The 2 litre eight valve TR7 was launched in America in January 1975 as a hardtop due to American safety legistation. The car's European debut did not come until May 1976 some seventeen months later! of which the main variant was to be a convertible, which would appear in the USA from July 1979. Manufacturer of the TR7 eventually ceased in October 1981 after just 112,375 car had been built.