Triumph 1300

Last updated

Triumph 1300
1300fwd20.jpg
Overview
Manufacturer Standard-Triumph
Production1965–1970
113,008 1300
35,342 1300TC
3,676 1500 (RE) made
Designer Giovanni Michelotti
Body and chassis
Body style Four-door saloon
Powertrain
Engine 1,296 cc (79.1 cu in) OHV I4
Transmission Four-speed manual all-synchromesh, FWD
Dimensions
Wheelbase 96.5 in (2,451 mm) [1]
Length153 in (3,886 mm) [1]
Width61.75 in (1,568 mm) [1]
Height54 in (1,372 mm) [1]
Chronology
Predecessor Triumph Herald
Successor Triumph Toledo, Triumph 1500

The Triumph 1300 is a medium/small 4-door saloon car that was made between 1965 and 1970 by Standard Triumph in Coventry, England, under the control of Leyland Motors. It was introduced at the London Motor Show in October 1965 and intended as a replacement for the popular Triumph Herald. Its body was designed by Michelotti in a style similar to the larger Triumph 2000. It was replaced by the Triumph 1500, though it was also re-engineered in the early 1970s to provide the basis for the Toledo and Dolomite ranges.

Contents

Equipment

The 1300 was Leyland's first front-wheel drive (FWD) design. Their major rival was BMC, who was at the time producing three FWD model ranges including the Mini and the best-selling Austin 1100 series; it was hoped by Leyland that some of the 1100's phenomenal success would rub off on the new Triumph. Triumph decided to adopt a different layout to BMC however, placing the engine above the gearbox in a longitudinal configuration (but not sharing the same oil) rather than BMC's transverse engine layout. This resulted in a tall profile for the engine/gearbox combination which limited styling options. The engine was the same 1296 cc Standard SC unit as used in the Triumph Herald 13/60. (the engine had originated in 1953 in the Standard Eight in 803 cc form) A conventional OHV four-cylinder unit, it developed 61 hp (45 kW) with the single Stromberg CD150 carburettor (also as used in the Herald 13/60) and was mated to a 4-speed all-synchromesh gearbox. Front suspension was by double wishbone layout, attached to a shock-absorber/spring unit, and the rear suspension by semi-trailing arms and coil springs like the 2000.

Styling

Styling was somewhat unusual—partly dictated by the tall engine/gearbox—with a strong family resemblance to the Triumph 2000. The front was a "squashed" version of the 2000 with single headlamps, and the rear had an almost "chopped-off" look with a very short and stubby boot. The roof had a pronounced lip above the rear window. The car was available only as a four-door saloon.

Interior

The interior was well-appointed with full instrumentation in a wooden dashboard, wooden door cappings, adjustable steering column and comfortable seats with ventilated PVC upholstery. There was through-flow ventilation with outlets under the rear roof lip. The car was fairly roomy, and aside from a slightly baulky gearchange, easy to drive with very reasonable performance. Standard equipment was generous and included thick carpeting but no heated backlight. Although not reclining, the front seats were remarkably versatile and could be easily adjusted for height and rake. The steering column was adjustable not only up and down but back and forth as well. From a safety angle the door handles were recessed and could not be caught on clothing and the (awkward to operate) window winders were spring-loaded and similarly recessed. The instrument panel had a speedometer, fuel gauge, temperature gauge, ammeter and a comprehensive cluster of warning lights arranged in a "pie chart" formation. The rear seat had a centre armrest which could be folded up when not in use.

1300TC

For 1968, [2] the 1300TC joined the basic model. The TC used the engine then fitted in the Triumph Spitfire, which featured twin SU carburetors and in this configuration provided an advertised 75 hp (56 kW). The compression ratio of the TC was 9.0:1, whereas the single carb engine compression was rated 8.5:1 The car was identified by discreet "TC" badges. Top speed was significantly higher than the 1300 at a claimed 90 mph (145 km/h)., [2] and acceleration times were cut by 11 per cent to a 0–50 mph (80 km/h) time of 11.5 seconds. A road test a few months later significantly improved on the company's performance claims, achieving a maximum speed of 93 mph (150 km/h) and 0–50 mph (80 km/h) time of 10.5 seconds. [3] With the car then retailing for a recommended UK price of £909, the road test concluded that "the 1300 TC costs only £41 more than the original model, and is a very good bargain indeed". [3]

Estate model

An estate version of the 1300 reached the concept stages, but was never produced due to budgetary constraints. [4]

Replacement

In August 1970, the 1300 and 1300TC were replaced by the Triumph 1500. The engine was enlarged to 1,493 cc (91.1 cu in), providing a useful increase in torque, but a decrease in overall power and increased fuel consumption. The front end was cleaned up considerably, and the rear redesigned with longer tail, providing a useful increase in boot space. Production of the FWD Triumphs came to an end in 1973.

Aftermath

When BLMC upgraded the Triumph 1300 it was apparent that the emphasis had been on minimising cost. Production of this Michelotti proposal would have involved greater tooling and process changes, though the doors and windows appear unchanged. Triumph 1500 Mighthavebeen Michelotti 1971 photo 2008.JPG
When BLMC upgraded the Triumph 1300 it was apparent that the emphasis had been on minimising cost. Production of this Michelotti proposal would have involved greater tooling and process changes, though the doors and windows appear unchanged.

