Triumph Roadster
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The Triumph Roadster is a roadster produced by Britain's
Standard Motor Company The Standard Motor Company Limited was a motor vehicle manufacturer, founded in Coventry, England, in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay. For many years, it manufactured Ferguson TE20 tractors powered by its Vanguard engine. All Standard's tracto ...
from 1946 until 1949. It was first available as the Triumph 1800 Roadster (18TR) from 1946 to 1948 and then as the Triumph 2000 Roadster (TRA) from 1948 to 1949.


Triumph 1800 Roadster (18TR)

The 1800 Roadster, model number 18TR, was designed in the closing days of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Triumph had been bought by the
Standard Motor Company The Standard Motor Company Limited was a motor vehicle manufacturer, founded in Coventry, England, in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay. For many years, it manufactured Ferguson TE20 tractors powered by its Vanguard engine. All Standard's tracto ...
in 1944, and the managing director of Standard, Sir John Black, wanted a
sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...
to take on
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
, which had used Standard engines in the pre-war period. Frank Callaby was selected to style the new car. After getting Black's approval for the general shape, Callaby worked with Arthur Ballard to design the details of the body. Design of the
rolling chassis A rolling chassis is the chassis without bodywork of a motor vehicle ( car, truck, bus, or other vehicle), assembled with suspension and wheels. Heavy vehicles Separate chassis remain in use for almost all heavy vehicles ranging from pickup tru ...
was by Ray Turner. Walter Belgrove, who had styled the pre-war Triumphs and was employed as Chief Body Engineer, had no part in the design. Early post-war steel shortages meant that most of the body was built from
aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
over an ash frame, using rubber
press tool A forming press, commonly shortened to press, is a machine tool that changes the shape of a work-piece by the application of pressure. The operator of a forming press is known as a press-tool setter, often shortened to tool-setter. Presses ...
s that had been used making panels for the largely wooden bodied
Mosquito bomber The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden ...
that had been built by Standard during the war. Only the front wings were made of steel. The
frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...
was hand welded up from steel tube. The engine was a version of Standard's 1.5-litre, four-cylinder side-valve design that had been converted to
overhead valve An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located be ...
s by Harry
Weslake Weslake & Co also known as Weslake Research and Development was founded by Harry Weslake, described as England's greatest expert on cylinder head design, with premises in Rye, East Sussex, England. Weslake is most famous for its work with Bentley, ...
and built by Standard exclusively for SS-Jaguar before World War II. The Triumph version featured a downdraught Solex carburettor instead of the Jaguar's side-draught SU, and a 6.7:1 compression ratio instead of 7.6:1. A four-speed
gearbox Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...
with
synchromesh A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission system, where gear changes ...
on the top three ratios was used. The tubular steel chassis was a short-wheelbase version of the 1800 saloon, featuring transverse leaf sprung
independent suspension Independent suspension is any automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same axle to move vertically (i.e. reacting to a bump on the road) independently of the others. This is contrasted with a beam axle or deDion axle system in w ...
at the front and a
live axle A beam axle, rigid axle or solid axle is a dependent suspension design in which a set of wheels is connected laterally by a single beam or shaft. Beam axles were once commonly used at the rear wheels of a vehicle, but historically they have als ...
with semi-elliptic springs at the rear. The rear track was wider than the front by 4 inches. Brakes were
hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...
. The body design was anachronistic. A journalist old enough to remember the pre-war Dolomite Roadster that had inspired the car felt that the elegant proportions of the earlier model had been abandoned in favour of a committee-based compromise, "a plump Christmas turkey to set against that dainty peacock ...
ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...
Toadster han Roadster. The front had large separate
headlamp A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for ...
s and the
radiator Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...
was well back from the front between large "coal scuttle"
wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...
. Passenger accommodation was on a bench seat that was claimed to seat three: the car's 64 inch width helped make a reality of the three-abreast seating, and the approach meant a column gear change was required. The car's unusual width also made it necessary to fit three screen wipers in a row, an example followed by early shallow windscreen
Jaguar E Type The Jaguar E-Type, or the Jaguar XK-E for the North American market, is a British sports car that was manufactured by Jaguar Cars Ltd between 1961 and 1974. Its combination of beauty, high performance, and competitive pricing established the m ...
s. Additional room for two was provided at the rear in a
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 ...
with its own folding
windscreen The windshield (North American English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from the elements. Mo ...
: this was outside the hood that could be erected to cover the front seat. Entry and exit to the dickey seat was never easy and a step was provided on the rear bumper. The Roadster was the last production car with a dickey seat. On test by '' Autocar'' magazine in 1947 top speed was found to be and 0–60 mph (0–96 km/h) took 34.4 seconds. The magazine described the maximum speed as "satisfying but not startlingly high". File:Triumph 1800 roadster side.JPG, Triumph 1800 Roadster from the side File:Triumph 1800 Roadster 1948.jpg, Triumph 1800 Roadster with hood File:Triumph_1800_1948_Roadster_Rumble_Seat_tall_Lake_Mirror_Cassic_16Oct2010_(14690506909).jpg, Dickey seat The actor John Nettles drove a red 1947 Triumph Roadster 1800 in the 1980s television series Bergerac. Two cars were actually used over the duration of the series production. This was made evident by the colour difference of the front mudguards and body without bonnet ornament on one car used in the earlier series and the same colour front mudguards and body with the bonnet ornament on the other car used in later series. The same number plate J 1610 was used on both cars in the series. In some episodes both cars appeared purporting to be the same car.


