Triumph Dolomite E-Book

Matthew Vale

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 211

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

A model-by-model history of the popular Triumph Dolomite family, the range of quality sporting saloons that started with the Triumph 1300 and was in production from 1965-80. The Triumph 1300 was innovative, with front-wheel drive and a four-door body designed by Giovanni Michelotti. In 1970 the Triumph 1500 and the three-door Toledo were introduced, followed by the range-topping Dolomite in 1972, with Triumph's slant-4 overhead cam engine and rear-wheel drive. The fast Dolomite Sprint confirmed Triumph's position as the British 'BMW Beater' in 1973, with its powerful 16-valve engine and value achieved through clever engineering. In 1976 the whole range was renamed 'Dolomite' - and was a well-rounded model spread of four-door saloons, with engine sizes from 1300cc to 2 litres. With technical specifications and over 150 colour photographs, Triumph Dolomite - An Enthusiast's Guide also includes competition history, the Dolomites' ancestors, and a guide to buying and owning these iconic saloons. Fully illustrated with 161 colour photographs.

Leseprobe

Triumph Dolomite

An Enthusiast’s Guide

Matthew Vale

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2015 by

The Crowood Press Ltd

Ramsbury, Marlborough

Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2015

© Matthew Vale 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 84797 894 3

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements and Picture Credits

Timeline of the Triumph Company

CHAPTER 1

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE DOLOMITE FAMILY

CHAPTER 2

ANATOMY OF A SPORTS SALOON – TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE DOLOMITE FAMILY

CHAPTER 3

THE DOLOMITE’S ANCESTORS – MODEL BY MODEL

CHAPTER 4

THE DOLOMITES – MODEL BY MODEL

CHAPTER 5

THE COMPETITION HISTORY

CHAPTER 6

OWNING AND RUNNING

Dolomite Clubs

Bibliography

Index

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND PICTURE CREDITS

The use of owners’ experiences is an important part of all my books, so many thanks are due to Terry and Guy Stockley, James Shepard, Michael Soubry, Howard Rose, Clive and Gillian Raven, and Paul Wood for access to their cars and memories, and for allowing me to write about their experiences of running their Triumph saloons.

I would like to thank and acknowledge the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust for their help in producing this book, especially in the provision of original photographs of the Triumph prototypes, and access to the SD2 and Michelotti prototypes to help with my research. Further details of the Trust can be found at bmiht.co.uk. Thanks are also due to Andy Gilberg at the March archive site (marchives.com) for the pictures of the Unipart Formula 3 cars and information on the team. Finally I want to thank my wife Julia and daughter Elizabeth for putting up with me writing another book.

© BMIHT: All publicity material and photographs originally produced for/by the British Leyland Motor Corporation, British Leyland Ltd and Rover Group including all its subsidiary companies is the copyright of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and is reproduced in this publication with their permission. Permission to use images does not imply the assignment of copyright, and anyone wishing to re-use this material should contact BMIHT for permission to do so.

TIMELINE OF THE TRIUMPH COMPANY

1884

Siegfried Bettmann sets up his original company, S. Bettmann & Company, primarily importing sewing machines

1886

The company starts selling bicycles made for them by the William Andrews company; S. Bettmann & Company is renamed ‘Triumph’

1887

Bettmann meets Mauritz Johan Schulte. Triumph expands into the Earls Court factory in Much Park Street, Coventry, and starts to manufacture its own bicycles. The company is renamed ‘Triumph Cycle Company’

1902

Triumph produces its first motorcycle powered by a Belgium-built Minerva 2¼hp engine

1905

Triumph produces its own motorcycle engine, a 3hp unit

1907

Triumph goes public and moves to a larger factory complex on both sides of Priory Road, Coventry

1914–1918

Wartime production of motorcycles result in some 30,000 550cc belt-driven machines being supplied to the War Office. They are nicknamed the ‘Trusty Triumphs’ by the troops

