On Sat, 27 Dec 1997, John McEwen wrote:
> Hi Gerhard:
>
> I have always believed that I owned the ancestor of the TR4 engine. I have
> recently restored a 1950 Standard Vanguard. This engine - a 2088cc,
> wet-liner, OHV four - was developed in 1947 by Standard Cars, the parent
> company of Triumph. It was subsequently used in the Triumph 1800/2000
> drophead coupe, the Triumph Renown and the TR2, TR3 and TR4. Modified into
> a six cylinder in 1961 for use in the last Vanguards, the engine was
> subsequently employed in the Vitesse 2000, Triumph 2000 and the TR6.
John, I have to correct you slightly on a couple of points. The original
Triumph 1800 Roadsters and Saloons (Town & Country) used a Standard
engine, ohv, 1776 cc similar to that supplied to Jaguar at the time for
their (Jaguar's) 1.5 litre cars. The engine used in the 2000s, however,
was the Standard Vanguard wet-liner unit.
Also, the six-cylinder Triumph engines were derived not from the
wet-liner Vanguard engine. Rather, they were developments of the Standard
803cc four, first built for the Standard 8, circa 1953, and later expanded
into 948, 1147, 1296 and 1493cc displacements for various Heralds,
Spitfires, 1300s, etc.
> Was the original four cylinder based on a Citroen design? I know that
> Citroen introduced an OHV four with wet-liners in the early 30s but this
> was not an original idea. It is possible that Standard may have examined
> this engine for ideas but by 1947 it seems less likely.
According to Triumph histories, Triumph engineer Harry Webster did say
that the Citroen wet-liner _traction avant_ design of the 1930s was a
great influence on the Vanguard engine.
Boy, talk about your "world cars"! Take the TR4, built in England with an
Italian-designed body around a French-inspired engine -- all influenced
to no small degree by the tastes of the American market!
--Andy
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Andrew Mace, President and *
* 10/Herald/Vitesse (Sports 6) Consultant *
* Vintage Triumph Register *
* amace@unix2.nysed.gov *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|