Triumph Super 7

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triumph
Triumph Super 7 touring car (1930)
Triumph Super 7 touring car (1930)
Super 7 / Super 8 / Super 9
Production period: 1928-1934
Class : Lower middle class
Body versions : Roadster , touring car , sedan , coupé , landaulet
Engines:
Petrol engines : 0.75–1.0 liters
(15.4–22 kW)
Length: 3048-3429 mm
Width: 1346-1359 mm
Height:
Wheelbase : 2057-2210 mm
Empty weight : approx. 813 kg
successor Southern Cross

The Triumph Super 7 was a passenger car that was built by the Triumph Motor Company from 1927 to 1934. It represented Triumph's answer to the successful Austin 7 and was the manufacturer's first large-scale automobile. In 1930 it was replaced by the slightly modified Triumph Super 8 ; The Triumph Super 9 came in 1932 .

construction

Development of the new car began in 1925 when Arthur Sykes , who had previously worked for Lea-Francis , was entrusted with the design of a new, small car. Among the employees he hired was Stanley Edge , who had worked as a draftsman on the design of the Austin 7. The car was introduced in September 1927 and was 150 mm longer and 50 mm wider than the Austin. The "Super" used in the model designation referred directly to the Austin Seven. Triumph thus claimed to build the better car.

The new four-cylinder in-line engine with 832 cm³ displacement, a stroke of 83 mm, a bore of 56.5 mm and side-mounted valves was mainly designed by Harry Ricardo . Unlike the Austin, the car had a triple-bearing crankshaft, pressure lubrication and a cast iron crankcase cast from one piece (the Austin only had two crankshaft bearings and the cylinder block and crankcase were separate). Like its predecessors at Triumph, the car had hydraulically operated Lockheed brakes, but now as inner-shoe brakes with drums with a diameter of 241 mm. These were less sensitive to splashing water than the old external shoe brakes. In the early types, the brake fluid and the master brake cylinder were operated directly in a reservoir by means of a pedal . This system proved to be too prone to loss of brake fluid. Therefore, from 1930 onwards, a brake fluid reservoir was installed that was separate from the master brake cylinder. The Super Seven has a parking brake that worked directly on the transmission.

The chassis has a rigid axle on semi-elliptical leaf springs at the front and a driven rigid drawbar axle at the rear. As with the Austin 7, the side members of the chassis ended in front of the rear axle and the rear axle hung on quarter-elliptical leaf springs. The non-synchronized three-speed gearbox was interlocked with the engine and transmitted the engine power to the worm axle drive via a cardan shaft (with a joint) in a push tube. Four-speed transmissions were also available in later types. A 6-volt electrical system was installed. The accumulator was installed in a box on the left footboard. In the Super Eight, the accumulator was installed under the driver's seat.

Superstructures

There were quite a few factory bodies. The cheapest model was the two-door four-seater touring car, followed by the de-luxe touring car with a two-tone body, a two-seater with a mother-in-law seat , a two-door sedan, a Weymann sedan and finally the top model, the sedan with an all-steel body. Gordon England also supplied a Weymann limousine with a fabric roof. The chassis was also shipped to cartwright shops who attached their own bodies to it. Selling prices ranged from £ 113 for the motorized chassis to £ 190 for the Gordon England sedan. In a car test, the car reached a little over 80 km / h and consumed 7.1 l / 100 km.

Model history

Triumph Super 7 Special Sports (1929)

In 1929 came a new body style called Special Sports with a pointed tail. For a short time there was also a supercharged variant, the displacement of which was reduced to 747 cc and which supposedly reached a top speed of 129 km / h, but apparently seldom sold due to the high price of £ 250. Also in 1929, Donald Healey reported a standard version for the Monte Carlo Rally , started from Berlin, but could not finish the race because, as you can read, he got stuck in the snow in France. Undaunted, he tried again in 1930 and took seventh place, the best of all participants in British cars. This was an amazing result for a car with a top speed of just 80 km / h.

In 1930 there were even more body styles, a two-seater coupé, a de-luxe Weymann sedan and also a landaulet . Wire-spoke wheels were now supplied as standard and replaced the wooden-spoke wheels that had been common up until then. The excessive number of body shapes was reduced in 1931; the Weymann limousines, the Landaulet, the Coupé and the Special Sports were no longer available, but a Gnat Sports Tourer and a limousine body by Tickford were added.

Due to the poor economic situation, the range was further reduced in 1932, whereby the cars were named “Mark I” (touring cars) and “Mark II” (limousines). A hardtop sedan was also offered. The track of the cars was widened from 1,067 mm to 1,105 mm, the rear quarter-elliptical springs were replaced by semi-elliptical; the Mark II sedans and De Luxe models received four-speed transmissions.

Super 8

Triumph Super 8 (1933)

In 1930 the car was renamed the Super 8 as it had always fallen under the 8 taxable horsepower group, and all versions got the Mark II chassis. The range of bodies was subsequently further reduced, so that only the two sedans, the hardtop sedan and the four-seater touring car remained.

Super 9

The Super 9 came out in 1932 . Although this is the successor to the Super 8 in terms of its name, its construction already resembles the Scorpion and Twelve / Six models . He had the larger engine designed by Coventry Climax and replicated by Triumph under license with a displacement of 1,018 cm³, an output of 29.8 bhp (22 kW) and counter-controlled valves (oise), as well as a Solex carburetor. The car had a 152 mm longer wheelbase and was 76 mm longer and 13 mm wider than its predecessor.

literature

  • Langworth, Richard & Robson, Graham: Triumph Cars - The Complete 75-Year History , Motor Racing Publications, London (1979), ISBN 0900549440
  • Robson, Graham: The Story of Triumph Sports Cars , Motor Racing Publications (1972), ISBN 0-900549-23-8
  • Baldwin, Nick: A – Z of cars of the 1920s , Bay View Books (1994), ISBN 1-870979-53-2
  • Sedgwick, Mark & ​​Gillies: A – Z of cars of the 1930s , Bay View Books (1989), ISBN 1-870979-38-9
  • Wood, Jonathan: Super Little Seven , The Automobile (January 2000)

Web links

Commons : Triumph Super 7  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Triumph Super 8  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Culshaw, David & Horrobin, Peter: The Complete Catalog of British Cars 1895–1975 , Veloce Publishing plc., Dorchester (1997), ISBN 1-874105-93-6