1921–1928

Triumph manufactures the Ricardo-designed 4-valve head Triumph Ricardo 499cc single-cylinder motorcycle, a very advanced design for the time

1921

Dawson Motor Company acquired by Triumph, based at Clay Lane, Stoke in Coventry

1923

Triumph introduces its first car, the 10/20

1927

Triumph launches the 832cc Super Seven, an Austin Seven competitor

1933

Donald Healey joins Triumph as Experimental Manager

1934

Triumph first uses the ‘Dolomite’ name in the 1934 Gloria Dolomite Special

1934

A Triumph Gloria wins the Monte Carlo Rally Light Car Class and the Coupe des Alpes (Alpine Trial 1100cc class)

1934

Healey-designed Triumph Dolomite supercharged straight eight produced

1936

Motorcycle business sold to Jack Sangster

1936

New saloon range named ‘Dolomite’ introduced; Triumph records record losses of £212,104

1939

Triumph goes into receivership and is sold to Sheffield-based T.W. Ward and Company

1939

T.W. Ward turns the ex-Triumph factories over to war work

1940

Coventry Blitz flattens much of the ex-Triumph factories

1944

Standard buys the remains of Triumph and sells off the bomb-damaged premises in Coventry

1946

Brand-new Triumph Roadster and 1800 Saloon introduced and built in the Standard Triumph Canley site

1949

Triumph Mayflower introduced and Roadster discontinued

1953

TR2 sports car introduced

1953

Standard Eight introduced, the first car to use the ‘SC’ engine later seen in the 1300 and 1500

1958

Standard Vignale introduced as a face-lift of the Vanguard Phase III; first Standard Triumph car styled by Michelotti

1959

Triumph Herald introduced, marking the beginning of the end of the use of the ‘Standard’ name on cars and the first complete new model styled by Michelotti

1960

Takeover of Standard by Leyland Motors

1963

Introduction of Triumph 2000 Saloon replacing the Standard Vanguard range and marking the end of the use of the ‘Standard’ name on cars

1965

Introduction of Triumph 1300 Saloon

1966

Leyland takeover of Rover

1966

British Motor Holdings (BMH) takeover of Jaguar

1968

Leyland and BMH merger resulting in the creation of British Leyland Motor Company (BLMC)

1970

Triumph 1500 front-wheel-drive Saloon and rear-wheel-drive Toledo launched

1972

Triumph Dolomite 1850 launched

1973

Triumph Dolomite Sprint launched

1975

Ryder Report into the state of British Leyland; results in state takeover of British Leyland

1976

Toledo 1500 and 1500 TC renamed ‘Dolomite’

1977

Michael Edwards appointed head of British Leyland and instigates recovery plan

1978

British Leyland (BL) name adopted for the company

1978

BL approaches Honda for collaboration

1979

BL and Honda agree to collaboration; first project is the Triumph Acclaim

1980

Dolomite family of cars ceases production; Triumph plant at Canley closed

1981

Launch of the Triumph Acclaim, based on the Honda Ballade and built at the old Morris plant at Cowley – the last Triumph-badged car to be built

CHAPTER ONE

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE DOLOMITE FAMILY

INTRODUCTION

By the mid-1970s the Triumph name was firmly under the control of British Leyland, but still had a good reputation for producing both traditional sports cars and sporting saloons. One of its acknowledged strengths was in identifying niche markets and producing distinctive, sporty and well-engineered cars to fill them. The Triumph Dolomite of the 1970s was the ultimate medium-range Triumph saloon, which carried Triumph’s reputation for quality, sporting saloon cars through the dark days of British Leyland. The Dolomite’s final – and, in the opinion of many, the best – incarnation was as the Dolomite Sprint, a car with a groundbreaking overhead-cam sixteen-valve engine and a performance that was significantly better than that of many more expensive rivals. Apart from its advanced sixteen-valve engine the Dolomite Sprint was a thoroughly conventional but slightly dated-looking four-door saloon, with a front engine and rear-wheel drive via a live rear axle. However, its original ancestor, the Triumph 1300 of 1965, had been an innovative and advanced small saloon car with modern Italian styling, upmarket interior and equipment, front-wheel drive and sophisticated independent suspension front and rear.

