GAYDON CARS with a TR7 connection
Experimental Safety Vehicle Project- British Leyland's Response
The main objective of the project was to create a vehicle that posed the minimum risk to car occupants and pedestrians, but should also be aesthetically pleasing and economical to run. Cowley’s research concentrated on ‘safety sub systems’ reducing the risk of frontal and side impact damage emanating in SRV1 and SRV2, based on two and four door Marinas, which were unveiled in 1974. Both cars had impact absorbing bumpers, but the 4 door car was designed to sustain frontal impact at 40mph without injury to its occupants. The bumpers were constructed utilizing a deformable rubber mounting with a compressed steel can designed to absorb the impact, and featured retractable headlamps to minimise possible injury to pedestrians. The SRV1 was built around the 2 door Coupe model, which was built with fixed seats incorporating rigid beams to transmit side impact loads from the side of the vehicle, in order to minimise the effect. Door beams, allied to positive ant-burst and door location devices maintained door strength and helped to prevent them opening under impact. Features of this car were adopted by production models the following year.
SRV2 marked the second phase of the project, as it was initiated by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL) at Crowthorne in Berkshire. Its remit was to liaise with other European governments under the terms of the international agreement set down by the CCMS, and detailed information was shared amongst the participants. The programme was to last for two and a half years, and SRV2 was intended as a step towards what could be expected in a future production car. Its low-swept front panels ensured a low bumper height, and the whole structure met the energy absorption and controlled crush requirements of the International ESV programme, featuring new beams and cross-members. Body side sill was a major focus of attention, and by being filled with foam, inherited a strong impact absorbing quality. These reinforced, foam filled sills were positioned at bumper height to minimise intrusion, and due to the fixed seating design, motorised adjustable pedals were fitted controlled by a switch. The interior was designed to show what would be the format of future cars, with the fFacia, seats and door surrounds were designed to reduce impacts to occupants and the steering wheel was fitted with foam padding. This lead to some loss of interior space, but gave the car a more luxurious feel than the production model. The windscreen bottom edge was located well below the level of the facia, which was designed to minimise injury in the event of a collision. Injury of this nature had been a central theme in Ralph Nader’s crusade against the automobile industry. Re-grouped instruments with instruments and warning lights positioned for minimum distraction and optimum visibility, and mechanical components such as heaters, battery and brake cylinder were deployed to reduce the risk of being forced rearwards into the passenger area in the event of an accident. The wheels were designed so that the tyres would remain attached, even when deflated.
Parallel research was carried out at Longbridge, concentrating on road holding, structures and mechanical structures on its front wheel drive cars being the Mini, 1300 and 1800 range. Longbridge produced the SRV3 based on the 1800, SRV4, based on a Mini Clubman, and the Austin 1300 based SRV5.These cars were chosen to represent a cross-section of small to medium size cars, The Mini featured a strengthened passenger cell, low mounted impact resistant bumpers, a fully padded interior, pedestrian friendly bonnet, recessed door handles, high door cells and a relocated fuel tank for optimum safety. Although these cars were purely built as concept vehicles, there were claims that aspects of safety were carried through to production models such as the Princess. By 1973, the TR7 was being road tested prior to the unveiling of SRV2, and was by far the most revolutionary production vehicle from British Leyland in terms of safety and low emissions, particularly in US format.
Prior to the TR7, Triumph had already begun to sell safety and fuel efficiency as a feature; advertising literature for the Stag boasted a padded steering wheel, logically placed instruments and dials, heated rear window in the detachable hard top, anti-burst locks, recessed door handles and a padded roll-over bar as an integral part of the car’s design. The Dolomite 1850, with an engine closely related to the TR7’s 2 litre unit, boasted an average 40.5miles per gallon and in 1972 won its class in the Mobil Economy Run. When the TR7 was launched, a news release stated that the family likeness between TR7 and British Leyland’s safety car, the SRV2 Marina, was no accident. But the SRV2 was a concept car never intended for production.
The TR7 was in many respects far more revolutionary than the Marina-based safety car, and was more comparable with technology developed at Saab than the SRV project, as was designed and built with the sole intent of putting all the available technology that was being tested at Triumph into production. Saab boasted an in-house crash and safety centre from an early stage of production, and following the launch Saab 99 was awarded many safety awards, as it exceeded all known safety standards. The Saab 99 was constructed in such a manner that it could resist twisting under impact by up to 30% more than its rivals. The front end of the car was built with its inner wings, wheel arches and bulkhead in a one piece construction, with adjoining large panel close-welded for extra rigidity. Side impact protection was also pioneered at Saab and door beams were incorporated in the 99 by 1972. Roll-over protection was provided by an armour-plated bulkhead which was tied in to the cross-section windscreen pillars. In 1966, frontal crash testing was carried out at 30mph and the cabin remained in-tact sills, straight, doors undamaged with little rearwards intrusion towards the cabin. 39 If the Saab 99 was the safest saloon car in production, the TR7 was arguably the safest sports car.
