Although it is most known as a British carmaker and motorcycle manufacturer, Triumph was founded by a German immigrant, Nuremberg-born Siegfried Bettmann, as a reseller of imported bicycles and sewing machines. The firm was originally called the S. Bettmann & Co. Import Agency, but in 1886, Bettmann adopted the trade name Triumph, and the company subsequently became the Triumph Cycle Co. Ltd. By the 1890s, Triumph was manufacturing its own bicycles in a factory in Coventry. It offered its first motorcycle in 1902 and its first three-wheeler in 1903, but four-wheeled passenger cars didn't follow until April 1923, about two years after Bettmann bought out the defunct Dawson Car Company works on Clay Lane in Stoke Heath, a northeastern suburb of Coventry.

By the 1930s, the Triumph Motor Co. Ltd. (as it had been registered since 1930) offered a variety of upscale four- and six-cylinder models, even dabbling briefly with an eight-cylinder sports car, the Dolomite, designed by experimental engineer Donald Healey. Despite its proliferation of products, however, Triumph's volume was never large -- total prewar production amounted to fewer than 50,000 units -- and the Depression made slow sellers of expensive cars like the 16 HP Gloria Six, whose price would buy three Ford Model Y saloons. The sale of the cycle business in 1936 provided only limited relief, and by the summer of 1939, Triumph was in receivership. That September, it was purchased by Thomas W. Ward Ltd., a steel-making firm, but the outbreak of war stymied plans to resume production under the management of Donald Healey. Triumph's Gloria Lane factory was sold to the government, while the original Clay Lane works were leased to Armstrong Whitworth for the manufacture of military aircraft. The latter was decimated by the Luftwaffe in November 1940, and there was little left by the time the Standard Motor Company purchased the Triumph name and remaining assets in 1944.


The first Standard-built Triumphs were the razor-edged 1800 Town and Country saloon and 1800 Roadster, both launched in early 1946. The Roadster, designed by Standard's Frank Callaby, had a wood-framed aluminum body on a tubular steel chassis, independent front suspension, and a 1,776 cc (108 cu. in.) OHV four, with 63 horsepower (47 kW).

The initial postwar Triumphs, now built at the Standard works in Canley/Fletchamstead, a southwestern suburb of Coventry, were wholly unrelated to their prewar predecessors, using Standard engines and running gear. The early postwar cars were fairly expensive, aimed at the Jaguar 1-1/2 Litre (which used the same engine), but they were supplemented from 1949 by the tiny and much cheaper Mayflower sedan, developed for a vain assault on the American market.

By 1950, Standard managing director Sir John Black was keen to add an MG-style sports car to the line. After a failed attempt to buy Morgan, Standard-Triumph developed its own in-house design, the Triumph TR2. Introduced in Geneva in early 1953, the TR2 was an eccentric-looking but rugged roadster, powered by a well-massaged version of Standard's big four. The TR2 was somewhat more expensive than an MG TF, but a good deal faster, capable of perhaps 103 mph (165 km/h) in stock form. With its muscular performance and a reasonable price, the TR2 and its TR3 and TR3A successors found many fans in the UK and abroad.

Nonetheless, by 1960, Standard-Triumph's finances were shaky, overextended by new model development costs and recent expansions, including additional assembly facilities in Canley and a new factory in Speke, in southeastern Liverpool. A suddenly drop in export sales forced massive layoffs and production cuts, and in December, the board agreed to a merger with a better-funded partner, truck and bus manufacturer Leyland Motors. The merger was initially quite cordial, but as Standard-Triumph's losses continued to mount, the new owners began to exert greater control. In August 1961, Leyland dismissed most of Standard-Triumph's directors and sacked hundreds of senior executives, replacing them with Leyland people like Donald Stokes, who would be appointed Standard-Triumph managing director in 1963.


The facelifted TR3 replaced the TR2 in August 1953, with a new grille and other minor changes. This is a TR3A, which superseded the TR3 in the fall of 1957. It can be distinguished from the earlier car by its wider grille and external door handles. Like late TR3s, it had standard Girling front disc brakes and a 1,991 cc (122 cu. in.) four with 100 hp (75 kW).