The introduction of the Triumph 1300 in 1965 marked the birth of a dynasty of cars that would take Triumph into new market niches and demonstrate the technical ingenuity, quality and performance that were Triumph trademarks. In the 1960s Triumph was a thriving and successful business. Having been taken over by the Leyland Motor Company in 1961, Triumph had the financial clout behind it to introduce the all-new upmarket six-cylinder 2000 saloon in 1963 to complement its smaller Herald saloon, and its Spitfire and TR4 sports cars.

At this time Triumph’s TR range of two-seat sports cars had established Triumph’s sporting reputation; the Spitfire was the bestseller in the small, cheap sports-car market. The Herald range had re-established the name in the small saloon market; and the newly introduced 2000 was quick to establish the Triumph name in the upmarket sporty executive saloon sector. This left a gap in the market between the small, two-door Herald and the much larger executive four-door 2000 saloon. In 1965, Triumph’s medium or mid-sized saloon range was launched with the introduction of the four-door, front-wheel-drive 1300, which, in terms of price and size, slotted neatly in between the Herald and the 2000. Powered by a 1296cc 61bhp four-cylinder engine, and equipped with up-to-date independent front and rear suspension, the car was styled by Italian Giovanni Michelotti, with a look that was based on that of the current Triumph 2000 large saloon. The car was an immediate success, and the range was expanded in 1967 with the 1300 TC, which was a twin-carburettor version of the 1300 giving 75bhp, a useful performance increase over the original 1300.

The first major change to the range came in 1970, when the two 1300s were replaced with a pair of face-lifted models, the 1500 and the Toledo. The 1500 had a new, lengthened four-door body shell with a much larger boot, while the Toledo was a two-door that retained the 1300’s short boot; it gained four doors in 1972.

The front-wheel-drive Triumph 1300 was the first of the Triumph medium-sized saloon cars. Styled by Italian maestro Michelotti, the car changed little during its production.

The ultimate Dolomite, with the sixteen-valve Sprint engine. The rear-wheel-drive Dolomite was the final incarnation of the Triumph medium-sized saloon.

Herald Coupé. At the time, the two-door Herald was Triumph’s smallest saloon.

The Triumph 2000 was the 1300’s big brother – it was larger and had a six-cylinder engine.

The 1300 was a neat design, with good accommodation that was easily accessed. The short boot of the early design is obvious in this shot.

The 1300 was replaced by the rear-wheel-drive Toledo, which was initially a two-door. While the front-end styling was revised, it retained the short tail of the 1300.

The 1500 had, as the name suggests, a larger 1500cc engine and retained the 1300’s front-wheel drive, but it had a dead rear axle rather than the 1300’s independent set-up. The Toledo was rear-wheel drive. This pair of cars then led to the Dolomite 1850 – introduced in 1972 – which used Triumph’s new 1854cc slant four overhead-cam motor, a four-speed gearbox with optional overdrive, a live rear axle placed in the 1500-style long-boot body and a luxurious but sporty well-equipped interior.

The Toledo was also offered in four-door form. The side profile reveals its strong resemblance to the 1300.

The rear-wheel-drive Dolomite was introduced in 1972. It was a compact sporting saloon with Triumph’s new 1850cc overhead cam engine.

THE COMPETITION

When the 1300 was introduced, in 1965, it was designed to compete with the top-of-the-range small saloons in various ranges. The comparisons are interesting. At June 1968 prices, the 1300 cost £868 on the road, and the 1300 TC was £909. The top-of-the-range Austin Morris 1300 was the Vanden Plas 1300, costing £1,065; the Ford Escort 1300 GT was £826 and the Vauxhall Viva 90SL was £793. The dated Hillman Minx was £829 and the Austin 1300 four-door was a competitive £775. Foreign competition was not so common in the sub-£1,000 price bracket, but there was an Opel Kadett four-door for £877 and the Saab 96 de-luxe for £935, while the Volvo 131 saloon was a massive £1,133.

