Triumph TR4

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Triumph TR4
Manufacturer	Triumph Motor Company
Production	1961–1965
Predecessor	Triumph TR3A
Successor	Triumph TR4A
Class	Sports car
Layout	FR layout
Engine(s)	2138 cc straight-4
Transmission(s)	4-speed manual[1]
Wheelbase	2,238 mm (88.1 in)[1]
Length	3,962 mm (156.0 in)[1]
Width	1,461 mm (57.5 in)[1]
Height	1,270 mm (50.0 in)[1]
Curb weight	966 kg (2,130 lb)[1]
Fuel capacity	53.4 L (11.7 imp gal/14.1 US gal)[1]

The Triumph TR4 was a sports car built in the United Kingdom by the Standard Triumph Motor Company and introduced in 1961. Code named "Zest" during development, the car was based on the chassis and drivetrain of the previous TR sports cars, but with a modern Michelotti styled body. 40,253 cars were built during production years.

The new TR4 body style did away with the classical cutaway door design of the previous TRs to allow for wind-down (roll-up) windows (in place of less convenient side-curtains), and the angular rear allowed a boot (trunk) with considerable capacity for a sports car. Other key improvements included a wider track front and rear, slightly larger standard engine displacement, full synchromesh on all forward gears, and rack and pinion steering. In addition , the optional Laycock de Normanville electricallly opereated overdrive could now be selected for 2nd and 3rd gear as well as 4th, effectively providing the TR4 with a seven-speed close ratio gearbox.

Advanced features included the first use of adjustable fascia ventilation in a production car and the option of a unique hard top that consisted of a fixed glass rear window (called a backlight) with an integral rollbar and a detachable, steel centre panel (aluminium for the first 500 units). This was the first such roof system on a production car and preceded by 5 years the Porsche 911/912 Targa, which has since become a generic name for this style of top.

On the TR4 the rigid roof panel was replaceable with an easily folded and stowed vinyl insert and supporting frame called a Surrey Top. The entire hard top assembly is often mistakenly referred to as a "Surrey Top". In original factory parts catalogues the rigid top and backlight assembly is listed as the "Hard Top" kit. The vinyl insert and frame are offered separately as a "Surrey Top".

Features such as wind-down windows were seen as a necessary step forward to meet competition and achieve good sales in the important US market, where the vast majority of TR4s were eventually sold. However, dealers had concerns buyers might not fully appreciate the new amenities so a special short run of TR3A (commonly called TR3"B") were produced in 1961 and '62.

1964 Australian registered right hand drive TR4, showing the optional 48-lace wire wheels, which have been painted metallic silver. The tyres on the car shown are 165x15 radial-ply.

The TR4 proved very successful and continued the rugged, "hairy-chested" image that the previous TRs had enjoyed. In America, the TR4 also saw a number of racing successes, primarily through the efforts of the Californian engineer Kas Kastner and his top driver, Bob Tullius, the TR4 in 1962 won the E Production national championship. The SCCA reclassified the car to D Production, and Tullius won that class title in 1963 and ’64. Soon after the TR4 was introduced Kas Kastner along with Mike Cook who was in the advertising department at Triumph in New York convinced the company to provide three new TR4s to race in the 12 Hours of Sebring race in 1963. Beginning in Sept 1962 the cars were prepared in California where Kastner was Service Supervisor for Triumph. The cars were then flown to Florida for the endurance race in March on 1963. These cars were driven by Mike Rothschild and Peter Bolton from England, Bob Tullius, Charlie Gates, Ed Deihl, Bob Cole, Bruce Kellner and Jim Spencer and finished overall 22nd, 24th, and 35th of 65 entries, and 1st, 2nd and 4th in the 2.5 GT class. This was the beginning of the Triumph Competition Department which Kastner headed for several years subsequently and used to publicize and market the TR4. The next year a privateer TR4 finished dead last in the 1964 running of the Sebring 12-hour race and Kas Kastner returned to Sebring in 1966 with four carefully prepared TR4As, three of which finished winning the class. Perhaps the greatest racing victory for the TR4 was at Daytona where a Kastner prepared car driven by Charlie Gates won a SCCA 2.5 GT Modified Production Championship against Ferraris and other exotics.

The TR4 continues to be raced in vintage sports car events and even won an SCCA class championship as late as 1991. In Australia the TR4 was a common site at hill-climb events and various club rallies and circuit racing events. In 1964 the factory sponsored Team Triumph entered 3 TR4's in the Canadian Shell 4000 rally. These "works" cars were reportedly built with gussets on the chassis members and aluminum body panels to both strengthen and lighten the car. After import, the engines were prepared in New York by Kas Kastner where they were also fitted with lightweight magnesium wheels. Although they didn't place well in the rally, the surviving cars have become quite valuable, one of which is owned by Neil Revington, the proprietor of Revington TR in the UK. Indeed, the TR4 became a celebrated rally car in Europe and the UK during early to mid-sixties, and various replicas are still campaigned by privateers in vintage rally events through Europe.