Under Leyland management, Standard-Triumph abandoned the Standard marque and introduced a range of new Triumph models, including the compact Herald and Vitesse, the Herald-based Spitfire roadster, the 2000 executive saloon, and the front-wheel-drive 1300, all developed by Triumph chief engineer Harry Webster and designed by Turin's Giovanni Michelotti. Leyland further bolstered its passenger car offerings with the acquisition of Rover in 1967. Although the 2000 and Rover P6 were direct rivals, Triumph and Rover each had models and expertise the other did not. Together, they commanded a respectable 10.6% of the British market, and Leyland had ambitious plans to boost Triumph production to as many as 200,000 units per year.

By the autumn of 1967, an additional merger was in the works. The Wilson government was pushing for a consolidation of Leyland and British Motor Holdings, which included BMC (Austin/Morris/MG/Riley/Wolseley) and Jaguar. The merger was completed in the spring of 1968, with Donald Stokes becoming chairman of the new British Leyland Motor Corporation (BL). Triumph managing director George Turnball was reassigned to run the new Volume Car and Light Commercial Division (Austin-Morris), with Harry Webster replacing Alec Issigonis as Austin-Morris chief engineer. Triumph, meanwhile, was grouped with Rover and Jaguar in a new Specialty Division, with Cliff Swindle replacing Turnball as managing director and Rover's Spenser (Spen) King succeeding Harry Webster as technical director.


Although most American readers will be more familiar with Triumph's sports cars, the company's other models were its bread and butter in the home market. This is a 1968 Vitesse 2-litre Mk 2, a plusher six-cylinder version of the compact Herald, trading the Herald's four-cylinder engine for a 1,998 cc (122 cu. in.) six. Some earlier Vitesse 1600 and Mk 1 2-litres were exported to the U.S. (as the Triumph Sports Six), but not the 1968-1971 Mk 2, which had more power and an improved rear suspension, borrowed from the GT6 Mk 2/GT6+.

Among the pressing issues for the new administration was determining the direction of Triumph's new model development. While the saloons did well in the UK, the company's export business depended heavily on the sports cars, which by the late sixties included the popular four-cylinder Spitfire, the six-cylinder GT6 coupe, and the 'big' TR roadster; the Michelotti-styled, V8-powered Stag was then in development for a 1970 debut. With the exception of the Stag, all were becoming a bit gray at the temples -- even the new TR6, introduced in January 1969, was essentially a Karmann facelift of the TR5/TR250, itself a six-cylinder make-over of the 1961-vintage TR4 -- and their future was further complicated by emerging U.S. safety and emissions standards.

(To be continued...)

