Description
Author: David Knowles, Hardbound, 256 Pages, ISBN: 9781861268914, 1st Edition, 2007
In the annals of British sports car history, the Triumph TR7 is seen either as a brave, pyrrhic swansong or as an abomination unworthy of the family name. Opinions remain divided, but one thing is certain — the TR7 story is far from dull.
This remarkable book tells the story of how the Triumph's all-new TR for the seventies was cruelly bound-up in the birth-pangs and struggles of British Leyland — one of the most ill-starred corporations in automotive history. As Triumph's parent wrestled with painful restructuring, the new sports car — codename 'Bullet' — was seized upon as the basis of a corporate project.
The TR7 was a bold departure from sports car tradition: as it courted controversy with its striking wedge-shaped styling, it was also a leap forward in sports car design terms.
Built — often poorly — at a factory that was a seething cauldron of industrial confrontation, the corporate sports car arrived just as British Leyland was dragged into public ownership. The TR7 endured through six years of production — in three different factories — and saw remarkable motor sports endeavours on both sides of the Atlantic: testament to the philosophy of those who created and believed in it, as well as to those who may not have loved it but knew how to race it or market it. It is a cause for regret that just as the TR7 family began to come good, the sports car line was snuffed out.
For many years, the TR7 has been stuck in the wilderness, commonly misunderstood, abused and under-appreciated. It is high time, more than thirty years since it was launched, that these calumnies are redressed, and this book — which tells the whole fascinating story — is part of the rehabilitation process.
David Knowles is already an internationally recognized authority on the post-war development of the MG sports car: his book MG - The Untold Story is considered a seminal work on the marque. Whilst researching the background to that book, David found that many avenues of enquiry also led to Triumph, in particular the way that the destinies of MG and Triumph were tightly interwoven once both became part of the British Leyland Motor Corporation in 1968.
Triumph TR7 - The Untold Story is the latest of many automotive books by David Knowles and the second by him to be published by Crowood. David lives in Middlesex with his wife Shirley, daughters Katie and Emily, and several tons of automotive literature.
