In the 1983 film Blue Thunder, Roy Scheider’s character famously assessed his sanity by comparing his intuited perception of time against a stopwatch. Here we have an eBay auction that is an equally sure test of your sanity: The supposed numero uno of British Leyland’s 1978 fleet of North American “prototype” (or somewhat more accurately, “test-market”) TR8 coupes.

Nowadays, it’s fashionable to mock the Flying Wedge as an unreliable pile of steaming modern-art-era styling excess. I am personally a member of the sizable minority that actually finds the look of the TR7/8 coupe shape rather pleasing — even more-so than the drophead version. And yes, the TR7 was an unreliable mess, but lots of your fellow Hoonatics have declared the light, compact Rover V8 a pretty enticing motor.

This unrestored example has only racked up a skosh over 30,000 miles. Except for obviously scuffed-up interior door panels, it seems to be a great “twenty-foot’er.” Nevertheless, the seller has (wisely or not) included some close-up detail pictures that prove that the tin worm has found the expected foothold here and there. Somewhat confusingly, the body currently wears full TR8 decal regalia, which was originally absent on the ’78 test fleet.
There’s a tiny kernel in my brain that is telling me I would really enjoy owning this car. That’s kind of scary, but I still feel satisfyingly sane because the rest of my gray matter can recognize that that tiny part is totally freakin’ nuts and quickly puts it’s proverbial fingers in its proverbial ears while singing the “na-na-na-na-I’m-not-listening” song.

As of Friday afternoon, bidding is just over $5,600.00. How much would you spend on gently used TR8 coupe, and does this one’s supposed lowest serial number designation make it more valuable to you?
You can find the auction here.