# # #

Information on the development and history of the TR7 and TR8 came from Keith Adams, "Feature: Triumph TRs, 30 years on -- The end of the line," Octane, October 2011, http://www.classicandperformancecar.com/features/ octane_features/274030/feature_triumph_trs_30_years_on.html, accessed 3 January 2012, "In-house designs: Triumph SD2" (14 June 2011, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/06/14/concepts-triumph-sd2/ accessed 4 January 2012), "People: Spen King" (13 December 2002, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/08/28/people-spen-king/, accessed 11 January 2012), "Sports car projects: Triumph" (25 June 2011, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/06/25/sports-car-projects-triumph/, accessed 4 January 2012), and "The cars: Triumph TR7/TR8" (6 August 2011, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/08/06/the-cars-triumph-tr7tr8/, accessed 4 January 2012); Andy's TR7 Website, http://www.andys-tr7.co.uk, accessed 4 January 2012; The Auto Editors of Consumer Guide, "1962-1976 Triumph TR" (4 September 2007, HowStuffWorks.com, http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1962-1976-triumph-tr.htm, accessed 5 January 2012); "Buffum's TR7 Wins 1977 Pro Rally Championship" Triumph Newsletter, Triumph Sports Owners Association, December 1977 (Vol. 23, No. 6), pp. 31-35; Marcus Chambers, Stuart Turner, and Peter Browning, BMC Competitions Department Secrets (Dorchester, Dorset: Veloce Publishing Ltd., 2005); Michael Cook, Triumph Cars in America (Osceola, WI: MBI Publishing Co., 2001); Mike Covello, Standard Catalog of Imported Cars 1946-2002 (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2001; Second Edition); Mark Dixon, "Triumph or disaster?" Popular Classics, April 1993, pp. 43-46; Jim Dunne, "Detroit Report: TR7 convertible and TR8," Popular Science, July 1979 (Vol. 216, No. 1), p. 26, retrieved via Google Books, http://books.google.com/books?id=NQEAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26, accessed 4 January 2012; Jim Dunne and Ray Hill, "Small sports cars: big on handling and economy," Popular Science, October 1976 (Vol. 209, No. 4), pp. 32-38, retrieved via Google Books, books.google.com/books?id=HwEAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA32, accessed 4 January 2012; Jim Dunne and Ed Jacobs, "Mid-price sports cars--six exciting performers," Popular Science, November 1979 (Vol. 215, No. 5), pp. 43-50, retrieved via Google Books, http://books.google.com/books?id=QQEAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA43, accessed 4 January 2012; "Early TR7 Sprint Competition Cars" (2003, TR Drivers Club, http://www.trdrivers.com/early_tr7_sprint_competition_c.html, accessed 23 January 2012); "Five is alive! Triumph TR7" Hot Car, March 1977, pp. 50-51; Graham Fountain, "TR7 Sprint Report," TR Driver, 1991, http://www.trdrivers.com/tr7_sprint_article_-_1991.html, accessed 4 January 2012; Bill Hartford, "Imports & Motorsports: Automatic TR7," Popular Mechanics, May 1977 (Vol. 147, No. 5), pp. 68-69, retrieved via Google Books, http://books.google.com/books?id=COQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA68, accessed 4 January 2012; Richard Gunn, "People: Harris Mann" (28 August 2011, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/08/28/people-harris-mann/, accessed 10 January 2012); Ed Jacobs, "Sleek English convertible - V8 power for new TR8," Popular Science, July 1980 (Vol. 217, No. 1), p. 28, retrieved via Google Books, http://books.google.com/books?id=bfLnBTJ2nkYC&pg=PA28, accessed 4 January 2012; Jonkka's World Rally Archive, http://www.juwra.com/, accessed 23 January 2012; David Knowles, MG: The Untold Story (Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1997); Michael Lamm, "Driving the Rover 3500 and Triumph TR8," Popular Mechanics, July 1980 (Vol. 154, No. 1), pp. 68-69, 145, retrieved via Google Books, books.google.com/books?id=U9QDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA68, accessed 4 January 2012; F. Wilson McComb, MG by McComb (Colchester, Essex: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 1978, Second Edition; U.S. edition distributed by Motorbooks International); "Motor Road Test No. 22/80: Triumph TR7 Drophead," The Motor Road Test Annual, pp. 210-212; Dan Neil, "The 50 Worst Cars of All Time," TIME, 9 September 2007, http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1658545,00.html, accessed 5 January 2012; Bill Piggott, Original Triumph TR7 & TR8: The Restorer's Guide (Osceola, WI: Bay View Books/MBI Publishing Company, 2000); David Price, "Triumph TR8" (1 April 2003, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2003/04/01/car-of-the-month-april-2003/, accessed 4 January 2012); Graham Robson and Richard Langworth, Triumph Cars: The Complete Story (Pitlake, Croydon: Motor Racing Publications Ltd., 1979, 1988; Second Edition); Neil Sawyer, "TR7 V8 Rally Car" (2003, TR Drivers Club, http://www.trdrivers.com/tr7_v8_rally_car.html, accessed 4 January 2012); LJK Setright, "TR7: Lousy Icing: Lovely Cake," CAR, June 1976, pp. 50-52, 57; Will Shiers, "The Magnificent 7?" Real Classics, May 1998 pp. 6-11; "The Design Council Award Went to the Triumph Marketing Department's Head" (no date, Unique Cars and Parts, http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/triumph_dolomite_swindle.htm, accessed 6 January 2012); "The Last Waltz," Classic Motorsports, July 2008, http://classicmotorsports.net/articles/last-waltz/, accessed 4 January 2012; The Wedge Shop, TR8.com, http://www.tr8.com, accessed 9 January 2012; Triumph TR7.com, http://www.triumphtr7.com/, accessed 4 January 2012; Richard Truett, "Head-to-Head: Ford Capri vs. Triumph TR8" (29 May 2011, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/05/29/head-to-head-capri-vs-tr8/, accessed 4 January 2012) and "The life and times of a Stateside TR7" (1 January 2008, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2008/01/01/car-of-the-month-january-2008/, accessed 4 January 2012); Tjeerd van der Zee, "Walter Boyce" (no date, RallyBase.nl, http://www.rallybase.nl/index.php?type=profile&driverid=5055, accessed 23 January 2012); Paul Williams, "History of the Shape" (1995-2011, Team.net, http://www.team.net/TR8/TR7-TR8-History.html, accessed 4 January 2012); Roger Williams, The Essential Buyer's Guide: Triumph TR7 & TR8 (Dorchester, Dorset: Veloce Publishing Ltd., 2010); http://www.triumph-cars.co.uk/, accessed 23 January 2012; and the following Wikipedia entries: "Triumph TR7" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_TR7, accessed 4 January 2012); and "Triumph TR8" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_TR8, accessed 4 January 2012).

