Listers
I sent the article below as an attachment to the list a few days back, but
it didn't seem to get through. I suspect my own incompetence with Internet
Mail - Bill Gates and the mob at Microsoft hadn't bargained for a Triumph
man who only understood cars when they wrote the program. If we'd had swing
axles, early fuel injection and gobbledegook steering systems and LUCAS as
icons on my toolbar, things might have been different - and worked as they
should!
Enjoy.
TRIUMPH ON FOUR WHEELS
(This article appeared in The Daily Telegraph in England on June 6 1998)
Last weekend, the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon was completely overrun by
enthusiasts arriving for Triumph's 75th birthday party. So many people
turned up that the police insisted that they be let in free in order to
clear the local roads. As a result, nobody knows how many cars were there;
estimates put the figure at around 2000 and it seems certain that this was
the largest and most representative gathering of Triumphs ever seen in one
place.
Many people think of Triumph as essentially a post-war name, attached to
reasonably priced cars that were often fast, usually pretty, and offered a
clever mix of tradition and innovation. But Triumph's pre-war cars also
enjoyed considerable success.
The oldest survivor of the company's modest pre- 1940 production total of
around 35000 cars is an astonishing 1923 Triumph 10/20. This example of
the Warwickshire motorcycle maker's first proper motor car (a three wheeler
was offered in 1903) is technically unremarkable, but what surprises, is
its fantastic unrestored condition; the spare tyre is the original fitment,
the hood is almost unmarked and the leather spring-gaiters haven't been
touched in fully 75 years.
The 10/20 is one of those time capsule cars, and current owner Jim Kinghan,
of Ballynahinch in County Down knows exactly why it is so perfectly
preserved. "I remember seeing the car when I was a boy, and the man who
owned it was very particular. Even if he saw someone he knew on the way to
Church he wouldn't give them a lift for fear of marking the upholstery."
Kingham says that his car is "beautiful" to drive and that its "more
comfortable than a Mini." These days the unique 10/20 doesn't take to the
road, but delightful details such as the gradient meter on the dash, which
Kingham reports was used as a puncture warning, add enormously to its
period charm.
However, like most pre-war Triumphs, the 10/20 wasn't what you'd call a
sales success and a steep list price of £430 (US$688 at present exchange
rates JM) meant that it was a year before the 1923 Triumph was sold to its
first owner. Only the Super Seven model of the late 1920's and early 1930's
sold in any substantial numbers, and like all but the very earliest
Triumphs they boasted hydraulic brakes combined with a bit more room than
an Austin Seven.
In fact Triumph had already begun to develop more performance-oriented cars
by the time the dashing Donald healey arrived in 1933. And looking at the
Dolomite roadsters of the late 1930's with their glorious 'waterfall'
radiators, as well as Rob Green's stunning 1938 Flow-Free Vitesse two litre
saloon, its hard to understand how the company ended up in receivership
when it was producing such lovely cars.
In truth, Triumph was probably too small to survive, but at least the
company did begin to establish its sporting credentials before it folded.
Healey himself was a previous Monte Carlo Rally winner and perhaps the most
fascinating car on show at Gaydon was the 1935 Triumph Dolomite Straight
Eight that he designed and raced.
Alan Hart, whose father was Triumph's Transport Manager in the 1930's, told
me that the Straight Eight was a near-copy of the Alfa romeo 8C. But
Healey's homage to the mighty Alfa didn't bring him much luck in the next
Monte.
"Healey was approaching a level crossing and he tried to outrun the train
but he didn't make it and the car was cut in half" says Hart. "Afterwards,
the whole project folded and the two remaining cars were sold."
After the war, Triumph was rescued by Standard, under Sir John Black; his
drive, not to mention some hard cash, revitalised the marque. Triumph
really hit its stride with the TR sports cars, which proved strong and
quick enough to challenge in international racing and rallying. The factory
TR2 team stacked up a pile of silverware at its first event, the 1954
Alpine Rally, while a semi-works TR2 finished 15th overall at Le Mans in
the same year; the company later made much of the fact that their car had
averaged 34 miles per gallon.
That startling statistic demonstrates the fact that motorsport was often as
much of a shoestring activity as any other form of driving in the 1950's
and nick james gave me a guided tour of his 1956 TR3 to prove the point.