In 1977, with the range now called Dolomite, British Leyland issued a neat little Product Guide to its sales force. The Dolomite section identified the various cars that competed with each of the Dolomites and gave a raft of details to help the salesperson persuade the prospective customer to go for the Triumph.

The main rivals to the Dolomite 1300 were named as the Ford Escort 1300 GL four-door, the Vauxhall Viva 1300 GLS, the Citroen GS Club and the Renault 12 TL. The text noted that the 1300’s touring fuel consumption was compatible with that of its rivals, but was much better when the car was driven hard. The Dolomite’s 12-month warranty period was twice as long as that of the French cars, the 1300’s fuel capacity was larger, and it was safer with its laminated windscreen and head restraints.

The Vanden Plas 1300 was a luxury-specification BMC 1300 with a prominent and posh grille. It was a competitor to the upmarket Triumph 1300.

The Dolomite 1500 was compared to the Ford Cortina 1600 GL, the Vauxhall Cavalier 1600 L, the Peugeot 304 and the Fiat 131 1600 Special. Again, the warranty was identified as being longer than that of the French cars. In addition, the performance and the turning circle of the Dolomite were superior to those of most of the opposition.

The 1500HL was compared with the Escort 1600 Ghia, the Chrysler Alpine S, the Volkswagen Passat 1300 L and the Alfasud Ti. The equipment levels of the Dolomite took centre stage in the comparison, along with the warranty, safety features and lower insurance group.

With the Dolomite 1850 HL the competitors moved upmarket – the Ford Cortina 2000 Ghia, the Fiat 132 GLS 1800, the Audi 80 GLS and the Lancia Beta 1600. Performance, with a classwinning 0–60mph time for the Dolomite, was the first advantage identified, along with a lower insurance group, better towing fuel consumption and longer range.

Finally, the Product Guide pitched the Sprint against an interesting selection of 1970s performance cars: the Ford Capri 2000 Ghia and Escort RS1800 Custom, the BMW 320 and the Lancia Beta Coupé 1600. Even with two coupés in the mix, the 0–60 time and top speed of the Sprint were better than all the competitors’, although the in-gear acceleration of the Sprint was beaten by the Escort, BMW and Lancia. The main comparison related to the equipment levels of the Sprint, which were far superior to those of the others.

Clearly, the Triumph medium-sized saloons were a competitive and exciting range of cars that could justifiably compete with the best the market could offer.

British Leyland gave their salesmen details of the rivals to all their models. The Capri 2000, Escort RS1800, BMW 320 and Lancia Beta Coupé were all seen as competing with the Dolomite Sprint.

The salesman’s guide also gave a summary of the advantages of the BL cars, including the Sprint.

The range was expanded and rationalized to be all rear-wheel drive in 1973 with the front-wheel-drive 1500 being dropped, and the introduction of the Dolomite Sprint and the 1500 TC. The Sprint used the sixteen-valve version of the Dolomite slant four engine, which gave a significant performance boost to the range. The 1500 TC was equipped with a more powerful twin-carburettor version of the 1500 saloon’s engine, which was used to drive the rear wheels via a conventional gearbox and live rear axle. The choice of models was rationalized in 1976, with the entire range being renamed Dolomite. These cars remained in production until 1980.

The replacement for the range was a re-badged Honda, the Triumph Acclaim, which was produced between 1981 and 1984 and was, at the time of writing, the last car to bear the Triumph name.

A 1500 HL with aftermarket alloy wheels. As the 1970s progressed, Triumph named all its medium saloons Dolomites.

