1956 Triumph TR3

These two cars competed in the AMOC Lighthouse Anglo-American Thoroughbred Challenge race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2002.

Both are 1956 models, number 34 being the car of Charles Gillett and number 37 that of Justin Maeers. The Triumph TR3 was a successor to the TR2, both using a tuned version of the 4-cylinder inline 1991cc Standard Vanguard engine but that in the TR3 was a slightly more powerful unit. These two cars, though, have the 2,138cc engine that only became available with later versions of the TR3 in 1959.

Triumph TR2 and TR3

Here are two cars which took part in the AMOC Lighthouse Anglo-American Thoroughbred Challenge race at the Aston Martin Owners Club race meeting at Oulton Park in May 2002.

This is a 1955 Triumph TR2 and was driven in the race by Roy Chamberlain. Produced by the Standard Motor Company the TR2 used a tuned version of the 1991cc Standard Vanguard engine and I remember when the car was introduced in 1953 it had such a striking appearance compared with the mainly pre-war sports cars which were around at that time.

Also in the race, and driven by Charles Gillett, was this successor to the TR2, the Triumph TR3. It had a slightly more powerful engine and the only noticable difference to the bodywork was the external grille to the radiator air intake. The grille on later TR3s was made the full width of the body and these cars are usually referred to as TR3As, although the name wasn't used officially and they were not badged as such.