Triumph Roadster History

Built by the Standard Motor Company from 1946 to 1949, the Triumph Roadster was bodied in aluminium because steel was scarce in post-war Britain while surplus wartime aircraft aluminium was plentiful. It was sold first as the 1800 Roadster (18TR) and, from 1948, as the 2000 Roadster (20TR/TRA) with the larger Standard Vanguard engine.

Its signature feature was a rear 'dickey' (rumble) seat for two extra passengers, complete with its own fold-up windscreen — the Roadster was the last production car offered with one. Decades later a red 1947 example became a screen icon as the car driven by John Nettles in the BBC crime series Bergerac.