about the future of Leyland, and the future of car making in the UK.

The Acclaim represented the start of the great Honda/Rover partnership of the 1990's, it's still a fine car today if you can find one. I have a £150 82' CD Triomatic with 48,000 on the clock and its utterley reliable and great to drive even at 20 odd years old - and runs on unleaded with no problems or adjustments!

The acclaim was something of a milestone - the first "modern" car BL made, it proved that the british workforce could build a well made, reliable car even after the horrors of the 1970's. A very underated machine, even if as the man said, it's not a real Triumph.

I have a 1983 Triumph Acclaim and it's a pleasure to drive, very fast and nimble, but now I am starting to have carburetor problems. Does anyone know where I can find a carburetor rebuild kit for the Keihin carbs on this car?

You may find that the carbs are just out of balance and need setting up. I have rebuilt a set of these before (a 20 year old set) and they were pretty much perfect inside. Try stripping them down and giving them a clean, then get them balanced and have the CO level set. They're really simple carbs to work on, you should have no trouble at all.

Triumph Acclaims are superb cars, I had one of these for just over 2 years, never once let me down in 33,000 miles. I had talked to previous owners and my mate was the last owner (terminal rust killed it quite recently), and it seemed that this car had a pretty much unblemished reliability record in all its 23 years. Truly well engineered and reliable, and so lovely to drive.

That gusty sounding 'fireball' engine is a great, with a well refined little car built around it. Economical, reliable, nice to drive, and well engineered and equally well built. They will litterally keep on going until the rust makes the body panels fall off. Excellent car even though sadly underrated, BL's little hero.

My Dad had an acclaim HLS which was the best car he had ever had and the most modern compared to other cars. He didn't like bothering with the hassle of brand new cars, but saw this one at the local body repair shop (he was good friends with the owner). It had been "written off" because of a damaged wing, but the repair shop had made a very good repair and respray and my Dad snapped it up. I think I was about 1986 when he got it and probably mid to late '90's when it finally gave up the ghost after being a good reliable workhorse. The windscreen wiper brackets rusted away and were very tricky to repair. but other than that the car went like stink, handled well and was very VERY quiet. You could even hear the whirr/ticking of the little clock in the centre console at 80 mph. Have some good memories of that car.

My 1983 Acclaim HLS is still running today. I have owned since 7 Years Old, and she now had 224,000 Miles one her. All I have replaced are two engine mounts, all four shocks, water pump, alternator, starter and one clutch. My local Pub Landlord is very pleased that I still have no car loan. I did dent her 2 summers ago. I reversed into a loaded skip one evening. This was easily repaired by sledge hammering the boot out. I wish they still made cars like these.

My first car was a Triumph Acclaim. The thing went for ever and was nippy as buggery. Shame it was written off in an accident and was used as a skip for the short remainder of it's life.

I loved everything about that car - everything from the gearstick knob that vibrated worryingly to the eerie green glow in the ash-tray.

Greatest car I've ever driven.