unnoticed by the newspapers or public. It was only a matter of when the car would be announced.
Finally, in 1923, Triumph debuted its first car called the 10/20, which was named for its Royal Automobile Club (RAC) horsepower rating of 10 and its actual horsepower of 20. The 102-inch wheelbase was nearly 20 inches longer than the other “light” cars of 1916 but was right in line with its postwar contemporaries. It was powered by a 1,393-cc 4-cylinder side-valve engine capable of 45 mph. Three body styles were available: two-seat and four-seat standard bodies and a four-seat Weymann sedan. Each was set on a typical box frame with semi-elliptic leaf springs placed longitudinally front and rear. The 10/20 stood on 21-inch tires mounted on 10-spoke steel rims that were just 3⅕ inches wide.
Triumph debuted its first four-wheeled vehicle in 1923. The model 10/20 was named for its Royal Automobile Club (RAC) horsepower rating of 10 and actual horsepower output of 20. The 1,393-cc 4-cylinder engine was capable of propeling the car to a top speed of 45 mph. Brakes were fitted to the rear wheels only. The high quality of fit and finish set the Triumph cars apart from the others of the day. (Photo Courtesy British Motor Industry Heritage Trust)
Triumph did not set any design trends with the first car; most cars of the period looked very similar. The difference was in the final product. All of the cars were finished to the same high-quality standards as its motorcycles and aimed at the upmarket consumer who would be attracted to a car that was a level above Morris and Austin. As with the motorcycles, the cars had brakes on the rear wheels only.
The two- and four-seat bodies were priced at £430 and the Weymann body was priced at £460, which was twice that of the Morris and Austin cars. The Standard Nine models were priced at £250.
Despite rave reviews for the new Triumph cars, sales were sluggish.
In 1928, Triumph introduced the 13/30 and, one year later, its successor, the 15. Each model was larger than its predecessor in every way. The wheelbase had grown to 112 inches, the engine to 2 liters, and speeds to 55 mph. Triumph’s same high standards of quality prevailed, and that drove the price up to £500. However, the cars received even less notice than the original 10/20. These cars’ only claim to fame was that their hydraulic brakes were fitted to all four wheels while other cars still had two-wheel braking. Fortunately, Triumphs had at least caught on in Australia, and the motorcycles continued to sell well enough to keep the company afloat.
Meanwhile, across town at Standard, the co-founder of the Swallow Sidecar and Coachbuilding Company came calling. A young William Lyons was in the market for a chassis to fit his new car design. Lyons and partner William Walmsley had a successful business building stylish sidecars to bolt onto just about any type of motorcycle. Swallow had begun to dabble in automobiles two years earlier with its version of the Austin 7, called appropriately the Austin Seven Swallow.
Lyons, armed with a sketch penned by coachbuilder Cyril Holland, wanted to create a two-seat open car. He purchased the Standard Nine chassis, and in 1929, the Standard-Swallow debuted at £235.
The diminutive 1929 Austin Seven Swallow, with its narrow track and slightly cartoonish lines (by today’s standards), was designed by the up-and-coming William Lyons of the Swallow Sidecar Company. The car was the result of Lyons’ body design being mounted atop a purchased Standard Nine chassis. It was offered as a coupe and a roadster, the latter having a rather bulbous tail section. (Photo Courtesy Richard Spiegelman)
The dramatic and stylish 1933 Standard Swallow, which was later known as the SS1. In four short years, Lyons’ designs had graduated from spindly little cars for everyman to the big leagues of cars with remarkable style and performance. This coupe, known as a saloon, was powered by the Standard 6-cylinder engine that made 48 hp. (Photo Courtesy Gary Harmon)
As you would expect for a car with these looks on the outside, the interior of the SS1 was spacious and well appointed. It was a very large two-passenger car, as was the trend of the day. (Photo Courtesy Gary Harmon)
Maudslay’s new partner at Standard, John Black, recognized the importance of such a relationship and nurtured it along with other similar opportunities. Standard Motor Company supplied Lyons with engines and chassis to fit Swallow bodies.
Black was also instrumental in helping Lyons realize his dream of producing a distinctive new sports car. In 1933, Lyons introduced the sleek and stylish SS (formerly Standard-Swallow) sports car. This was a true roadster with its cut doors, boat tail rear, and rakish design; it looked as if it were built to go fast.
The immediate success of the new SS was the springboard from which Lyons created SS Cars Ltd. and eventually Jaguar. Of course, the Swallow name reverted to Triumph 20 years later.
As Lyons was getting started, Bettmann needed to react quickly to the slumping sales of his Triumph automobiles so he turned his attention to “light” cars. As with the pre-war cars, these were essentially identical to the current production cars but of a smaller scale, almost like shrunken kiddy cars for adults. However, Bettmann was determined to maintain the same high quality of his full-sized line.
The popular 1932 Super Nine four-door sedan. These smart-looking saloons exhibited Triumph’s reputation for quality fit and finish and, along with its performance, helped pave the way toward Triumph’s first official sports car: the Gloria Southern Cross. The most prominent feature of the car was the 1,018-cc 9-hp Coventry Climax i.o.e. (inlet over exhaust) engine. With the exhaust valves on the side, pushrod-actuated intake valves over the top, and fed by a Solex carburetor, the car could achieve a top speed of 50 mph. An uprated 1,122-cc version of the engine delivered 10 hp and an additional 15 mph in the Southern Cross. Triumph sourced engines from Coventry Climax from the end of the Great Depression until the late 1930s when the company began building its own engines. (Photo Courtesy Simon Goldsworthy/Triumph World)
In the fall of 1927, Triumph introduced “the last word in the smallest class,” the Super Seven. Whether it was premonition, foresight, or just plain luck on the part of Bettmann, it proved to be the car that established Triumph as a prominent auto manufacturer.
The new little car had a wheelbase of just 81 inches and a width of 51 inches but it had room for four adults. It was powered by a 21-hp 832-cc 4-cylinder capable of 48 mph. The ladder frame featured semi-elliptic springs at the front, shock absorbers at all four wheels, and Lockheed hydraulic brakes. The customer had a choice of 19-inch 10-spoke stamped steel wheels or the more-sporting wire wheels. A bare chassis could be purchased for just £113 and a completed car for only £149.
This pricing made the car popular among coachbuilders as well as the public. At £149, the Super Seven cost more than the very popular Austin Chummy (£135) and the Singer 8 (£140), but Triumph was able to promote its higher level of quality as well as advanced comfort and safety features.
By 1928, Triumph was offering the Super Seven in six body styles ranging in price from £149 to £200. The most expensive was a custom-bodied sedan complete with leather interior. Prominent coachbuilders shied away from little cars. However, the Triumphs were so versatile that revered names such as Morgan-Hastings created cars on the Seven chassis.
