Triumph Model History

United Kingdom · founded 1885

Coventry marque (cars 1923–1984) famous for affordable British sports cars — the TR roadsters, Spitfire, and Stag — before it was absorbed into British Leyland.

Models

Roadster

Triumph's aluminium-bodied post-war tourer — the last production car with a rear 'dickey' seat, later famous from TV's Bergerac.

Roadster · 1946–1949
Renown

A formal 'razor-edge' saloon whose sharp-creased coachwork echoed contemporary Rolls-Royce and Bentley styling.

Saloon · 1949–1954
Mayflower

A small 'razor-edge' economy saloon — Bentley-style formal lines shrunk onto a 1.25-litre budget car, named for the North American market.

Saloon · 1949–1953
TR2

The first true TR — an affordable Standard Vanguard-engined roadster, the cheapest production car of its day able to top 100 mph.

Sports car · 1953–1955
TR3

The TR2's hugely successful evolution — and, in TR3 form, often cited as the first British production car with standard front disc brakes.

Sports car · 1955–1962
TR4

The first TR with crisp Michelotti styling and roll-up windows — and an early adopter of the lift-out 'Surrey top' targa roof.

Sports car · 1961–1967
TR6

The best-selling traditional TR — a Karmann-restyled, 2.5-litre straight-six roadster and the last of the classic body-on-frame Triumph sports cars.

Sports car · 1968–1976
TR7

The controversial wedge-shaped TR — 'the shape of things to come' — a unibody coupe (later convertible) and the last mass-produced Triumph sports car.

Sports car · 1975–1981
Herald

Michelotti-styled small car with a separate chassis, bolt-on panels and a famously tiny turning circle — the basis for the Spitfire, Vitesse and GT6.

Small car · 1959–1971
Vitesse

A six-cylinder Herald — a compact saloon/convertible given straight-six power for surprisingly brisk performance.

Small car · 1962–1971
Spitfire

Triumph's small, affordable Michelotti-styled sports car — built on Herald underpinnings, it sold around 315,000 over five series in 18 years.

Sports car · 1962–1980
GT6

A Michelotti fastback coupe — a six-cylinder, hatchback-tailed Spitfire nicknamed the 'poor man's E-Type'.

Sports car · 1966–1973
2000 / 2500

Triumph's Michelotti-styled compact executive saloon — a refined six-cylinder rival to the Rover P6, later offered with Lucas fuel injection as the 2.5 PI.

Executive car · 1963–1977
Stag

A handsome Michelotti 2+2 convertible grand tourer with a unique Triumph 3.0-litre V8 — gorgeous, but undone by a reputation for engine overheating.

Grand tourer · 1970–1977
Dolomite

A sporting compact saloon whose 16-valve Sprint version is widely cited as the world's first mass-produced multi-valve car.

Compact saloon · 1972–1980
Acclaim

The last car to wear the Triumph badge — a Cowley-built, licence-produced Honda Ballade and the first fruit of the long BL–Honda alliance.

Compact saloon · 1981–1984

Other makes