Cars

The Triumph roadster was conceived in the final days of the Second World War. The Standard Motor Company bought Triumph in 1944, and managing director Sir John Black wanted a sports car to take on Jaguar, for which SMC had supplied engines before the war. The roadsters were built on ash frames, with aluminum hoods and trunks, and steel fenders. Production ran from 1946 to 1949, first with the 1800 model, then with the 2000 model.

The engine was a variant of the Standard 1.5-liter side-valve four-cylinder, which had been converted to overhead valves by Harry Weslake and built by Standard exclusively for Jaguar SS cars before the Second World War. The Triumph version differed from the Jaguar in having a compression ratio of 6.7:1 (compared with 7.6:1 for the Jaguar) and a downdraft Solex carburetor instead of the side-draft SU of the Jaguar. It was mated to a four-speed column gearbox with synchromesh gears on the top three ratios.

If the front end impresses with its big eyes and two horns, the Triumph Roadster’s greatest curiosity is certainly the “dickey seat”, an ingenious system comprising two folding folding seats stowed in the rear trunk. This means that 5 people can sit in this convertible: three on the front bench and two in the folding seats, accessed via the running boards fixed to the rear bumper!

This would have been one of three produced in Belgium, and has remained in the country ever since, sold and maintained by Garage du Moulin on Boulevard Tirou in Charleroi. The current owner, the 3rd, acquired it in Charleroi in 1975 and had it completely restored in the 1980s. It remains in very good condition.

It comes with a mileage counter, tool kit and original user’s manual.

The brakes were rebuilt in 2022 and the car is ready to go.