The Triumph Motor Company
In 1930 the company changed its name to the Triumph
Motor Company. It was clear to Holbrook that there was no
future in pursuing the mass manufacturers and so decided to
take the company upmarket with the Southern Cross and
Gloria ranges. At first these used engines made by Triumph
but designed by Coventry
Climax but from 1937 they started to make them to their
own designs by Donald
Healey who had become the company’s Experimental
Manager in 1934.
The company hit financial problems however and in 1936
the Triumph bicycle and motorcycle businesses were sold,
the latter to Jack Sangster
of Ariel
to become Triumph
Engineering Co. Ltd.. Healey purchased an Alfa
2.3 and developed an ambitious new car with an Alfa
inspired Straight-8
engine called the Triumph Dolomite.
In July 1939, the Triumph Motor Company went into
receivership and the factory, equipment and goodwill were
offered for sale. T.W. Ward
purchased the company and placed Healey in charge as
general manager, but the effects of World
War II again stopped the production of cars and the
Priory Street works was completely destroyed by bombing in
1940.
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Standard Triumph
After the war, in 1945 what was left of the Triumph
Motor Company and the Triumph brand name was bought by Standard
Motor Company and a subsidiary "Triumph Motor
Company (1945) Limited" was formed with production
transferred to Standard's factory. The pre-war models were
not revived and in 1946 a new range of Triumphs starting
with the 1800 was announced. Because of steel shortages
these were bodied in aluminium which was plentiful because
of its use in aircraft production.
Triumph Motor Company Information from Answers.com |
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The
1946 Triumph Roadster was an oddity in
many respects. Built from Birmabright- an aircraft type
aluminium alloy commonly used in aircraft construction
during the war- on an ash frame, and mounted on a tubular
steel ladder frame chassis, it boasted a "dickey
seat" arrangement in the boot. |
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car was designed in the closing days of World War II,
shortly before Triumph was bought by the Standard Motor
Company. The Managing Director, Sir John Black, wanted a
sports car to take on Jaguar who had used Standard engines
in the pre-war period. Frank Callaby was selected to style
the new car and after getting Black's approval, he and
Arthur Ballard produced working drawings. The design
process for the bodywork was a bit weird, in that Callaby
was responsible for the front end design, and Ballard
for the rear. Mechanical design was by Ray Turner. After
the war steel shortages made life very difficult for all
engineering companies. |
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Strangely,
aluminium alloys were relatively easily available.
Furthermore, Standard and Triumph had been accustomed
during the war years to fabrication in aluminium. And so
the body of the Triumph Roadster was built from aluminium
using rubber press tools that had been used making parts
for the largely wooden bodied Mosquito bomber built by
Standard during the war. The chassis was a welded
fabrication from steel tube. The engine was based on a 1.5
Litre, four cylinder Standard design which had been
supplied to Jaguar before the war, but stretched to 1800cc
capacity. A four speed gearbox with synchromesh on the top
three ratios was used. |
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tubular steel chassis featured transverse leaf sprung
independent suspension at the front and a live axle with
half elliptic springs at the rear. The rear track was
considerably narrower than the front. Brakes were
hydraulic, twin leading shoe, with a tiny hydraulic
cylinder capacity (shoes were in permanent light contact
with the brake drums, and brake piston movement was
minimal). The body design was a throw-back to pre war
times. Large individual chrome headlamps and a chromed
feature radiator complemented large swept wings (which
incidentally were steel pressings). |
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Passenger
accommodation was on a bench seat that seated three,
with a column mounted gear change with a very finicky
disposition.. Additional room for two was provided at the
rear in a pair of Dickey Seats with its own folding
windscreen. The dickey seat passengers were not protected
by the hood from the elements. Entry and exit to the Dickey
seat was strictly for the nimble and small of stature, and
a step was provided on the rear bumper. With passengers
occupying the dickey seats, boot luggage capacity was next
to zero. |
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