The Swallow Doretti is a two-seater British
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 ...
built on Swallow's own design of box-section tube chassis using
Triumph TR2
The Triumph TR2 is a sports car produced by the Standard Motor Company in the United Kingdom between 1953 and 1955. It was only available in roadster form.
The car had a 121 cid (1991 cc) four-cylinder Standard wet liner inline-fou ...
mechanicals, made between 1954 and 1955. It was intended for the U.S. market and to be a more refined two-seater than available there at that time.
Swallow
The car was built by the
Tube Investments Group subsidiary, Swallow Coachbuilding Company (1935) Ltd, bought for its 1935 to 1946 association with
Jaguar's prewar motorcycle sidecars. Sometimes known for its similarity to the Ferrari 166MM 'Barchetta' and
Austin-Healey 100
The Austin-Healey 100 is a sports car that was built by Austin-Healey from 1953 until 1956.
Based on Austin A90 Atlantic mechanicals, it was developed by Donald Healey to be produced in-house by his small Healey car company in Warwick. Heal ...
.
Doretti
The Doretti name was derived from Dorothy Deen, who managed the Western US distributorship Cal Sales.
The Trade Mark logo and Doretti name are in the ownership of Canadian Peter Schömer. He is building a new limited edition sports car called the Doretti TR250 'Corsa Veloce' using the Ferrari TR 250 chassis and engine from 1957.
[Trademarks - Doretti](_blank)
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Design
Based on the Triumph TR2 it had much improved stability, its track was wider and its wheelbase longer.
The Doretti had a tubular Reynolds 531
Reynolds 531 (pronounced 'five-three-one') is a brand name, registered to Reynolds Technology of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, for a manganese–molybdenum, medium-carbon steel tubing that was used in many quality applications, including r ...
manganese–molybdenum, medium-carbon steel chassis. Reynolds was another member of the T I Group. The double-skinned body had an inner structural skin made of steel and an aluminium outer skin. Most cars were supplied with Laycock-de Normanville electric epicyclic
An epicyclic gear train (also known as a planetary gearset) consists of two gears mounted so that the center of one gear revolves around the center of the other. A carrier connects the centers of the two gears and rotates the planet and sun gea ...
overdrive and they were capable of 100 mph. 276 Mk I cars were made, including a single fixed head coupe version.[Mike Lawrence, ''A to Z of Sports Cars, 1945-1990'' Bay View Books, Bideford, Devon : 1996 ] The car was designed by in-house engineer Frank Rainbow,[ and produced in the TI factory at The Airport, ]Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield.
Walsall is th ...
, Staffordshire, England.
Three prototype Mk II cars, the ''Sabre'' were produced. These had a stiffer chassis and better weight distribution.[
The only car that the TI Group ever built under the Swallow name its production stopped in 1955 when the parent company TI Group changed policy. Allegedly, pressure from the British motor industry, most notably Jaguar, led to the cessation of production of the Doretti. It is thought that the directors of TI were pressured in that the production of the Doretti sports car placed TI at an advantage over their customers buying raw materials, creating a conflict of interest.
]
Performance
A car with overdrive tested by the British magazine ''The Motor'' in 1954 had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0- in 12.3 seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car cost £1,158 including taxes.
In popular culture
A Doretti appeared in the 1959 film '' On the Beach''.
See also
* List of car manufacturers of the United Kingdom
References
External links
{{Commons category, Swallow Doretti
doretti.com
Swallow Doretti pages
Swallow Doretti info
Sports cars
Cars introduced in 1954
Convertibles
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles