The Triumph Super 7 is a
car manufactured from 1927 until 1934 by the
Triumph Motor Company
The Triumph Motor Company was a British car and motor manufacturing company in the 19th and 20th centuries. The marque had its origins in 1885 when Siegfried Bettmann of Nuremberg formed S. Bettmann & Co. and started importing bicycles from E ...
. It was produced as a response to the success of the
Austin 7
The Austin 7 is an economy car that was produced from 1923 until 1939 in the United Kingdom by Austin. It was nicknamed the "Baby Austin" and was at that time one of the most popular cars produced for the British market and sold well abroad. ...
and was Triumph's first car to be made in large numbers. In 1933 the name was changed to the Triumph Super 8.
Design
Development of the new car had started in 1925 when Arthur Sykes, who had been with
Lea-Francis
Lea-Francis was a British motor manufacturing company that began by building bicycles.
History
R. H. Lea and G. I. Francis started the business in Coventry in 1895. They branched out into car manufacturing in 1903 and motorcycles in 1911. Le ...
was given responsibility to design a new small car. Amongst those he recruited to help him was Stanley Edge, who had been the original draughtsman for the Austin 7. The car was launched in September 1927 and was 6 inches (150 mm) longer and 2 inches (50 mm) wider than the Austin. The new 832 cc 4-cylinder
side-valve
A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine''American Rodder'', 6/94, pp.45 & 93. or valve-in-block engine is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the engine block, instead of in the cylinder head, as ...
engine, mainly designed by
Harry Ricardo, had a stroke of and bore of and unlike the Austin had a three bearing
crankshaft with pressure lubrication and monobloc crankcase made from cast iron. (The Austin 7 had a two-bearing crankshaft and the cylinder block and crankcase were separate castings.) The car followed its Triumph predecessors by having Lockheed hydraulic brakes, but now they were internal expanding in drums and so less affected by water then the older external contracting type. The handbrake operated on the transmission.
The chassis had a rigid front axle supported by half-elliptic springs and a live rear axle with Austin 7-like quarter-elliptics, allowing the chassis side members to finish ahead of the rear axle. The three-speed non-synchromesh gearbox was mounted in unit with the engine and transmitted power to the
worm gear
A worm drive is a gear arrangement in which a worm (which is a gear in the form of a screw) meshes with a worm wheel (which is similar in appearance to a spur gear). The two elements are also called the worm screw and worm gear. The terminol ...
final drive via a
torque tube
A torque tube system is a power transmission and braking technology that involves a stationary housing around the drive shaft, often used in automobiles with a front engine and rear drive. The torque tube consists of a large diameter stationary h ...
. The electrical system was 6 volts.
Body styles
A range of body styles was offered, all made in house. The cheapest model was a two-door four-seat tourer, followed by a de-luxe tourer with two-coloured body, a two-seater with
dickey seat
A rumble seat (American English), dicky (dickie/dickey) seat (British English), also called a mother-in-law seat, is an upholstered exterior seat which folded into the rear of a coach, carriage, or early motorcar. Depending on its configuration ...
, a two-door saloon, a fabric-bodied saloon and at the top of the range, a coachbuilt saloon.
Gordon England could also supply a special fabric-bodied saloon with sliding roof. The chassis was also supplied to other coachbuilders for fitting their own bodies. Prices ranged from £113 for the chassis to £190 for the Gordon England saloon. On test the car could reach just over and return .
Model history
For 1929 a new body style was released called the Special Sports with pointed tail and there was also briefly a supercharged version with the engine capacity reduced to 747 cc and reputedly able to reach , but it was expensive at £250, and few seem to have been sold. Also in 1929
Donald Healey
Donald Mitchell Healey CBE (3 July 1898 – 15 January 1988) was a noted English car designer, rally driver and speed record holder.
Early life
Born in Perranporth, Cornwall, elder son of Frederick (John Frederick) and Emma Healey (née Mit ...
entered a standard car in the
Monte Carlo Rally, starting from Berlin but failing to finish, getting stuck repeatedly in the snow in France. Undeterred, he tried again in 1930 and was the first British car to finish and seventh overall, in a car with a top speed of .
More body styles appeared in 1930 when a two-seat coupé, a de-luxe fabric saloon and a
landaulet Landaulet may refer to:
* Landaulet (carriage), horse-drawn carriage
* Landaulet (car)
A landaulet, also known as a landaulette, is a car body style where the rear passengers are covered by a convertible top. Often the driver is separated from t ...
appeared. Wire wheels became standard replacing the
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
type that had been used on some versions. The extensive range was simplified for 1931 with the deletion of the fabric saloons, landaulet, coupé and Special Sport but a Gnat sports tourer and
Tickford
Tickford is an automobile engineering and testing business in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, known for tuning and such products as the 140 mph Tickford Turbo Capri.
Under the name Salmons & Sons and their Tickford products the firm has ...
-bodied saloon were added.
With the deteriorating economic climate a further rationalisation of the range was carried out in 1932 with the cars being designated Mark I for the tourers and Mark II for the saloons. A pillarless saloon joined the range. The car's track grew from 42 to 43.5 inches (1105 mm), the rear springs were changed from quarter to semi elliptic on the Mk II Saloons, and the de-luxe models got a four-speed gearbox.
The Super 8
The name was changed in 1933 to the Super 8, the car had always technically fallen into the 8 hp taxation bracket, and all cars gained the Mk II chassis. The body range was further reduced to the two-door saloon, pillarless saloon and four-seat tourer. This was the last year for the car. Triumph had already launched the Super 9 in 1931, and this car was destined to be the replacement.
References
Bibliography
*''A-Z of cars of the 1920s''. Nick Baldwin. Bay View Books. 1994
*''The Story of Triumph Sports Cars''. Graham Robson. Motor Racing Publications. 1972
*''A-Z of cars of the 1930s''. Michael Sedgwick, Mark Gillies. Bay View Books. 1989
*''Pre 1940 Triumph Motor Cars from Family Photograph Albums''. Graham Shipman. Pre 40 Triumph Owners Club. 2005
*"Super Little Seven" Jonathon Wood. ''The Automobile'', January 2000
External links
*{{cite web , url=http://www.club.triumph.org.uk/anniversary/historic.htm , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050502173818/http://www.club.triumph.org.uk/anniversary/historic.htm , archive-date=2005-05-02 , publisher=Club Triumph , title=75 Years of Triumph Cars
Super 7
1920s cars
1930s cars
Cars introduced in 1927