In many ways, the Triumph 1300 was a failed venture for Triumph and Leyland, as management resources were focused on finding replacements for the successful but ageing Austin-Morris models. Their Triumph-badged 'in-house' competitor failed to achieve anything like the sales figures of the BMC small FWD cars, though the BMC 1100 range featured several badge-engineered variants. Moreover, the front wheel drive configuration failed to realise the handling and road-holding advantages that Triumph had hoped for, and the tall profile limited other uses for the FWD drive train, such as in the Spitfire. The 1300 was well-made and sold reasonably well in the small luxury sector, but after its direct successor was quietly switched to rear wheel drive in 1973, Triumph never designed [5] another FWD car. More significantly, from 1970 the 1300 was re-engineered as a rear-wheel drive car and went on to form the core of Triumph's compact range as the 1300 cc Triumph Toledo (launched in 1971) and the larger engined Triumph Dolomite released in 1972. Like all Standard-Triumph offerings, DIY servicing was simple: the oil filter could be replaced without jacking the car, the clutch plate could be replaced from inside the car. This simplicity is what made this vehicle stand out from other British made front wheel drive cars. The N/S engine configuration allowed a lot of working space around the engine. The starter was repositioned to the front of the engine and although was a two-minute job to replace, it made the car extremely noisy during startup. It takes its place in history as being the only production car made in Britain to begin life as a front-wheel drive, and end it as a rear-wheel drive until Leyland's successor, MG Rover, repeated the trick in turning the Rover 75 into the MG ZT 260. The Achilles heel of the 1300 was, primarily the poorly designed suspension wishbone layout and the front stabilizers. Unfortunately, some jobs are very involved. Changing the brake discs, CV joints or front wheel bearings all involve substantial work and should be renewed together if required. engine was too heavy for this particular design and owners found it very frustrating as the rubber bushes had to be changed every few months. Triumph's alternative engineering design answer to the E/W Mini configuration, was a catastrophic failure. The 1300 was also assembled in Israel by the local partner of Standard-Triumph International, Autocars Co. of Tirat Carmel. However, due to the Israeli government's policy regarding car assembly, Triumph was forced to introduce this vehicle in a 1493 cc version in early 1968, two years ahead of this engine's introduction in the UK. In fact, it was not until another Israeli assembler, Illin Industries, had shut down operations before Triumph could assemble the 1300 in Israel. One curious design offshoot of the 1300 was the "Pony" jeep-like farm vehicle, later renamed "Dragoon". The Pony was exclusively offered for Autocars within the joint venture contract, but very few units were actually produced in Israel, as of 1968. The same 4WD-design was used in a rally version of the Triumph 1300. The rally project enjoyed some success before the vehicle crashed and rolled in 1969. The 4WD Triumph 1300 was subsequently abandoned. Although the FWD 1300 was something of a disappointment, the basic design went on to provide Triumph with a popular small car until the end of Dolomite production in 1980 and overall, delivered an outstanding return on their original investment.

The Triumph 1300 has a following today in the UK classic car movement, though some parts are now scarce and the number of surviving cars not especially high.

Production figures

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mini</span> British car model from 1959 to 2000

The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 until 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during six, from the last year of the 1950s into the last year of the 20th century, over a single generation, as fastbacks, estates, and convertibles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiat 128</span> Small family car

The Fiat 128 is a transverse front-engine, front wheel drive small family car manufactured and marketed by Fiat from 1969 to 1985 as a two- or four-door sedan, three- or five-door station wagon as well as two- or three-door coupé. The 128 running gear and engine, reconfigured for a mid-engined layout, were used in the Fiat X1/9 sports car.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morris Marina</span> Motor vehicle

The Morris Marina is a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1971 until 1980. It served to replace the Morris Minor in the Morris product line, which had first been built in 1948. The Marina was also sold in some markets as the Austin Marina, the Leyland Marina and the Morris 1700.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austin Allegro</span> Small family car manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1973 until 1982

The Austin Allegro is a small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland (BL) from 1973 until 1982. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent. The Allegro was designed as a replacement for the Austin 1100 and 1300 models. In total, 642,350 Austin Allegros were produced during its 10-year production life, most of which were sold on the home market, less than a third of 2.1 million 1100s and 1300s sold in the previous 11 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess (car)</span> Car produced in 1975–1982 by Austin-Morris

The Princess is a large family car produced in the United Kingdom by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1975 until 1981. The car inherited a front-wheel drive / transverse engine configuration from its predecessor, the Austin/Morris 1800 range. This was still unusual in Europe for family cars of this type and gave the Princess a cabin space advantage when compared with similarly sized cars from competing manufacturers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triumph Dolomite</span> Motor vehicle

The Triumph Dolomite small saloon car was produced by the Triumph Motor Company division of the British Leyland Corporation in Canley, Coventry between October 1972 and August 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Front-wheel drive</span> Automotive transmission where the engine drives the front wheels only

Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive vehicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morris Minor</span> Motor vehicle

The Morris Minor is an economy car produced by British marque Morris Motors between 1948 and 1971. It made its debut at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, in October 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.6 million were manufactured in three series: the Series MM, the Series II, and the 1000 series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austin Maxi</span> Motor vehicle

The Austin Maxi is a medium-sized, 5-door hatchback family car that was produced by Austin and later British Leyland between 1969 and 1981. It was the first British car to feature a hatchback body style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triumph Toledo</span> Motor vehicle

The Triumph Toledo is a compact car which was produced by the Rover-Triumph division of British Leyland in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triumph 1500</span> Motor vehicle

The Triumph 1500 is a small front-wheel drive car that was produced by Standard-Triumph from 1970 to 1973. In 1973 it was revised as the Triumph 1500TC becoming rear-wheel drive. Production ended in 1976, by which time it had been replaced by the Triumph Dolomite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMC ADO17</span> Motor vehicle

BMC ADO17 is the model code used by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) for a range of large family cars manufactured from September 1964 to 1975. The car was initially sold under the Austin marque as the Austin 1800, then by Morris as the Morris 1800, by Wolseley as the Wolseley 18/85, and later the Austin 2200, Morris 2200 and Wolseley Six. The 1800 was voted European Car of the Year for 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMC ADO16</span> Motor vehicle

The BMC ADO16 is a range of small family cars built by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and, later, British Leyland. Launched in 1962, it was Britain's best-selling car from 1963 to 1966 and from 1968 to 1971. The ADO16 was marketed under various make and model names; however, the Austin 1100 and Morris 1100 were the most prolific of all the ADO16 variants. The car's ubiquity at the height of its popularity led to it simply being known as the 1100 (eleven-hundred) in its home market. Also made with a 1300cc engine, it was then typically called 1300.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MG MGB</span> Motor vehicle

The MGB is a two-door sports car manufactured and marketed from 1962 until 1980 by the British Motor Corporation (BMC), later the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland, as a four-cylinder, soft-top sports car. It was announced and its details first published on 19 September 1962. Variants include the MGB GT three-door 2+2 coupé (1965–1980), the six-cylinder sports car and coupé MGC (1967–69), and the eight-cylinder 2+2 coupé, the MGB GT V8 (1973–76).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MG Midget</span> Motor vehicle

The MG Midget is a small two-seater lightweight sports car produced by MG from 1961 to 1979. It revived a name that had been used on earlier models such as the MG M-type, MG D-type, MG J-type and MG T-type.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rover P6</span> Motor vehicle

The Rover P6 series is a saloon car produced by Rover and subsequently British Leyland from 1963 to 1977 in Solihull, Warwickshire, England, UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autobianchi Primula</span> Motor vehicle

The Autobianchi Primula is a supermini economy car manufactured between 1964 and 1970 by the Italian automaker Autobianchi, partly owned by and later a subsidiary of the Fiat Group. The Primula was a prototype for Fiat's rack and pinion steering and is widely known for its innovative Dante Giacosa-designed front-wheel drive, transverse engine layout — that would be later popularized by the Fiat 128 to ultimately become an industry-standard front drive layout.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simca 1100</span> Motor vehicle

The Simca 1100 are a series of French compact family cars – mainly C-segment hatchbacks, but also a compact wagon and popular delivery vans – built for over 15 years by French car-maker Simca, from 1967 through 1982/1985. There was even a very early 'hot hatchback', and a family cross-over: the Matra Simca Rancho. The hatchbacks were replaced by the Simca-Talbot Horizon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morris Nomad</span>

The Morris Nomad is a car that was produced in Australia by British Leyland Motor Corporation of Australia from 1969 to 1972. It is a hatchback version of the Morris 1500 sedan, itself a locally produced variant of the British BMC ADO16 design with a larger 1500 cc engine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austin 3-Litre</span> Motor vehicle

The Austin 3-Litre is a British saloon car that was introduced by Austin at the London Motor Show in 1967. Codenamed ADO61, the car was intended to be BMC's offering in the 3-litre executive class and was originally designed in the early 1960s, before the British Leyland era. Unlike the visually similar front-wheel drive Morris 1800 range, the 125 bhp 3-litre engine drove the rear wheels through a conventional 4-speed gearbox.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Olyslager, P. (1970). Observers Book of Automobiles. London, UK: Frederick Warne. ISBN n/a.
  2. 1 2 "Leyland Triumph advertisement for Triumph 1300 TC". Autocar . 127 (nbr 3740): 3. October 1967.
  3. 1 2 "Autotest: Triumph 1300 TC". Autocar . 128 (nbr3768): 7–9. 2 May 1968.
  4. AROnline: Made in Britain... : AROnline Archived 18 July 2012 at archive.today
  5. The Triumph Acclaim is a FWD too, but is Honda-designed.
  6. 1 2 Robson, G. (1990). A-Z of Cars of the 1970s. Devon, UK: Bay View Books. ISBN   1-870979-11-7.