The pushrod 4 cylinder engine based on the early design of the Ferguson tractor engine, was continued from the earlier TR2/3 models, however the displacement was increased from 1991cc to 2138cc in the TR4 by using a larger diameter piston. Gradual improvements in the manifolds and cylinder head allowed for some improvements culminating in the TR4A model. Although, the 1991cc engine became a no-cost option for those cars destined to race in the under-two-liter classes of the day. Some cars were fitted with vane-type superchargers, as the three main bearing engine was liable to crankshaft failure if revved beyong 6,500 rpm. Superchargers allowed a TR4 to produce much more horse-power and torque at relatively modest revolutions. The standard engine produced 105 bhp (78 kW) SAE but supercharged and otherwise performance-tuned a 2.2 litre version could produce in excess of 200 bhp (150 kW) at the flywheel. It should be noted that the TR4, in common with its predecessors, was fitted with a wet-sleeve engine, so that for competition use the engine's cubic capacity could be changed by swapping the cylinder liners and pistons, allowing a competitor to race under different capacity rules (ie below or above 2 litres for example).

TR4 were originally fitted with 15x4.5" disk wheels. Optional 48 lace wire wheels could be ordered painted the same colour as the car's bodywork (rare), stove-enamled (matte silver with chrome spinners, most common) or in matte or polished chrome finishes (originally rare, but now more commonly fitted). The most typical tyre originally fitted was 165x15 bias ply. In the US at one point, American Racing alloy (magnesium and aluminium) wheels were offered as an option, in 15x5.5" or 15x6" size. Tyres were a problem for original owners who opted for 48 spoke wire wheels, as the correct size radial ply tyre for the factory rims was 175x15, an odd sized tyre at the time that was only available from Michelin at considerable expense. The much more common 185x15 radials were too wide to be fitted safely. As a result, many owners had new and wider rims fitted and their wheels re-laced.

In 1965, the TR4A with IRS or independent rear suspension superseded the TR4. Apart from the rear suspension, which used trailing arms and a differential bolted to the redesigned chassis frame and a number of small styling changes and refinements, the two models appear nearly identical. In fact, an estimated 25% of TR4As were not equipped with IRS, but instead reverted to a live axle design similar to the TR4, which was adapted to fit the new chassis.

Perhaps the most rare production TR4 model is the Dove GTR4, and 'GTR4A' pronounced' Doav-ay' was a TR4 rebuilt as a coupe by a specialist coachbuilder for the Dove dealership in Wimbelton, London; of which only 43 were produced. The conversions were done by Harrington Motor Bodyworks (mostly known for construction of the 'Harrington Alpine', a similarly converted Sunbeam Alpine). Although most were based on the TR4 model, the sales brochure pictures a TR4A version of these cars. The engines came with such period extras as a heater in the water jackets to assist early morning starts. Some were fitted with fully balanced motors by Jack Brabham Motors or Laystall Engineering in London, which was offered as an option in the sales catalogue. Two jump seats were placed behind the drivers seat using identical materials to the originally equipped standard TR4. A wood- rim wheel with rivetted perimeter was fitted to some models along with driving lamps/fog lamps under the front bumper bars. A metalised identifying sticker with Dove' on it was fitted to the glovebox lid. On the rear deck to the left below the lid, was another identifying cast badge in the Dove' logo. The side window glasses were specially shaped with a flat top edge to fit the new roofline. Each Dove' was an individual order and some variation in each car occurred . Tinted swing-down see through acrylic sunvisors were custom fitted. The aerodynamics of the Dove' gave it high end acceleration from 80 mph (130 km/h) to 100 mph (160 km/h) over the standard version of the car. They were originally conceived by L.FDove &Co. as their attempt to fill the GT category for cruising- car sales on the continent, as Britain's contribution to the then concept of the Econonmic- Union: hence the French nomenclature with an inflection at the end of the word DOVE'. The cars were priced at 1250 Pounds, almost as much as an E-Type Jaguar, and as such were uncompetitive pricewise. One example was exported for sale through Australian Motor Industries in Melbourne, Australia for a Dr. Bell. A very thorough road-test of one of these cars was reported in 'Autocar ' magazine dated June 7 1963. Up to a dozen of these cars are known to still exist (two in Victoria, Australia).

[edit] TR4 fact file

• Cost When New - £1095
• Top Speed - 102 mph (164 km/h)
• Overall Fuel Consumption - 22.5 mpg–imp (12.55 L/100 km / 18.7 mpg–U.S.)
• Axle Ratio - 3.7
• Unladen Weight - 2,184 lb (991 kg)

Performance data

[edit] Notes

A very rough example of the Triumph TR4 is seen in the movie, "Alvin and the Chipmunks" as Dave's Car.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Triumph TR4

• The Triumph Experience