Information on the Speke No. 2 strike and British labor issues in the seventies came from Huw Benyon, "Engaging Labour: British Sociology 1945-2010," Global Labour Journal, 2011, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 5-26, http://digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/vol2/iss1/2/, accessed 5 January 2012, and What Happened at Speke? (Liverpool: TGWU 6-612 Branch, 1978); Brian Marren, "Closure of the Triumph Tr7 Factory in Speke, Merseyside, 1978: 'The Shape of Things to Come'? 11 June 2009, University of Liverpool Department of History, http://liverpool.academia.edu/BrianMarren/Papers/137296/ Closure_of_the_ Triumph_TR7_Factory_in_ Speke_Merseyside_1978_ The_Shape_of_Things_to_Come, accessed 4 January 2012; Theo Nichols, The British Worker Question: A New Look at Workers and Productivity in Manufacturing (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986); and "Obituary: Eddie Loyden: Hard-left MP not afraid to rebel," The Guardian, 4 May 2003, http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2003/may/05/guardianobituaries.politics, accessed 17 January 2012.

Additional information on the history of Standard-Triumph and British Leyland came from Keith Adams, "History: Timeline 1952-2005" (25 August 2011, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/08/25/history-timeline-1952-2005/, accessed 10 January 2012), "Marques: Triumph Story, part one" (26 July 2011, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/07/26/marques-triumph-story-part-two-2/, accessed 3 January 2012), "Marques: Triumph Story, part two" (26 July 2011, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/07/26/marques-triumph-story-part-two/, accessed 3 January 2012), "News: It was 30 years ago..." (14 October 2011, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/10/14/news-it-was-30-years-ago/, accessed 3 January 2012), "The whole story - Chapter 3: British Leyland, turbulent time" (25 August 2011, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/08/25/the-whole-story-%E2%80%93-chapter-3-british-leyland-turbulent-time/, accessed 10 January 2012); David Traver Adolphus, "Visionaries: Henry George Webster," Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car #22, June 2007, p. 60; "Archive: Standard-Triumph 'Saved from Bankruptcy'" (23 January 1963, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/1962/01/23/archive-standard-triumph-saved-from-bankruptcy/, accessed 3 January 2012); Serge Bellu, "People in history: Giovanni Michelotti, a great free-spirited designer," Auto & Design No. 154, 2005, p. 50; Mike Cook, "Passing of a Pioneer," Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car #20, April 2007, http://www.hemmings.com/hsx/stories/2007/04/01/hmn_feature13.html, accessed 17 October 2010; Ian Elliott, "The road to perdition: Part two" (25 August 2011, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/08/25/the-road-to-perdition-part-two/, accessed 10 January 2012) and "The road to perdition: Part three" (25 August 2011, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/08/25/the-road-to-perdition-part-three/, accessed 10 January 2012); "Obituary: Lord Stokes," The Guardian, 21 July 2008, http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/22/automotive.past, accessed 10 January 2012; and the following Wikipedia entries: "Donald Stokes, Baron Stokes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Stokes,_Baron_Stokes, accessed 10 January 2012); "Sir Michael Edwardes" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Edwardes, accessed 6 January 2012); "Siegfried Bettmann" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_Bettmann, accessed 9 January 2012); "Triumph Cycle" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_Cycle_Co._Ltd., accessed 9 January 2012); and Triumph Motor Company, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_Motor_Company, accessed 9 January 2012.

