TR4

Triumph TR4 (1961-1967)

by Arthur Kelly, ArthurK101@aol.com
VTR TR4 Vehicle Consultant

During the 1950's The Standard Triumph Company became a definite winner in the Sports Car market. By 1960, over 65,000 TR2/3's had been sold. But changing tastes and a desire to upgrade their product led to a management decision to go for a new design. The Standard Triumph company's intent was to upgrade their Triumph Roadster (TR) sports car so as to boost sales in what they saw as an increasingly competitive marketplace. To do this economically they would keep as much of the proven good features of the TR3 as possible and design a new, modern-looking body. The Italian auto designer Michelotti was approached for the project and agreed to take it on.

Michelotti's task was to design a more modern sports car body which would fit the chassis and mechanical components of the TR3. The result was the TR4, which first rolled out of the Canley works at Coventry on July 18, 1961. Let us look first at the TR4's body, which is the characteristic which most distinguishes it from the earlier TR's. Then we'll look at the chassis and mechanical components and their similarities and differences from the earlier TR's.

The success of the TR2 and TR3 models in the mid and late 1950's made the Triumph Roadsters (TR) a viable product on the world's stage. By the end of the 1950's the Standard Triumph Motor Company was looking to the future with confidence in themselves and in the sports car market. It was at this point that they began to modernize and upgrade to their idea of what the future market would desire. Triumph, in 1961, began their transition to the six cylinder sports cars of later TR design - the TR250, TR5, and TR6.

The TR4 has been called a transition between the TR2/3 and the TR6, but many auto critics of the time and most TR4 owners consider the TR4 a winner in its own right.

(*provided with permission, 04/10/2002)

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