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. The 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.  Strangely, aluminium alloys were relatively ealily 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.  The 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).  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.