Triumph TR2
2 door, 2 seater, produced between 1953-1955, total production was 8 628 vehicles.
In 1952 the prototype 20TS (often referred to as the TR1) is introduced at Earl's Court Motor Show. Built on a Standars Flying Eight chassis frame, with the Mayflower's independent front suspension and live rear axle and a sporting dual-carb version of the Standard Vanguard engine, this show car looked much like the TR2s and TR3s that later followed, although rear body styling was quite different, with a more rounded, traditional look featuring exposed spare tire.
Ken Richardson was soon hired by Standard-Triumph to oversee development of the car into what became the TR2. The car eventually gained its own purpose-built chassis frame, which incorporated front suspension originally developed for the Mayflower. The Vanguard engine (2088cc) was further developed into a reliable 90 bhp, 1991cc engine. The rear of the body was redone to provide a trunk and an enclosed space for the spare tyre.
A prototype TR2 was taken to a closed stretch at Jabbeke highway in Belgium by Ken Richardson in spring 1953, achieving close to 125mph in "speed" mode and around 105mph in "street" mode.
The first TR2s were produced from March 1953, and was introduced to the public in August 1953 as Triumph's bid to capture some of the sports car market in the USA. A total of 8636 TR2s were built between August 1953 and September 1955, a large fraction of which were exported to the US. The TR2's combination of lively performance, good looks, and reasonable price made it a strong seller and led to the very successful TR line.