"Peter Bolton drove this car in the 1958 Monte and was actually lying
second overall until he hit a snowbank, but apart from a couple of tiny
changes the car was always completely standard," he says. "The mechanics
just went down to Dover, switched the headlamps over so they dipped the
other way, and that was that."
Cash was always very short at Triumph, and the company performed miracles
just to keep going in the 1950's and 1960's. Chief Engineer Harry Webster
brought in talented Italian stylist Giovanni Michelotti, who transformed
Triumph designs from stodgy to snappy - the Herald of 1959 was an instant
winner. Using old fashioned separate-chassis construction out of necessity,
Triumph was able to offerr the Herald saloon, convertible, estate and coupe
options, plus the sporty Spitfire and GT6 derivatives - widespread practice
now with common floorpans for different cars. All-independent suspension
and a type-crabbing 25 foot turning circle were among other innovations
built into the Herald chassis.
While the front suspension design was widely copied by road and race car
builders, the cheap swing axle rear was blamed for handling problems.
Today's drivers seem unconcerned, however Isobel Timms owns an immaculate
Mk 3 Spitfire and she has a delightfully sensible approach to her car's
limitations. "I've driven Spitfires since I was a student, and I was told
never to brake in corners," she says, "so I never do."
The lack of money meant that Triumph missed many opportunities;
ground-breaking road cars such as Michelotti's ultra-modern hatchback,
drawn in 1964, never progressed beyond the drawing board, and even the
prototype for the spitfire sat under a dustsheet for a couple of years
before Leyland bought Standard Triumph; new MD Stanley Markland took one
look at the pretty tweo-seater and ordered it into production in 1962.
It was a good decision; the Spitfire remained in production until 1980,
achieving export success, outselling the Midget (MG's most popular model)
and acquitting itself well in international rallying and at Le Mans.
With the Vitesse, Triumph created the "hot hatch" of the 1960's. Squeezing
a two litre six-cylinder engine into the Herald made a great fun car, even
if the extra power meant a driver needed skill when cornering hard;
Triumph's 'fix' for the Mk 2 version - using the transverse leaf spring as
an upper wishbone, like early Cooper formula One cars - was an ingenious
low cost solution and transformed the handling of both the Vitesse and the
GT6. That smooth straight-six went into the innovative 2000 range. We take
fuel injection for granted now, but in 1967 when the TR5 and 2.5PI were
introduced, it was revolutionary; only exotica like the Mercedes Gullwing
had used it before.
The Stag was another promising machine, and Triumph couldn't resist putting
this Michelotti showpiece into production. The four-seater luxury tourer
was a new direction but its burbling V8 engine, derived from the Dolomite
design became a millstone around Triumph's neck when cost-cutters
speciified low grade aluminium alloy for the cylinder heads, leading to
severe corrosion problems.
More ignominy followed for the marque that had once looked as if it might
compete against BMW. The superb TR8 and planned for seater derivatives were
canned, the venerable Spitfire and the TR7 were discontinued in the early
1980's and only the inappropriately-named Acclaim, a re-badged Honda
Ballade (but the best selling triumph since the Herald), was left to see
Triumph out in 1984.
Despite this decline, it was the fervent wish of many at Gaydon that
Triumph should one day return. It seems unlikely: a rover spokesman said
"we don't have any plans to use the name at present"' and if owner BMW does
decide to revive an old British badge, it will probably be Austin Healey.
But even if a Triumph revival were on the cards, it is hard to imagine BMW
coming up with something worthy of the marque, something that would put
Rover and MG in the shade. Triumph's name is probably safer in the hands of
those thousands of enthusiasts who spend their weekends with the real
thing.
END
John Macartney
http://www.toolbox.ndirect.co.uk/triumphbook
This is THE BOOK in which even MORE "Life At Triumph" stories appear
And a MASSIVE CHUNK of entirely NEW material
The book is looking for Sales Agents globally
Become one and earn yourself (or your CLUB) some useful incremental funds!
ORDER LINE STAYS OPEN UNTIL SEPTEMBER 30, 1998
The book will NOT be available from shops - only from the Author and Agents
http://www.toolbox.ndirect.co.uk/plates
Give your Triumph "The Coventry Look"
|