Triumph Stag
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Triumph Stag

An Enthusiast's Guide

Matthew Vale

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eBook - ePub

Triumph Stag

An Enthusiast's Guide

Matthew Vale

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About This Book

The Triumph Stag was a two-door, four-seat, luxury touring car, designed to be Triumph's flagship model for the 1970s. Styled by prolific designer Giovanni Michelotti, and engineered by Harry Webster and Spen King, the Stag had no direct competitors throughout its production life and was the blueprint for the many four-seat convertibles on the market today. It was in production from 1970 through to 1977, but suffered from a lack of development and gained a reputation for engine problems caused by poor cooling. Triumph Stag - An Enthusiast's Guide explores the history, design and development of the car, taking a special look at the Stag's unique Triumph V8 engine - and how Stag owners today have largely solved the cooling problems. It also covers owners' experiences, specialist modifications and improvements, and the car clubs that help the Stag remain one of the most popular classic cars in the UK. Superbly illustrated with 121 colour photographs.

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CHAPTER ONE
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INTRODUCTION TO THE TRIUMPH STAG
INTRODUCTION
The Triumph Stag was launched to the world in June 1970 at a time of great turmoil in its parent company, and represented an innovative modern take on a type of car, the four-seat open tourer, which had largely been ignored in the austerity-obsessed post-World War Two markets. At that time Triumph had a reputation for producing quality sports cars and sporting saloons which offered more style, performance and class but cost a bit more than the mass market rivals; the Stag was a natural Triumph product, offering a format and a balance of performance, luxury and value for money that no other car on the market could match.
At the time, Triumph’s sports car range comprised the open topped, two-seat, hairy-chested TR6 and the smaller and softer Spitfire, while the quality saloons with a sporting edge comprised the small 1300 and 1500 (eventually to become the Dolomite) and the large and prestigious 2000, along with the last few Heralds. The Stag was an up-market four-seater convertible, powered by a new modern V8 engine, and was a neat fit between the saloon and sports car ranges. It could be viewed as either a sporting coupĂ© version of the saloons, or as a more refined and comfortable extension to the sports car range, and was aimed squarely at the Grand Tourer market, which, at the time, was fulfilled only by expensive and exclusive premium brands. As such it was a niche market offering, with its sporting image, excellent performance, hood and removable hardtop and four reasonably sized seats.
Triumph’s marketing people felt it would gain sales from saloon drivers who no longer needed the convenience of a four-door, and fancied something sportier but not too sporting, and would also be attractive to younger sports car enthusiasts with small families who needed more space than a TR6, but didn’t want to get a family saloon.
In the event, while both classes of customer were buyers, the Stag also appealed as a sporting coupĂ© with the benefit of a well fitting hardtop for civilized winter driving. At a stretch it could also be considered as a Herald Convertible replacement, albeit at a significantly higher price; finally, to quote contemporary Triumph publicity material it was also marketed as a ‘car for the lady at home’. All in all, while it was a niche market product, the Stag fitted well into the Triumph range at its introduction in 1970 and was aimed at a surprisingly wide range of customers.
The Stag was launched to the press in both the USA and UK in the summer of 1970, with launch reports in the British weekly magazines Autocar (11 June) and Motor (10 June) and the August edition of the American monthly Road & Track. Described as a high performance luxury grand tourer by Triumph, the press’s reaction to the Stag was universally favourable. Comparisons were made to the Mercedes and Alfa Romeo tourers, which seemed to be the only rivals of the time and the Stag’s significantly lower purchase price of about £2000 was universally praised.
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The Triumph Stag was styled by Italian maestro Michelotti. This is an early Mark 1 car, with steel wheels.
Autocar magazine summed up the Stag as follows: ‘It was not a replacement for anything and falls into the middle of a range already well-endowed with sporting vehicles. If anything it is a classic gap-filler in the Triumph tradition, without any direct competition.’
The magazine also identified the Stag as filling the gap in the Leyland range between the MGB and the E-Type Jaguar, and that the Stag actually appeared to be a: ‘Genuine example of that rare breed the GT Car’.
The magazine’s review of the Stag showed that it met the design brief to be a sophisticated touring car. All in all the Stag got a favourable reception from the press on its launch. While production started in February 1970, deliveries to the public began in the latter half of 1970, but it took a while for production to get into its stride, with only seventy-nine cars produced before June, and just over 740 cars being produced by December, so long waiting lists were the name of the game for much of 1970.
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The Stag evolved little through its relatively short production life. This Mark II car has non-standard alloy wheels.
Following its UK launch the Stag was formally put on sale in the USA in the summer of 1971. On its launch the Stag received an enthusiastic response from the press, and Triumph had high hopes for the car, planning on some 12,000 sales per year, with the USA perceived to be a major market. In the event, sales were disappointing. In the first couple of years of production sales climbed from just over 3,000 in 1970-71, with the Stag’s best year being 1973 with over 5,000 units sold. From there sales declined until the car was discontinued in 1977 when fewer than 2,000 cars were produced. In total there were just fewer than 26,000 Stags produced, some 18,000 for the home market and 8,000 for the export (including the USA) markets.