BACKGROUND

Triumph as a manufacturer was expert at seeking out niche markets and filling them with well-designed models, and this trend was particularly visible throughout the 1960s. Having made its image for producing successful sports cars in the 1950s with the TR range, Triumph, under the auspices of its Standard owner, produced the small but comfortable Herald saloon range in 1959. This replaced the small Standard saloons and marked the start of the exclusive use of the Triumph name for Standard products. The Herald was soon joined by the Spitfire sports car and the refined six-cylinder-engined Herald-based Vitesse sports saloon. The early 1960s saw the introduction of the large upmarket 2000 saloon, which replaced the aged large Standard saloon car offerings. This model cemented Triumph’s position as a purveyor of quality cars aimed firmly at the gap between the bread-and-butter mass-market Austins/Morrises, Fords and Vauxhalls and the upper-crust Jaguars, while also offering prices that undercut the competition from Italian and German manufacturers.

Triumph’s biggest rival for market position was in fact Rover. While the Rover 2000 was also firmly aimed at the middle luxury market and competed directly with the Triumph 2000 range, Triumph differentiated its product from Rover’s by emphasizing its sporting pedigree. This, along with the touch of luxury, was intended to appeal to an executive customer who was probably a bit younger than Rover’s ‘Bank Manager’ type.

The Rover 2000.

Triumph as a company had been in existence since 1885. After manufacturing sewing machines, bicycles and motorbikes, it started to produce cars in the 1920s. By the mid-1930s, it was producing a bewildering range of cars but was not making any money. By June 1939, it had gone into receivership, despite selling off, in 1936 to Jack Sangster, its motorcycle business, including its Priory Street factory in Coventry. The remaining car manufacturing company was bought up by Yorkshire engineering conglomerate T. W. Ward on 1 September 1939, just two days before Britain’s entry into the Second World War. The takeover and the need for war production meant that Triumph’s largest production plant, the Gloria works at Holbrooks Lane, Coventry, was quickly sold to the H.M. Hobson company and the British government. It was soon turned over to the production of aircraft carburettors. This left only the much smaller Stoke works, which was at the time producing aircraft components for Armstrong Whitworth, in the hands of Triumph.

When the Germans bombed the centre of Coventry, in November 1940, the Stoke works were severely damaged, most of the car tooling was destroyed and all production ceased. In 1944, Standard stepped in and bought the remains of Triumph, which by then comprised little more than the bombed-out factory, the name and trademarks and remaining goodwill. Almost immediately, the old factory site was sold on, with just the Triumph name being retained. Standard’s boss, Sir John Black, had plans to use the name to compete with Sir William Lyons’s Jaguar concern. Before the war Standard had supplied chassis and engines to Lyons for his ‘SS’ cars, but Lyons had bought the tooling for Standard’s old six-cylinder engines in 1942 as a quick route to bringing all his manufacturing in house. By the end of the war, Lyons obviously could not continue in business with those ‘SS’ initials – the negative connotations and their association with Hitler’s Nazis were just too much – so in 1945 he adopted the name ‘Jaguar’.

Sir John Black had approached Lyons with a view to a merger during the war but had been firmly rejected. The purchase of the Triumph name gave him the means to compete with SS/Jaguar with a premium performance brand that would complement Standard’s post-war range of worthy saloons – which could never really be described as sporting! However, Triumph’s first post-war models did not really conform to the right profile. The 1800/2000 range comprised a large ‘sit-up-and-beg’ saloon (later named the Renown) and the Roadster.

The Saloon had so-called ‘razor-edge' styling, carried over from pre-war days, with a prominent bonnet, separate flowing front wings and running boards, and hard straight creases to delineate the body lines. This gave it a stately but somewhat dated appearance. The Roadster had more rounded styling, although it kept the prewar-style front wings and running boards. It was an open-top tourer, which could accommodate five passengers at a pinch – three people on the front bench seat and two passengers squeezed into a dicky seat on the rear deck. This Roadster was made famous when it featured in the 1980s BBC TV series Bergerac, driven by the Jersey-based detective played by actor John Nettles. It had much more curvy styling than the razor-edged saloon and, while its relatively small four-cylinder engine did not give it a particularly good performance, it was a characterful and attractive car.

The styling of Triumph’s first post-war cars was firmly rooted in the pre-war era. The Triumph Renown was a typical example.

