The Illustrated History of Triumph Sports and Racing Cars. G. William Krause

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       Although Donald Healey’s amazing Straight Eight Dolomite did not go into production, he was instrumental in the engine changes for the Dolomite saloons and roadsters offered from 1937 to 1939. He converted all Climax engines to overhead-valve configuration for greater efficiency and reliability. Walter Belgrove penned the fashionable body lines, which can be likened to the Jaguar and MG saloons of the day. However, the distinctive “waterfall” grilles with bounteous rounded chrome was not popular. (Photo Courtesy Simon Goldsworthy/Triumph World)

      Healey’s work was pure genius. Everything in the Dolomite was built in the Coventry facility by Healey and his crew. They undoubtedly racked up some hefty overtime hours because the car was completed in just six months.

      The car performed brilliantly in almost every test, with the straight-8 capable of sustaining 100 mph (and faster) and could run the quarter-mile in 17.8 seconds. In an interview with Motor Sport magazine, Healey said he was disappointed that the car fell short of the 120 mph he had hoped for on a lap at Brooklands.

      Nevertheless, Healey was highly encouraged by the Dolomite’s performance and entered the 1935 Monte Carlo rally. Healey was well acquainted with the event and had won the 1931 rally in an Invicta. His new Triumph looked poised for a top finish.

      Car No. 1 was rebuilt on an even tighter budget to run again in the 1936 Monte Carlo rally. Healey finished eighth, running the entire event without the aid of the supercharger. All indications are that the Dolomite was every bit a match for the Alfa-Romeo 2300. However, fate intervened. It was to be the last glory savored by Triumph; the fortunes of the company were about to change permanently.

      The motorcycle division was sold off that year to raise cash, and the Dolomite program was canceled with only three cars built. The Dolomite name was migrated to a new line of production sedans set to bow in the next year.

      It is unfortunate that the Dolomite did not survive the accountant’s guillotine because a line of exclusive and exotic cars with the kind of performance pedigree Healey engineered could have set Triumph on a very different course.

       TRIUMPH FALLS ON HARD TIMES

      Times were tight and more changes came at the top. Holbrook was replaced by one of his old rallying partners, Maurice Newnham. However, Newnham had developed a bent for family cars and by 1937, the only sporting production car in the Triumph lineup was the Southern Cross. Its “sporting” nature was rather limited because it was only available with a 4-cylinder engine of modest performance.

      A series of unremarkable sedans and saloons that blended into the background of Rileys, MGs, and Austins followed. They were good cars to be sure, with a reputation for being big and slow but possessing no sporting flair. Newnham took a lot of flack for fitting the 1937 Dolomite coupes and saloons with an obnoxiously large, chrome nose with the hope of attracting the American market. It failed miserably and Triumph’s fortunes declined further.

      By 1939 only 50 cars were built, and Triumph Motor Company was put on the auction block. Bidding for the troubled car manufacturer was just as underwhelming as unit sales. Eventually, steel manufacturer Thomas Ward took the helm of Triumph just as war was declared on Germany. The Coventry factory was closed for the duration.

      Ward kept Donald Healey on as general manager to help sell the company. Unfortunately, while Healey was presenting the company to potential suitors as a viable operation in need of financial support, Ward was selling off many of Triumph’s manufacturing assets. This left little to interest any potential buyer.

      Healey had his own vision for Triumph after the war. He presented a design for a new line of sports cars to Ward and his board of directors. Unfortunately, the ideas were rejected so Ward continued with the sale of the company.

      During the 1930s and 1940s, many carmakers were absorbed by larger entities or simply faded from existence. It’s a bit of a miracle that the Triumph badge carried on. Credit lucky timing and the war.

      This is also where Healey’s involvement with Triumph ends. He took his ideas across town to Riley, which was interested in working with him. It began to build the Healey car in 1946 and everyone knows where that led. It was another great one that got away from Triumph.

      As hostilities wound down and peacetime manufacturing resumed, only a few logical buyers for Triumph were revealed: Austin, Rootes, and Standard. Austin didn’t need Triumph; it would have fit better with Rootes’ marques Sunbeam and Hillman. Standard made the most sense.

      Standard was thriving with an output of 50,000 cars in 1939 and looking to expand under newly appointed managing director John Black. He had recognized the dangers of events in Germany well before war was declared. He had begun working with the British government and preparing to convert factories for wartime production.

      By doing so, Black was able to keep his company running during the war years. Standard built primarily armored cars, but its most significant contribution was production of the all-wooden Mosquito fighter/bomber.

      Black was instrumental in keeping manufacturing plants running to support the war effort in Britain. As a result, he was knighted after the end of World War II.

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