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A Triumph badged sports car by 2010!!!

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angelfj1

angelfj1

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I was there at the awards banquet last night and our guest of honor said, " BMW are not stupid - they understand the popularity of the Triumph. It is not inconceivable for us to see a front-wheel drive Triumph sports car by 2010" However, we were cautioned that there is lack of unity amongst TR clubs. When the Rover Group introduced the MG-F in 1995,according to a BMW executive, they wanted input from the enthusiasts. He said, "It was easy for the MG. We only had two clubs to deal with. This is not the case with Triumph."

AND Our guest of honor:

GR-1.jpg
 
Well, you can do a lot with front wheel drive, look at the FWD Lotus Elan, it is praised for its handing.

The Triumph 1300TC wasn't too shabby, either.

My theory on this is that if BMW are going to bring back Triumph, then it may well be rear-wheel drive. RWD is cheaper to produced that FWD, and almost all of BMW's cars (except for the 4WD vehicles, the X and Xi series) are rear wheel drive, so the technology is already in place.
 
I agree that BMW has the engineering, money and marketing to produce either a front or rear wheel drive Triumph.

What scares me is what they did with that AWFUL looking Z-4. If a new Triumph looks anything like that sculptured mess, the market from previous TR owners will dry up faster than a New York minute.
 
Hello all,

this is nonsense, Triumph has long gone and this will be a BMW with a Triumph name. (As was, similarly, the Triumph Acclaim which was a Honda)

Of course this is something that has been going on with many car companies for a long time, but I find (as a Triumph owner) not the slightest interest that BMW will call a car a Triumph.

Alec
 
A Triumph Badged Bimmer! Reliable! Thats first thing that comes to mind.
 
I know, but a lot of people like the BMW Mini. I suppose that it was already on the drawing board when it was still owned by Rover, though.
 
I remember when Triumph introduced the TR4. All the purists hated it. It had roll up windows! So how could it be a roadster? But look how popular it, the 250, and the TR6 became. Then there was the wedge car. Same thing happened. The purist TR4-6 guys said it was not a Triumph.

If the car sells, in thirty years there will be a bunch of old [censored] sitting around lamenting on what has happened to the Triumph.
 
piman said:
...Triumph has long gone and this will be a BMW with a Triumph name. (As was, similarly, the Triumph Acclaim which was a Honda)....
Click to expand...
I suppose, but one could make the same case for the Triumph name from 1945 on, when Standard bought little more than that name from receivers. Yes, ultimately the Triumph name outlasted the Standard name, but by that time the name was in Leyland hands....
 
I don't think so....The British had character & cause,And put British blood into the Triumph.DOESN'T THAT MEAN ANYTHING?......A Triumph by Germans built with German blood.........I don't think so.It would be in NAME ONLY.The same applies to the CHINESE MG.......I'll hang onto my BRITISH BUILT TRIUMPH AS LONG AS I CAN,The ONLY thing thats NOT British on my car is the INDIAN fuelpump(OW!)....NOW if someone(an independent)would build a car THAT DOESN'T HAVE FORIGN parts in it like a USA or British Co.THAT would bring back the character & originality....Being a realist i know THAT won't happen but while my original Triumph sits on her throne in her garage i can sit back and LAUGH at all this endless chatter......Anyway if it does get built by WHOMEVER it probably be built with RECYCLABLE MATERIAL.,THAT WOULD hurt EVEN MORE....This is why we need to HANG ONTO our cherished original Triumph's AS LONG AS WE CAN.....WHAT EVER CONDITION THEY MAY BE IN.....Well i've vented my spleen for today so i'm off to check for leaks.
Ken&Whitelightning...Cheers Mates
 
Hello Andrew,

as I said it has been going on for a long time.
But with Standard evolving to Triumph there is a change of name but basically a retention of design. The Triumph six cylinder engine was fitted in a Standard originally and probably the same for the smaller four cylinder engine. I forget a lot of that history.
That situation is different to BMW deciding to make a car and call it a Triumph with no real physical links to the Triumphs of old.

"but by that time the name was in Leyland hands...." yes, and what a disaster that was. jaguar especially were lucky to survive them.

Alec
_________________________
 
My only complaint is that is front wheel drive. I just don't really enjoy driving front wheel drive cars.

