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

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       The acerbic Sir John Black. His leadership and efforts during World War II resulted in his knighthood, but he was known for being a harsh taskmaster. Wise and forward thinking in many ways, Black was also capable of making important decisions based solely on emotion. He is seen here with the first Mayflower two-door coupe, another project he oversaw personally. (Photo Courtesy British Motor Industry Heritage Trust)

      The T-series MGs are most frequently credited as being the catalyst for the sports car invasion of the United States. Returning U.S. servicemen brought home more than the spoils of war, they brought back unique little cars. The sporty little MG TA two-seaters with narrow track and skinny wire wheels were like nothing else on American roads of the day. People clamored to get one. And MG’s place became firmly entrenched in automobile lore. The Triumph story is not so quaint or romantic.

      To say that nothing was left of Triumph at the end of the war is a gross understatement. Even if German bombs had not reduced the Briton Road factory to rubble, there would have been no way to build a car because Ward sold off all tooling and production facilities. Triumph had also lost Healey’s deft touch for sports car design after he left to pursue his ideas for his own car. John Black had nothing left but a small cache of replacement parts and barely usable engineering drawings. Fortunately, Black still had William Lyons.

      What cannot be glossed over here is the marvel of how quickly companies such as Standard got back to the business of building cars after the end of the war. It was not just that they had stopped building cars in favor of aircraft or tanks, the factories were bombed heavily and repeatedly. Imagine 1940s Detroit being bombed regularly for years and then to begin retooling for car manufacturing in a mere few months.

      As the war drew to a close in 1944, Lyons went right back to work building his cars. However, he dropped “SS” from the company name because of the very unfortunate link to the German military unit. In 1939, Standard began supplying Lyons’ SS-Jaguar company with an ever-growing number of engines, gearboxes, and axles. Standard also picked up where it had left off. At the time, Black’s personal car happened to be an SS100. Probably not a conflict of interest but it may have raised a few eyebrows.

      It was clear to see how many engines were going to Jaguar. Therefore, Black, who was known to be a harsh taskmaster and also to make emotional decisions, decided that he wanted to add a sporting image to Standard. It was the obvious move after he had made an attempt to partner with Lyons’ company but was rejected on the spot. Reacting impulsively, Black offered to sell Lyons the remaining 6-cylinder engines and all the associated tooling. Lyons seized the opportunity and with one fell swoop gathered everything up and skedaddled down the road before Black could back out. From this day forward, Black was determined to beat Lyons at his own game; he wanted a sports car that would compete with and beat Jaguar head-on.

       Sir John Black (seated) and Harry Ferguson (second from left) formed an alliance wherein Triumph supplied the Vanguard 4-cylinder wet-sleeve engines for Ferguson tractor manufacture in England. The TE20 tractors, known as “Fergies” were built in excess Triumph manufacturing space at Banner Lane. This partnership provided Triumph with much-needed capital for development of new cars. Black’s eventual successor, Alick Dick, can be seen behind his right shoulder. (Photo Courtesy British Motor Industry Heritage Trust)

      In 1944, Standard purchased what remained of Triumph for £75,000. It then promptly sold the remains of the factory for the same amount but kept just the name Triumph, essentially for free. At that point, it was unclear what was to become of it.

      It should be noted that at this point in the chronology, the charismatic tractor builder Harry Ferguson arrived on the scene. He was looking to establish his tractors in England and needed manufacturing space. Black had a vast production facility left over from the war that he needed to fill so they formed an alliance.

      Black, already anticipating the conclusion of the war, badly wanted to be the first car manufacturer back in full production. In 1944, he authorized the beginning of new body designs for Standard. Because it was going to take all hands to get the new Standard models up to speed, Black decided that he would oversee the design and production of the new sports car personally. The new car was going to be produced under the Triumph banner. It would begin as his own personal car and that would eventually become the production model.

      At this point, all Black had was the Triumph nameplate, which had a history and reputation for quality. It should be noted that Triumph had enjoyed a higher reputation for quality than Standard, so Black had a good base from which to start. But, he had no experienced designers, no chassis, and Lyons had taken his 6-cylinder engines. At one point, Black even tried to hire Cecil Kimber to run the new venture and develop the new sports car. Kimber, the man behind MG’s pre-war success, declined the offer just days before a freak rail accident at King’s Cross Station in London took his life.

       Sir John Black wanted Triumph’s new post-war sports car to be modeled after the Jaguar SS100. Black’s own personal car was an SS100 and he charged two fledgling designers with the task of creating the new car. (Photo Courtesy Richard Spiegelman)

       THE FIRST POST-WAR SPORTS CAR

      It was determined that there would be two new Triumph models: a saloon and an open touring roadster. The cars would be manufactured using the knowledge gained from building aircraft, which included using tubular frames and aluminum bodywork. However, there was virtually no budget, so Black had to settle for using existing Standard components as much as possible.

      Black charged two fresh, young draftsmen, Frank Callaby and Arthur Ballard, to come up with a roadster as sleek and stylish as the SS100. In 1946, Frank Callaby penned a design that became the first post-war car to carry the Triumph badge: the 1800 Roadster. The design of the car has been credited primarily to Callaby, although writings indicate that Callaby’s greatest influence was on the front of the car while Ballard concentrated on the rear.

      The new car was built using the skills learned from years of wartime manufacturing, specifically in building the center fuselage for the Mosquito fighter. The frame for the 1800 was built from tubular steel, which would have been easy enough given the experience level, but the challenge was that it had to be easily modified to support the saloon. The idea was to use a shorter frame for the sports car but a longer frame for the family car.

      The body would be hand-formed aluminum wrapped around an ash wood frame. At the time, this was typical for most British manufacturers. Ash frame components were used famously in Morgan cars as well for decades to come.

      The styling of the car was as unusual as some of its features. It bore no resemblance to any of Triumph’s contemporaries, and certainly no likeness to Black’s SS100. The similarities might have been in spirit but were certainly not physical.

      Starting at the front, from a head-on view, the car was impressive and slightly imposing. With its tall grille, massive chrome headlamps, and dual horns, it looked like a descendant of the 1930s classic era. However, its profile did not harken to the same classics.

      The rear track СКАЧАТЬ