Triumph

Coventry · 1923–1984 · assembled at Nelson

Bought out of receivership by Standard in 1945 — and by the 1970s New Zealand was buying more of them per head than anywhere on earth.

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All Triumph PartsEverything we list for the marque, in one place

Renown & Mayflower1946–1954 Triumph TR21953–1955 Triumph TR31955–1962 Triumph TR41961–1967 Triumph TR51967–1968 Triumph TR2501967–1968 Triumph TR61968–1976 Triumph TR7 & TR81974–1981 Triumph Herald1959–1971 Triumph Vitesse1962–1971 Triumph Spitfire1962–1980 Triumph GT61966–1973 Dolomite & Toledo1965–1980 Triumph 2000 & 25001963–1977 Triumph Stag1970–1977

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Window SealsWindscreen · Rear screen · Quarterlight Door SealsDoor rubbers · Pinchweld · Bailey channel Boot & BonnetBoot seals · Bonnet rubbers · Buffers Body & TrimPanel rubber · Mouldings · Bumper fittings Clips & FixingsTrim clips · Moulding · Screws · Washers Carpet & InteriorCarpet sets · Underlay · Interior trim Brakes & ClutchCylinders · Kits · Hoses · Pedal pads Suspension & SteeringBushes · Ball joints · King pins · Idlers Engine & GasketsGasket sets · Mounts · Seals · Bearings CoolingHoses · Thermostats · Caps · Senders Ignition & ElectricalPoints · Caps · Rotors · Coils · Leads Fuel & FiltersPumps · Hose · Filters · Exhaust mounts Lighting & MirrorsLamps · Lenses · Bulbs · Mirrors Axle & GearboxSeals · Mounts · Bearings · Universals

RelatedStandard MG Midget Rover Jaguar

Not listed? Plenty of parts suit several marques and never get the model name in the title — ask us and we will check the books for you.

About Triumph

Triumph went into receivership in 1939. In 1945 Sir John Black of the Standard Motor Company bought it for £75,000, and from that day the two marques share engines, gearboxes, axles and suppliers — which is why so many parts cross between a Standard Vanguard and a TR3. The company became Standard-Triumph International in 1959, Leyland bought it in 1960, and on 17 August 1970 the Standard name was dropped altogether and everything became Triumph. Giovanni Michelotti styled most of what matters — Herald, Spitfire, TR4, 2000 and Stag — after starting with a Standard Vanguard for Vignale.

The New Zealand story is unusually strong on this marque. Standard-Triumph took over a plant in Tuam Street, Christchurch in 1954, then moved the equipment to Nelson in August 1965. Nelson assembled the Triumph 2000 from October 1965 and kept going to 1979: 7,070 Mk I saloons and 22,833 Mk IIs, 29,903 in all. That is nine per cent of every Triumph 2000 and 2500 built anywhere in the world, the highest penetration per head of population of any country. A New Zealand-assembled Triumph is not an oddity here, it is the norm.

Five engine families cover the whole range, and knowing which one you have saves a wrong order. The Standard wet-liner four runs from the Vanguard through the TR2, TR3 and TR4 — and the Ferguson tractor. The Standard SC four starts in a 1953 Standard Eight and ends up, at 1,493cc, in an MG Midget. The straight six is the SC with two cylinders added: 2 litres in the Vanguard Six, Triumph 2000, Vitesse and GT6, then stroked to 2.5 for the TR5, TR6 and 2.5 PI. The slant four does the Dolomite, the TR7 and the Saab 99. And the Triumph V8 is in the Stag and nothing else — it is not a Rover V8, whatever anyone tells you.

Triumph — the range, and what changes between the cars

Wet-liner four: Stroke is 92mm in every car version; capacity is set by the bore. 83mm = 1,991cc TR2, TR3, TR3A · 85mm = 2,088cc Standard Vanguard · 86mm = 2,138cc TR3B, TR4, TR4A and the Standard Ensign De Luxe. Liners and pistons are bore-specific — this is the biggest crossover trap in the range.
Standard SC four: 803cc Standard Eight · 948cc Standard Ten, Pennant, Herald 948 · 1,147cc Herald 1200 and 12/50, Spitfire Mk1 and Mk2 · 1,296cc Herald 13/60, Spitfire Mk3 and Mk4, Triumph 1300, Toledo, Dolomite 1300 · 1,493cc Triumph 1500, Toledo, Dolomite 1500, Spitfire 1500 — and the MG Midget 1500.
Straight six: The SC with two cylinders added. 1,998cc Standard Vanguard Six, Triumph 2000, Vitesse 2-litre, GT6 · 2,498cc for the TR5, TR250, TR6 and 2.5 PI — a longer stroke, 76mm to 95mm, on the same bore. That is why ancillaries cross so freely and bottom-end parts do not. 1,596cc in the Vitesse 6.
Slant four: 1,854cc Dolomite 1850 · 1,998cc Dolomite Sprint (16-valve) and TR7. Also the Saab 99, which had it before Triumph did.
Triumph V8: 2,997cc, Stag only. Cast-iron block, alloy heads, single overhead camshaft per bank. Not the Rover V8, which is an all-alloy pushrod 3.5 from Buick.
Front disc brakes, when: TR3 from commission number TS13046, late 1956 — the first British series-production car with them as standard. Herald: optional from October 1961, standard from the 12/50 in 1963. Spitfire: standard from the Mk I. Vitesse: standard on every one. No TR2 ever left the factory with discs.
The three rear-suspension fixes: Triumph solved the swing-axle problem three different ways and the parts do not cross: Vitesse Mk2 and GT6 Mk2, 1968 — reversed lower wishbones and Rotoflex couplings · Spitfire Mk IV, November 1970 — the cheaper swing spring · GT6 Mk3, 1973 — switched from Rotoflex to swing spring near the end of the run.
Built here: Christchurch, Tuam Street, from 1954; equipment moved to Nelson in August 1965. Triumph 2000 and 2500 assembled at Nelson October 1965 to 1979 — 29,903 cars, nine per cent of world production. Nelson later assembled Honda and closed in August 1998.
Earth polarity: TR4 and TR4A are positive earth; TR250, TR5 and TR6 are negative. The change falls at the four-to-six-cylinder switch in mid-1967. For every other Triumph, check your own car — it is not documented and conversions are common.
Sister marque: Standard. One company from 1945, and the wet-liner four, the SC four and the straight six all started life as Standard engines.