The Stag’s launch date of June 1970 was well into the normal Triumph sales cycle, so at the time the Stag had its own dedicated sixteen-page colour brochure, and did not feature in the range of brochures that Triumph had published in the last part of 1969 for its 1970 range. The Stag was presented in the Triumph whole range brochures from 1971 through to 1977, with separate Stag-specific brochures also being produced for 1973 and 1977.
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This pair of Mark II Stags shows the styling of the hood and hardtop.
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The front view of the Stag exposes its neat Italian styling. Note the parallelogram mechanism on the driver’s side windscreen wiper.
THE COMPANY – TRIUMPH
Triumph was started in Coventry, England by German-born Siegfried Bettmann in 1885, and was set up initially as an import-export company with interests in re-selling pedal cycles and sewing machines. With his eye firmly on export markets, in 1886 Bettmann chose the name Triumph for his young company as it had a similar meaning and spelling in France and Germany, two of his biggest proposed markets.
In 1887, Bettmann formed a partnership with Mauritz Johann Schulte, and formed the Triumph Cycle Co, which started to manufacture its own pedal cycles in Coventry. The company went on to manufacture its own motorcycles in 1902, based in Priory Street in the centre of Coventry. During World War One, Triumph supplied some 30,000 motorbikes to the allied forces, and their performance and reliability gained them the nickname of the ‘Trusty Triumph’. After the First World War, Triumph continued to expand and in 1921 bought the Dawson Car Company of Clay Lane, Stoke, on the north-east outskirts of Coventry.
Between 1919 and 1921 Dawson had produced three models of a 12bhp light car in two-seat, four-seat and cabriolet forms. These were all powered by a relatively advanced 1795cc overhead cam 4-cylinder engine but only about sixty-five were produced. Triumph did not continue to produce the Dawson car, but used the Dawson premises to manufacture their own car, the Triumph 10/20. This car was introduced in 1923 and used a Triumph-built 1393cc 4-cylinder side valve engine unit which was designed by Lea Francis, with Triumph paying a royalty to Lea Francis for each one produced.
The 10/20 had a three-speed (and reverse) gearbox and was available in five body styles, a three-seat All Weather Tourer, a Sports, a four-door saloon, a three-door saloon and a four-door tourer. These cars were well received and gave Triumph a good name for themselves in the car market.
The 10/20 was followed by the 13/35 in 1924, which had a 13bhp 1873cc 4-cylinder side valve engine and was essentially a development of the 10/20 with a wider track and longer wheelbase. The 13/35 came in two body styles, a five-seat tourer or a four-seat saloon and was the first UK produced car to be equipped with hydraulic brakes. Triumph ceased production of both the 10/20 and the 13/35 in 1926, with the introduction of the Fifteen. This was the same size as the 13/35 but had a 2169cc 14.9 horsepower, 4-cylinder, side valve engine and three-speed gearbox.
The Fifteen came in five body styles (a three or five-seat tourer, two styles of coach built saloon and a fabric bodied four-door tourer). The Fifteen was produced until 1930, when Triumph changed its name to the Triumph Motor Company. However, Triumph was also tapping into the small car market, and the Super Seven, a lightweight Austin Seven competitor with a 7.9bhp, 832cc 4-cylinder, side valve engine, was extremely successful with over 31,000 produced between 1927 and 1932. It came in a myriad of body styles and was replaced by the Super Eight, which offered a four-speed gearbox option and was produced from 1932 to 1934.
At the same time Triumph did not abandon the larger car market, and started to introduce more models leading to a wide and bewildering range of cars produced during the 1930s. Triumph introduced the Southern Cross four-seat tourer and sports models in 1932. These models both had a 4-cylinder engine with overhead inlet valves and side exhaust valves, and had a four-speed gearbox as standard, with the tourer engine displacing 1018cc and the sports engine displacing 1122cc.
Confusingly Triumph then introduced their sporting Gloria model range for 1933, which comprised a range of saloons, coupĂ©s, sports cars and drophead coupĂ©s. These were powered by 4 or 6-cylinder engines which were designed by Coventry Climax but manufactured by Triumph. The engines both featured overhead inlet and side exhaust valves, and the 4-cylinder unit displaced 1087cc, while the 6-cylinder unit displaced 1476cc and set the trend for Triumph to use small capacity 6-cylinder units. In 1934 the Gloria’s 4-cylinder engine capacity was increased to 1232cc and the 6-cylinder engine’s capacity grew to 1991cc.
In 1934 Triumph made a surprising departure from its usual 4-cylinder sporting saloons by building the Dolomite 8. At this time, the famous engineer Donald Healey was appointed Experimental Manager, and the Dolomite 8 was designed and produced for Donald Healey to compete in the 1935 Monte Carlo Rally. The car had a 1990cc double overhead cam supercharged straight-eight engine, which was based on the Alfa Romeo 2300cc unit housed in a Triumph designed chassis, with a four-speed pre-selector gearbox. It appears that Triumph produced around six complete engines and three chassis, and after a crash in the 1935 rally when the car hit a train in Denmark, it came a respectable eighth place in the 1936 Monte Carlo Rally and was the highest placed British car.
The 4-cylinder Coventry Climax designed engine was replaced by a Triumph designed overhead valve, 4-cylinder unit in 1936 which, in 1496cc form, powered the Gloria 1.5 Saloon and the Gloria Fourteen Six-Light saloon. The 4-cylinder engine was also produced in 1767cc form, and a new Triumph designed 6-cylinder overhead valve unit of 1991cc was also introduced at the same time. Both units were used to power the new Vitesse range of sporting saloons produced between 1936 and 1938, as well as the new Dolomite range of sports saloons and roadsters, which bore no resemblance to and shared no components with the Dolomite 8, and were produced betw...

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