Heritage Triumph Sports Car Art Triumph Sports Car Art Heritage

A unique, tape-breaking Triumph TR2 paradigm sports motorcar has been acquired past the British Motor Museum with £250,000 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF).

One of simply 3 prototypes of the extremely successful 1953 Triumph TR2 model produced by the Standard Motor Company (SMC), it is the only 1 known to survive. In May 1953, during speed trials at Jabbeke in Belgium, this car reached a speed of virtually 125 miles per 60 minutes, setting a record for a two-litre road machine at that time. The invaluable publicity from the achievement led to the renaissance of the Triumph marque and the offset of the long and successful line of TR sports cars.

After testing was completed in the mid-1950s, the car was sold to a private possessor. When sold on again in the 1970s, it was dismantled and boxed upwardly. The possessor intended to restore it, but this projection was never realised. In 2015, the vehicle was purchased in its boxed country and the new owner spent almost two years restoring the TR2 to its quondam glory and making information technology fully driveable once again. Fortunately, almost the entire automobile - bodywork, engine, and trim - had survived, allowing the vehicle to be rebuilt to its original specification.

The sports machine has now been secured for the nation for a total of £280,000 and, as an important piece of the UK's motor history, it will exist displayed at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon where visitors can savor and learn more almost it. Occasionally, in that location will even exist a adventure to see the Triumph in motion.

René Olivieri, Interim Chair of The National Heritage Memorial Fund, said:

"This is a truly triumphant 24-hour interval. A buoy of the UK'due south pioneering motoring industry in its heyday, this Triumph TR2 prototype is a very important piece of our industrial and social heritage. At the National Heritage Memorial Fund we felt information technology was imperative to relieve it for the nation, for futurity generations to relish."

Nigel Huddleston Heritage Minister said:

"The Triumph TR2 prototype is an important part of our national automotive history. This classic machine reached a speed of almost 125 miles per hour, setting a record in 1953 and went on to influence a line of successful TR sport cars.

"I'chiliad delighted that, thanks to the National Heritage Memorial Fund, this unique sports motorcar volition at present proceed display to the public at the British Motor Museum in Warwickshire."

The Triumph and the British motorcar industry

Once the second-largest producer of motor cars in the globe, the 2d World State of war all but close down United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland'due south motor manufacture in favour of military vehicles. The government's mail-war economical strategy was to restart the manufacture, simply information technology dictated that motor manufacturers concentrated their efforts on selling to overseas markets to bring in much-needed income.

  For decades subsequently the state of war, motor manufacture was the Britain's most visible consign. Information technology excelled in the production of sports cars: Jaguar, Aston Martin, Morgan, and Austin Healey, to name merely a few. SMC was trying to launch the TR2 into an intensely competitive market place. Even today, the marketplace for classic sports cars is still dominated by British cars.

The rise of Triumph began in the early 1950s. As a sports car in a saturated market, each marque sought a unique selling indicate. Apart from aesthetics, the principal attraction of a sports car was speed. Breaking land-speed records was, therefore, a pop marketing strategy and ane that the TR2 took full advantage of.

The handmade prototype of the Triumph TR2 differs widely from the extremely pop concluding configuration that was to follow in mass production. Built around a wooden frame, the bodywork is riveted together rather than welded. The aero windscreen and streamlined canopy were purely designed for its tape-breaking. Even the Triumph badge on the bonnet is unique to this exemplar.

Stephen Laing, Head of Collections at British Motor Industry Heritage Trust, said:

"The Jabbeke TR2 record motorcar is a perfect example of the lengths that motor manufacturers were going to, in society to restore their markets and promote their products in the mail state of war years. It was also the showtime in a long line of modern models for a revived Triumph brand, now one of the most popular sports car names around the world. We are delighted that the NHMF has generously enabled the British Motor Museum to purchase a car that complements its collection and the story of the motor industry and so well."

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Source: https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/news/record-breaking-vintage-triumph-sports-car-saved

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