The Triumph Roadster was more of a grand touring car than a sports car.

If Triumph’s Renown Saloon and the Roadster were not too sporting, Triumph’s third post-war model was even less so. The Mayflower, a small two-door saloon, again with ‘razor-edge’ styling and luxury wood and leather interior, could best be described as a mini Bentley or Rolls Royce. Powered by a 1247cc four-cylinder side-valve engine producing a mere 38bhp, which was unique to the model, the Mayflower was not a performance machine. Introduced in 1949, the car was intended to fulfil perceived market demand for a small economical upmarket saloon to be sold alongside the planned sports TR2. Unfortunately, although it was quite popular in the UK, where it retains a dedicated following in the classic car scene, the car flopped in its intended market, the USA. It was phased out of production in 1953, just as Triumph’s first two-seater sports car, the TR2, was introduced. The TR models were aimed squarely at the US market for small, two-seat sports cars. In the early post-war years, that market had been gobbling up as many MG ‘T’ series cars as it could get. The TR2 was a neat two-seater with a four-cylinder 2-litre engine (based on the Ferguson tractor unit that was supplied by Standard). It had ‘full-width’ styling, making it bang up to date in comparison with the distinctly pre-war ‘square-rigger’ styling of the MG TC, TD and TF, with their narrow bodies, separate front wings and running boards.

The Roadster was produced only up to 1950 and by 1954 the Mayflower and Renown ranges had also been dropped, leaving the TR as the only Triumph car in the Standard range. This gave the Triumph brand an exclusively sporting image, which was carried through the 1950s with the evolution of the TR range, via the TR3 through to the modernlooking TR4, with its bluff-faced style and wind-up windows and, in later versions, independent rear suspension. The sporting image was enhanced by the company running TR2-based cars at Le Mans in 1955, with all three cars finishing, and by many rally wins. TRs continued to compete at Le Mans and, while the new TRS cars finished in the 1960 event but did not quite make the required distance, all three finished in the rankings in the 1961 event. This success heralded the debut of the TR4.

The first post-war Triumph sports car was the TR2. This TR3 shows the sporty lines and neat styling.

The TR range continued to be the only Triumph-badged cars produced by Standard until 1959 when the Triumph Herald was introduced. This was a small four-seat saloon car (that could fit five at a squeeze), introduced as a replacement for the Standard Eight and Ten ranges and initially produced as a two-door saloon or coupé. Powered by a 35bhp 948cc four-cylinder engine, developed from the Standard 10 unit (the SC engine originally produced in 1952), and styled by Italian maestro Giovanni Michelotti, the Herald featured a separate chassis and bolt-together body.

The Herald’s chassis and separate body construction was chosen by Triumph as an expedient as they could not rely on any single body manufacturer to supply them with a monocoque shell. Triumph’s traditional supplier, Fisher and Ludlow, had been taken over by BMC, who refused to supply a competitor. Its other major supplier, Pressed Steel, did not have the capacity. As a result, Triumph had to source the various body panels from a number of suppliers, including Pressed Steel and Mulliners, and build up the bodies in-house. However, this method of construction was inefficient and led to quality issues around panel fit and sealing.

Increasing the bore of the original 948cc engine in 1961, from 63mm to 69mm, increased engine capacity to 1147cc and power output to 39bhp and gave a performance boost. Along with the introduction of estate and convertible body styles to complement the saloon and coupés, Standard now had a versatile small saloon that could meet most market demands. In 1963 a raised compression ratio increased engine power to 51bhp, and in 1965 a further increase in the engine’s bore, to 73.7mm, gave a capacity of 1296cc and 61bhp to improve performance further. This was the next stage in the birth of the true ancestor of Triumph’s Dolomite range, the Triumph 1300 Saloon.

The Herald and 6-cylinder Vitesse range were Triumph’s small saloons. The Vitesse was a refined and fast offering and was the first of Triumph’s sporting saloon family.

THE ANCESTOR OF THE DOLOMITE