Triumph 2000 Roadster (TRA)

The only significant upgrade in the Roadster's production came in September 1948 for the 1949 models, when the 2088 cc Vanguard engine, transmission, and rear axle were fitted. With the larger engine the four-speed gearbox was replaced with a three-speed unit, even though it now had synchromesh on bottom gear. Apart from minor modifications to the mounting points, the chassis, suspension and steering were unaltered. This later version of the Roadster was given the model designation 20TR. On test the changes resulted in the top speed increasing marginally to but the 0-60 mph time was much better at 27.9 seconds. The car was never made in large numbers and was mainly hand built. 2501 examples of the 1800 and 2000 of the larger-engined version were made. Production ended in October 1949. File:MKE 131 - 1949 Triumph 2000 Roadster - "Dicky Seats" 5499276798.jpg, Triumph 2000 Roadster
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 ...
with folding
windscreen The windshield (North American English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from the elements. Mo ...
File:Triumph Roadster 1948 triple wipers.JPG, Triple windscreen wipers on a Roadster File:Triumph 2000 Roadster (1949) - 14268242088.jpg, Triumph 2000 Roadster File:Triumph 2000 Roadster 2013-07-21 13-46-21.JPG, Rear side view


Triumph Roadster

This car was announced and a sample displayed at the October 1950 motor shows in Paris and at Earls Court on stand 145. Its full-width body was built on a Standard Vanguard chassis with an engine given twin down-draught carburettors and a higher output. This envelope type coachwork incorporated more power actuated components than any previous British car. Those components including: headlights concealed behind shutters automatically opened when the headlights were switched on; convertible head; windows; seat; and radio aerial.New British ic?Car At Paris Show. ''The Times'', Thursday, 5 Oct 1950; pg. 5; Issue 51814 Some of the electro-hydraulic mechanisms were concealed between the twin skins of the body. An illustration is o
Flickr
It does not appear to have entered series production. See Triumph TR1 / 20TS


Notes


References

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External links


The Triumph Roadster Club Limited
* http://www.westendclassics.co.uk/ Triumph Roadster Specialist * http://www.triumph-roadster.de / Restoring of a Triumph Roadster 1800 {{Triumph_Motor_Company_timeline Roadster Roadsters Cars introduced in 1946 sv:Triumph Renown#1800/2000 Roadster (1946-49)