Triumph GT6

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1974.triumph.gt6.coupe.arp.jpg
Triumph GT6
Production period: 1966-1973
Class : Sports car
Body versions : Combi coupe
Engines: Petrol engines :
2.0 liters
(70-76.5 kW)
Length: 3717-3785 mm
Width: 1450-1486 mm
Height: 1193 mm
Wheelbase : 2128 mm
Empty weight : about 860 kg

The Triumph GT6 was a station wagon coupé built by the British automaker Triumph from 1966 to 1973 . The GT6 was based on the popular Triumph Spitfire .

history

With the Spitfire, Triumph introduced an affordable sports car in 1962. At the time, competitor MG had a coupé from the MGB on offer that was selling well. Triumph therefore commissioned the Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti to also design a coupé based on the Spitfire. Due to its higher weight, however, the power of the Spitfire engine in this car turned out to be insufficient, which is why the 2-liter six-cylinder engine of the Triumph Vitesse was installed in the new Spitfire coupé.

The result was called GT6 and presented in 1966. With its rear tailgate, the GT6 had certain similarities with the Jaguar E-Type . Because of this and because of its low price, it was nicknamed "Poor man's E-Type" (poor man's Jaguar E). Conceptually, however, the GT6 goes back more to the Sunbeam-Harrington-Alpine-Coupés, which the British coachbuilder Thomas Harrington Coach Builders produced between 1961 and 1964 on the basis of the Sunbeam-Alpine- Roadster.

The GT6 was well equipped. In addition to the wooden dashboard with four instruments, it had a two-stage windshield wiper, a two-stage heating fan, a padded steering wheel and bucket seats as standard. At around 12 liters per 100 kilometers, fuel consumption was low for the time. The swing axle system adopted from the Spitfire and the Triumph Herald small saloon was often criticized, so that from 1968 the GT6 MkII received a significantly improved independent suspension with an additional wishbone.

There were two model updates in total. With an unchanged wheelbase of 2128 mm, the Mk.1 model was 3717 mm long and 1450 mm wide, the Mk.2 model was 3734 mm long and also 1450 mm wide and the Mk.3 model was 3785 mm long and 1486 mm wide . The height was 1193 mm in each case.

Web links

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