Extracted from "The Bullet that Backfired on British Leyland" (ISBN 978-1-907945-88-5) by Steve Jackson.
Many thanks to Steve Jackson for allowing reproducion of his article here.
TR7 V8 Rally Car
During its second outing in the 1978 Granite City Rally, Tony Pond improved on the team's previous achievement, this time with an outright win.
The V8 powered TR7 proved that even in the early stages of its development, the V8 could provide significantly more power than that produced by the 16 valve Sprint engines used in the earlier 2 litre rally cars.
The TR7 V8 continued in twin carburettor form until August of 1979 when the introduction of a new Pierburg fuel injection system paved the way for further engine developments. However, problems encountered with this system ultimately lead the works team to adopt a configuration using four 48 DCOE Weber carburettors. This hasty, but highly successful, arrangement pushed the TR7V8's engine power to over 300bhp at 7,000rpm.
SJW 540S became the second in a series of TR7 V8 rally cars exhibiting 'SJW' prefixed registration numbers. These cars were built at Leyland's competition department in Abingdon from a batch of discarded production TR7s.
The most notable rallying successes of SJW 540S were the outright wins in the 24 Hours of Ypres in Belgium and the Manx International Trophy Rally, both held in 1978.The rallying career of the TR7V8 ended in November of 1980 when an unfortunate cut-back in expenditure forced the works team to suspend their involvement in competition events.
The Lynx
Development continued after the launch of the TR7 and by late 1977 (after several temporary halts in the programme) virtually all the design and testing had been completed. Based on the power train of the TR8, the Lynx would have been fitted with fuel injection and catalytic convertors for the USA and carburettors for Europe. Both would have been coupled to the SDI 5-speed manual gearbox or have utilised a Borg Warner type 65 automatic transmission.
The marketing department anticipated that about 75% of production would have been US bound. However, in 1978 the decline in the American market, the poor pound/dollar exchange rate and spiralling manufacturing costs sounded the death knell for the Lynx and the project was cancelled.
The LHD Java Green car is the only remaining example, all others having been destroyed either during development or on managerial instructions after the projects termination
The Broadside
Two models were envisaged - the 'Broadside GT' which was a 2+2 hatchback derived from the Lynx and the 'Broadside 2+2' which was an attempt to utilise many of the GT parts in a lengthened TR7. The exterior styling was completed under the direction of David Bache in the Rover styling studio at Solihull.
The primary objective of the GT project was to address many of the shortcomings of the Lynx; notably improving the spare wheel location, the positioning of the petrol tank and increasing the rear passenger headroom. The prototype was constructed from a Lynx bodyshell which underwent extensive modifications to the rear end.
Suspension was similar to the TR7/8 at the front, with Macpherson struts, track control arms and an anti roll bar. A separate subframe providing anchor points for the track control arms also provided engine mount locations. At the rear, twin trailing links and an anti roll bar were used, together with Watts linkage for lateral axle location.
Several engine combinations were investigated for the GT, these included the 2 litre version of the '0' series and the 3.5 litre Rover V8 as used in the Triumph TR8. The Bordeaux red Broadside GT, is fitted with a UK specification TR8 engine and the silver Broadside DHC is fitted with the 'O' Series engine. However, virtually no engineering development was undertaken as the cars were primarily intended as a styling exercise.
The work on this project continued until late 1980 when the decision was made to finally stop sports car production within the company.
The Last Built TR7
Here is an extract from the Information board provided for the car.
1981 Triumph TR7
the last TR7 off the line.
The TR7 was launched in 1975. For its first year the car was only available in the US market, UK customers having to wait until 1976. The TR7 remained mostly unchanged during its life, although a small number of improvements were made when production switched to Coventry in 1978.
Just over 114,000 cars were built in total. The TR7 had a troubled life, not well recieved at first but gaining some popularity during its production run. The TR7 was initially manufactured at Speke in Liverpool but was transfered first to the Cowley plant in Coventry in 1978 and then again in 1980 to Solihull, where it was produced alongside the Rover SD1. When this factory was scheduled for closure in 1981, the Triumph TR sports cars also disappeared. This vehicle was the last TR7 to come off the line and there was no new open two-seater sports design to replace it.
| Engine: | Top Speed: | Power: |
| 4 cyl. 1998cc | 114 mph [183 km/h] | 105bhp |
| Coachwork: | Price new: | Registration: |
| two seater convertible | £6,999 | MOV 542X |
