There has been recent speculation again that BMW is about to revive the Triumph brand... This is but one... BMW may be a German automaker, but it is no stranger to the allure of British motoring. Several years before buying Rolls-Royce, the Anglophiles in Munich bought the entire Rover Group – a collection of British marques of which BMW kept some and eventually sold others. MG it sold to the Chinese, Land Rover was eventually bought by Indian automaker Tata, but it famously relaunched the Mini brand, and along with it, kept the rights to Riley and Triumph, two dormant brands it did not sell off alongside Austin, Morris and Wolesley. Ever since, BMW has been rumored to be preparing to relaunch the Triumph brand, but over a decade later, nothing has materialized. Proposals were reportedly made to market a cheaper version of the Z4 as a Triumph, or label the new Mini Roadster as a Triumph – a proposal rejected by existing Mini dealers who weren't eager to launch separately branded showrooms. A new report emanating from the UK, however, indicates that BMW filed a new patent for the Triumph name that would extend not only to vehicles, but also all manner of branded merchandise from watches and jewelry to luggage and even Christmas tree decorations. Whether BMW has any immediate plans to produce any actual automobiles under the Triumph name remains to be seen, but the merchandizing campaign can't be good news for the motorcycle manufacturer of the same name that has had the brand all to itself for the past few decades now.
I was really excited about this when they showed renderings of a Spitfire-like roadster a while back. I'm hopeful, if not optimistic. You can find me sharpening the wrenches, waiting to tear into a Triumph.
It's a surrey top back light glass, it's a factory option on TR4, TR4A and TR250 some early TR6's have sported them too. There is a soft top section or also hardtop piece that goes with it. Later Porsche called it their Targa top. But Triumph was the first.
My 1st car was a Mk I Spitfire, '63 I believe. If they do resurrect the TR I hope they don't duplicate that fold-up rear end.
Swinging axles from the swinging 60's.... :ihih: Since the Spitfire was on a Triumph Harold chassis that is what it was stuck with.
Then again, it just won't be the same, after German engineering, without the nostalgic snap, crackle and pop of the iconic Lucas drama. Then again, with their renowned attention to detail, they could program some of that excitement into the package for that total Lucas driving experience.
It would only take a little software magic. Turn the wipers on lights go off. Lights on wipers park. Like the adage I learned from an old Brit car mechanic years ago "lights or wipers, but never both".
I drove a 79 Spitfire for 10 years; or maybe I should say that I borrowed it periodically from the "shop" for ten years. Let's see if I can recall but a few of the issues: three engines, replace the clutch master cylinder once a year, collapsed gas tank, worn out tyres at 9,000 miles, added an extra radiator and fan to attempt to keep the car cool, recalled for electrical issues and extremely hard to start. Even with all of that, I still loved that car, but not half as much as I love my MINI. The happiest day of my Dad's life was when I traded the Spitfire for a BMW. The Spitfire had just over 20,000 on it when I traded it for the BMW. Don't tell my Dad that the Spitfire may be coming back. Just the name alone could cause him to stroke out!
If you've got pictures of your TR... That would have been Feb '68 at the "Summerland Slide" auto-X conducted by the Key West chapter of EVSCC. Notice how the rear end is beginning to rise to the occasion.
My first "new" car was a TR Spitfire. Never had a problem with it. I only ran Amoco, known as "white gas" back then, because it was the only one that was "unleaded". Funny, but it was all you were suppose to use in the new fangled power lawn mowers. Jim
Funny, but when I saw the first rendering of the Roadster, the first thing that popped into my mind was a TR-4. I think that is part of why I am drawn to the Roadster. Jim
When I look at the MINI roadster I see a nice, well MINI roadster. Time to visit the eye Doc there Jim... :wink:
Looking forward to seeing what they have in mind for this... Triumph has a fan base that is about as rabid as MINI. Will be cool to see the brand reincarnated.