I would also be disappointed if it doesn't have a true manual. Not those paddle / worst of both world things.

Other than that, I say bring it on. If it is a successful as the mini has been, it will only drive up the value of our cars.

Of course, I always liked the wedges.
 
Let's hope:
NO flame surfacing
NO I-drive
NO bustle trunk
NO front wheel drive
NO $30,000 plus price tag
I will believe it when I see it.
 
this could be a slick little car. It won't be a triumph like we know. this will become apparent when we, us guys, are complaining about finding parts, say for instance, an AC fuel pump and Slick Roy shows up on the board with his Triumph Z13. He roars about how "Triumph Germany" finally got the fuel injection thing down and you should get rid of your "source of unending consternation" and join the "Z13" club. Then you will realize that you have nothing in common with him nor does he with us. On the positive side, it will bring our old little cars some publicity and some folks who never before would have will appreciate the beauty of our old little cars...
just my .02...

Achtung
 
TR6oldtimer said:
I remember when Triumph introduced the TR4. All the purists hated it. It had roll up windows! So how could it be a roadster? But look how popular it, the 250, and the TR6 became. Then there was the wedge car. Same thing happened. The purist TR4-6 guys said it was not a Triumph.

If the car sells, in thirty years there will be a bunch of old [censored] sitting around lamenting on what has happened to the Triumph.
Click to expand...

Yep, and if TR had been able to develop the "wedge", who knows what would have been...

There will always be "old [censored]", and there will always be sidescreen TR's as well as roll-up and unibody TR's. But as for the British car industry...

And by the way, when was the last time you saw a "pure" American car????
 
roofman said:
Let's hope:
NO flame surfacing
NO I-drive
NO bustle trunk
NO front wheel drive
NO $30,000 plus price tag
I will believe it when I see it.
Click to expand...

What are 'flame surfacing' and 'bustle trunk'.

As to the 'new' Triumph, I agree with those that say it will just bring more visibility to our 'old' LBCs. This can only help us in terms of value and perhaps increased parts availability due to increased demand. I agree with the no front wheel drive though, that would be a shame.
 
An interesting article on the demise and rebirth of the British auto industry. Beside the fact that there is no British owned auto company, auto manufacturing in Britain is growing.

A point well made in the article is that branding is more important then where the car is actually made. It would be a safe bet the the new Triumph will go over big, even with front wheel drive.

https://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1080512004
 
I don't drive what I drive because the bonnet and boot say 'Triumph' -- I just drive what I like.

There are Triumphs I would never own, there are other cars that I would (and have) happily own.

They can put a Triumph label on whatever they want, doesn't interest me. I don't smoke Triumph cigarettes, listen to Triumph's CDs, watch Triumph the Insult Dog, use a Triumph electric toothbrush or shine my car with T-R-3 polish.

Anyone who buys something based on the label will get just about what they deserve.
 
Why?

A friend has the M Elan and a 328. The M corners better than the 328.

When the M elan came out it was the best handling car in the world. Depends on the design and the details of component selection and installation.
 
Why not "A Triumph by Germans built with German blood"? The new MINI certainly seems to be a commercial success, thanks primarily to astute marketing and a shape that kinda/sorta evokes memories of the old one, at least to those who actually REMEMBER the old ones. Frankly, in the US, I don't think that the old Mini means much of anything to the vast majority of nw MINI owners, though. And I'd wager that, were BMW to bring a new Triumph to the US, it would be that kind of astute marketing -- paired with a quality product, that would make it succeed.

What concerns me most about a "new" Triumph is what bothers me about the new MINI in the US. Here, we can't get anything approaching a "basic" MINI; all we get are top-line models. Were I in the market for a new car, I'd be happy to get the equivalent of the MINI ONE or other "stripped-down" (if you will) basic models, sacrificing some of the bells and whistles in favor of an extremely frugal yet still fun-to-drive car. If the Triumph line is reintroduced in the US, I'll bet we never see anything like the basic Spitfire, with that same philosophy of fun and frugal. We'll get some TR with all its BMW-derived bells and whistles. Maybe in some ways this is good, but I fear there simply won't be the spirit of any of the Triumphs we loved when they came out of Coventry.
 
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