In 1944, Standard purchased what remained of Triumph for £75,000. It then promptly sold the remains of the factory for the same amount but kept just the name Triumph, essentially for free. At that point, it was unclear what was to become of it.
It should be noted that at this point in the chronology, the charismatic tractor builder Harry Ferguson arrived on the scene. He was looking to establish his tractors in England and needed manufacturing space. Black had a vast production facility left over from the war that he needed to fill so they formed an alliance.
Black, already anticipating the conclusion of the war, badly wanted to be the first car manufacturer back in full production. In 1944, he authorized the beginning of new body designs for Standard. Because it was going to take all hands to get the new Standard models up to speed, Black decided that he would oversee the design and production of the new sports car personally. The new car was going to be produced under the Triumph banner. It would begin as his own personal car and that would eventually become the production model.
At this point, all Black had was the Triumph nameplate, which had a history and reputation for quality. It should be noted that Triumph had enjoyed a higher reputation for quality than Standard, so Black had a good base from which to start. But, he had no experienced designers, no chassis, and Lyons had taken his 6-cylinder engines. At one point, Black even tried to hire Cecil Kimber to run the new venture and develop the new sports car. Kimber, the man behind MG’s pre-war success, declined the offer just days before a freak rail accident at King’s Cross Station in London took his life.
Sir John Black wanted Triumph’s new post-war sports car to be modeled after the Jaguar SS100. Black’s own personal car was an SS100 and he charged two fledgling designers with the task of creating the new car. (Photo Courtesy Richard Spiegelman)
THE FIRST POST-WAR SPORTS CAR
It was determined that there would be two new Triumph models: a saloon and an open touring roadster. The cars would be manufactured using the knowledge gained from building aircraft, which included using tubular frames and aluminum bodywork. However, there was virtually no budget, so Black had to settle for using existing Standard components as much as possible.
Black charged two fresh, young draftsmen, Frank Callaby and Arthur Ballard, to come up with a roadster as sleek and stylish as the SS100. In 1946, Frank Callaby penned a design that became the first post-war car to carry the Triumph badge: the 1800 Roadster. The design of the car has been credited primarily to Callaby, although writings indicate that Callaby’s greatest influence was on the front of the car while Ballard concentrated on the rear.
The new car was built using the skills learned from years of wartime manufacturing, specifically in building the center fuselage for the Mosquito fighter. The frame for the 1800 was built from tubular steel, which would have been easy enough given the experience level, but the challenge was that it had to be easily modified to support the saloon. The idea was to use a shorter frame for the sports car but a longer frame for the family car.
The body would be hand-formed aluminum wrapped around an ash wood frame. At the time, this was typical for most British manufacturers. Ash frame components were used famously in Morgan cars as well for decades to come.
The styling of the car was as unusual as some of its features. It bore no resemblance to any of Triumph’s contemporaries, and certainly no likeness to Black’s SS100. The similarities might have been in spirit but were certainly not physical.
Starting at the front, from a head-on view, the car was impressive and slightly imposing. With its tall grille, massive chrome headlamps, and dual horns, it looked like a descendant of the 1930s classic era. However, its profile did not harken to the same classics.
The rear track of the car was 5 inches wider (12.7 cm) than the front track (presumably to gain more passenger room) so the car was at a proportional disadvantage immediately. The long, narrow hood was flanked by rounded bulbous, pontoon-like fenders. Unlike the more sleek motorcycle-style fenders of the Jaguar and MG T-series, the hand-beaten front fenders were freestanding but were fared into the body ahead of the doors. The fenders virtually enveloped the front wheels from front to rear with a demure running light mounted at the top. Sandwiched between the end of the front fender and the start of the rear wheel arch were smallish doors that were hinged at the rear. The flip-out metal trafficator was fared-in just behind the door hinge.
Triumph’s first post-war sports car and the first car to carry the Triumph badge after World War II. Frank Callaby and Arthur Ballad designed the 1800 Roadster and modeled it from the Jaguar SS100. The styling represents a 10-year evolution from the SS100 of the mid-1930s to the post-war trend toward fully enveloped bodies. (Photo Courtesy Warwick Carter)
The 1800 Roadster shows some disproportions, likely caused by the two designers splitting duty between the front and rear of the car. The long hood and statuesque grille are reminiscent of a pre-war Jaguar, but aft of the windshield post the car becomes compressed and quickly curtailed. It is an open car and named a “Roadster,” but it is not a roadster in the same sense as other sports cars of the day. (Photo Courtesy Warwick Carter)
The tall and imposing grille, large close-mounted headlamps, and dual horns harkened back to the pre-war classics. The body of the Roadsters were assembled in the Canley factory using pre-war methods with aluminum panels formed on the same presses that once produced aircraft fuselages. The manual construction process limited output to just over 2,500 of the 1800 Roadsters produced. (Photo Courtesy Warwick Carter)
From the rear wheel arch to the grille, the car was stylish and handsome. Looking rearward from the doors is where things became somewhat disproportioned. In relation to the long hood, the car ended quickly with the high, rounded trunk dropping off almost immediately aft of the axle.
Seating was by far the most unique feature of the car. An American-style bench seat filled the two-door cockpit and claimed to fit three adults. The plush interior was of high-quality fit and finish that featured an all-wood dash, two-spoke steering wheel, roll-up windows, and padded door panels with wood trim. These were all quality hallmarks of the original Triumph badge.
A curious addition was a hideaway seat in the style of an American rumble seat, or British dickie seat, that opened like a clam shell from the rear deck with two individually folding seatbacks. Unlike American rumble seats, the assembly included a stout flip-up windscreen that was similar to pre-war dual-cowl phaetons. Black frequently contributed to designs in an effort to be like Lyons, and the unique rear seat was said to be his idea, or rather, his insistence.
Triumph maintained its pre-war reputation for quality with the interior. The plush interior featured a polished walnut veneer dashboard, roll-up windows, and padded door panels. Marketing materials claimed that the cockpit could seat three adults. Given that the full width of the car was just 64 inches, it was an optimistic claim. (Photo Courtesy Warwick Carter)
The auxiliary seating at the rear of the car was the Roadster’s most unique feature and provided space