Triumph Automobiles Essay Research Paper Imagine for

Triumph Automobiles Essay, Research Paper

Imagine for a moment; Driving down the road on a hot summers day with the top down, wind blowing, clear field of vision all the way around. The feeling is freedom. A Triumph is a great car to own because it is fun to drive, it looks great and it is the type of car that not many people have, so you can drive an individual car and drive it with style. They handle great, go reasonably fast and it is not extremely hard to modify one to make it even better. A Triumph is definitely one of my favorite cars. In 1952 Triumph began working on its new run of cars not knowing that this would be the company s all time high in car model production. At first the cars weren t the most popular, falling short of the MG TD and the Jaguar XK 120, but as time went by Triumph excelled with the TR car line. The cars that made up the TR car line were: The TR-2, TR-3, TR-4, TR-5/TR-250, TR-6, TR-7, and the TR8. These seven unique cars have gained in popularity across the world for their style, uniqueness, and finesse. Now groups dedicated to preserving and enjoying the cars are quite numerous. This paper is going to discuss the history, the highs and lows, of the TR car line from start to finish, and the influence of the US market on English sports car manufacturers. The TR line was started when the chairman of Triumph, Sir John Black, was impressed with the sales of the MG TD and Jaguars XK 120 in the USA. The TR series of sports cars grew from the modest origins of an essentially pre-war saloon car chassis with a beefy engine destined to power a tractor (Piggott 8). Determined to join in on this profitable market, Triumph designed the TRX. It was not a very graceful looking creation, and it was expensive to make, its most sporting feature was a soft top. At the end of 1950 Sir John Black was persuaded to not go on with it. As the TRX died Sir John considered another plan of attack. Triumph was already supplying engines to Morgan for use in their cars, why should they not buy the company and sell its products in the US market. Morgan declined their offer of a take over. It seemed that Triumph should have another go with developing their own sports car. The plan was simple, create a car that uses as many parts from cars that we currently have in production and integrate with a newly created body. The prototype car was known as the 20TS. Sir John Black wanted the performance and handling tested so he asked Ken Richardson, former Grand Prix car designer, to test Triumph s car. He expressed that he was disappointed with the cars handling; Sir John Black promptly offered him a job on the design team to make the necessary changes. The changes proposed were to make the chassis stiffer and to increase the power from the 75 horse power of the prototype s to 90 horse power. After the redesign of the prototype the car was called the TR2 (Piggott 12). The TR-2 was designed as a competitor for the Jaguar XK120 and MG s MG TD. It was a stylish two seater that was low in price and offered good performance and economy. The car was powered by a four cylinder two liter engine. Its maximum speed was 103mph with the optional overdrive. Press and public response were all positive, but production took time. Sales in the USA were not as great as Triumph had hoped for and sales pretty much collapsed in 1955. Alick Dick who replaced Sir John Black in 1954 was determined that the TR would do better. The TR-2 remained in production only two years before it was replaced. 8,628 were produced (Taylor 25). The car that replaced it was known as the TR-3. It wasn t radically different; the styling had been minutely changed and its power and performance had been improved on. They did something right because this model was hugely successful, 13,377 were produced (Taylor 33). This vehicle also remained in production for only two years, after that it was replaced with an updated model. Changes in the body made it easy to discern from the TR-2, the grill was now at the mouth of the air intake rather than being recessed, and chrome piping was fitted between the body and fenders. Many were also fitted with the rear seat option, which was little more than a joke, although it might have persuaded buyers with young children. Production of the next car began in 1957. This car was to be known as the TR-3A. The first deliveries were made to the US market, which shows how dependent Triumph had become on transatlantic sale. The TR3A had a wider grill than the previous, side marker lamps at each end of the grille, and also offered as a standard, locking door handles that were previously only offered on the TR-3 GT kit. This showed that the market was now interested in these type of refinements because mechanically, the car was unchanged. Sales boomed; in the three years of the cars production 58,236 were produced (Taylor 44). Enormous sales non-withstanding, Triumph was in deep financial trouble by the end of 1961. Production of the car was temporarily put on hold; the company needed help fast. They found the help they needed in the form of Leyland Motors. The TR-4 was the turning point in TR history. It made a break with traditional body style of the previous TR-2s and 3s. The restyled body was longer, wider, and heavier than the TR-3s. All of this was the work of Giovani Michelotti, an Italian design consultant. It was notable for its blended fenders rather than the clearly defined fenders of it s predecessors, i