Triumph Dolomite, Toledo & 1300
1965–1980 · and half of them drive the front wheels
Four names, one bodyshell family — and the single biggest trap in the Triumph range is which wheels they drive.
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About the Triumph Dolomite, Toledo & 1300
Front-wheel drive: the Triumph 1300, the 1300TC, and the Triumph 1500 of 1970 to 1973. Rear-wheel drive: the Toledo, the 1500TC, and every single Dolomite. They all came out of the same project and share a bodyshell family, they look alike, and the drivetrains have nothing in common. That is the thing to establish before ordering anything from the clutch backwards. It gets worse: in October 1973 the front-drive “Triumph 1500” was renamed “1500TC” and switched to the rear-drive Dolomite drivetrain, keeping the same 1,493cc engine. So two cars a year apart, with almost the same name, drive different wheels. The 1300’s front-drive layout is also nothing like BMC’s — the engine sits longitudinally, above the gearbox, not transversely, so nothing interchanges with a Mini or an 1100.
The rest is simpler. The Toledo of August 1970 was the cheap car and was rear-drive with a live axle from day one, in two-door and four-door, the two-door dropped in March 1975. The Dolomite proper arrived in October 1972 with the 1,854cc slant four — a version of the engine Triumph was already supplying to Saab for the 99. Then in March 1976 the Toledo and the 1500TC were both replaced by the Dolomite 1300 and Dolomite 1500, and from that point the whole range is one rear-drive family. The star is the Dolomite Sprint of June 1973: 1,998cc with a sixteen-valve single-overhead-camshaft head — one camshaft operating all sixteen valves, not a twin cam — for 127bhp. It was the world’s first mass-produced multi-valve car and the first British production car with alloy wheels as standard.
Triumph Dolomite, Toledo & 1300 — specification & changes within the model
- FRONT-WHEEL DRIVE
- Triumph 1300 (1965–70) · Triumph 1300TC (1967–70) · Triumph 1500 (1970–73).
- REAR-WHEEL DRIVE
- Triumph Toledo (1970–76) · Triumph 1500TC (1973–76) · every Dolomite.
- The name trap
- In October 1973 the front-drive “Triumph 1500” became the rear-drive “1500TC”, same 1,493cc engine, now with twin SUs. Same name, different driven wheels.
- Triumph 1300
- 1965–1970, 113,008 built, plus 35,342 of the 1300TC. 1,296cc, 61bhp, 75bhp TC. Engine longitudinal, above the gearbox — nothing in common with a Mini or 1100 drivetrain.
- Triumph 1500
- 1970–1973, 66,353 built, front-wheel drive, 1,493cc.
- Toledo
- August 1970 – March 1976, 119,182 built. Rear-wheel drive with a live axle from day one. 1,296cc 58bhp or 1,493cc, rising to 71bhp from March 1975. Two-door dropped March 1975.
- 1500TC
- October 1973 – March 1976, 25,549 built. Rear-wheel drive, 1,493cc, twin SU.
- Dolomite 1850
- October 1972–1980, 79,010 built. 1,854cc slant four, single overhead camshaft, 91bhp — a version of the engine Triumph supplied to Saab for the 99.
- Dolomite Sprint
- June 1973–1980, 22,941 built. 1,998cc with a SIXTEEN-VALVE single-overhead-camshaft head — one cam, all sixteen valves, not a twin cam. 127bhp @ 5700rpm. The world’s first mass-produced multi-valve car, and the first British production car with alloy wheels as standard.
- Dolomite 1300 & 1500
- March 1976–1980. Replaced the Toledo and the 1500TC, so from that point the whole range is rear-drive. 1,296cc 59bhp and 1,493cc 72bhp. Dolomite range total 204,003.
- Engine families
- 1,296cc and 1,493cc are the Standard SC four — the same family as the Herald, Spitfire and MG Midget 1500. 1,854cc and 1,998cc are the slant four, which also does the TR7 and the Saab 99.