Background on other Triumph models came from: "A brief history of Triumph Gloria models - 1933 to 1938" (no date, Pre-1940 Triumph Motor Club, http://www.pre-1940triumphmotorclub.org/gloria.html, accessed 9 January 2012); Keith Adams, "The cars: Triumph Herald/Vitesse" (4 July 2011, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/07/04/the-cars-triumph-heraldvitesse/, accessed 4 January 2012), "The cars: Triumph 2000/2500 development history" (29 August 2011, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/08/29/the-cars-triumph-20002500-development-history/, accessed 10 January 2012), "The cars: Triumph 1300/Toledo/Dolomite" (14 July 2011, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/07/14/the-cats-triumph-1300toledodolomite/, accessed 4 January 2012); Keith Adams and Dale Turley, "Triumph 1300>Dolomite timeline" (28 July 2011, AROnline, http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2011/07/28/triumph-1300dolomite-timeline/, accessed 4 January 2012); Peter Cahill, "History of the Dolomite Sprint," CMM No. 77, August 1995, http://www.triumphdolomite.co.uk/dolomite/, accessed 4 January 2012; Jamie Kitman, "Triumph Dolomite Sprint vs. BMW 2002tii - The 2002 We Never Knew," Automobile, April 2010, http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/driven/1004_triumph_dolomite_sprint_vs_bmw_2002tii/viewall.html, accessed 6 January 2012; "Model specs: 1973-1980 Triumph Dolomite Sprint" (no date, Classic and Performance Car, http://www.classicandperformancecar.com/front_website/octane_interact/carspecs.php/?see=2257, accessed 6 January 2012); "Triumph Dolomite Sprint" (13 May 2011, Classic Cars for Sale, http://www.classiccars4sale.net/classic-car-review/c2c-triumph-dolomite-sprint1, accessed 6 January 2012); "Triumph Dolomite Sprint" (no date, Unique Cars and Parts, http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/car_info_triumph_dolomite_sprint.htm, accessed 6 January 2012); Bill Vance, "Triumph TR2 (1953-1955)," Reflections on Automotive History, (Rockwood, Ontario: Eramosa Valley Publishing, 2000), reprinted on the web (with the permission of the author) at the TR Registry, http://www.trregistry.com/start/registry/html/TR2/index.htm, accessed 9 January 2012; and the following Wikipedia entries: "Triumph Dolomite" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_Dolomite, accessed 4 January 2012); "Triumph 1300" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_1300, accessed 6 January 2012); "Triumph Toledo" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_Toledo, accessed 6 January 2012); and "Triumph TR6" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_TR6, accessed 4 January 2012).

Additional background came from Kit Dawnay, "A history of sterling," The Telegraph, 8 October 2001, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1399693/A-history-of-sterling.html, accessed 5 January 2012; "IMF crisis forced Labour to consider scrapping Polaris," The Guardian, 28 December 2006, http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2006/dec/29/uk.past1, accessed 5 January 2012; "Sterling devalued and the IMF loan," National Archives, http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/sterling-devalued-imf-loan.htm, accessed 5 January 2012; and the Wikipedia article "Fiat X1/9" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_X1/9, accessed 10 January 2012.

Exchange rates for the dollar and British pound were estimated based on Lawrence H. Officer, "Exchange Rates Between the United States Dollar and Forty-one Currencies" (2012, Measuring Worth, http://www.measuringworth.org/exchangeglobal/, used with permission). Exchange rate values cited in the text represent the approximate equivalency of British and U.S. currency at the time, not contemporary U.S. suggested retail prices, which are listed separately. Please note that all exchange rate equivalencies are approximate, provided solely for general reference; this is an automotive history, not a treatise on currency trading or the value of money!

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