Triumph TR5

The Triumph TR5 was a classic British sports Roadster of the late 1960s. It was built to follow the very similar TR4 by the Triumph Motor Company ( by this Time part of BMC ).

The Triumph Motor Co. itself has been around for a long time. It was started by Siegfried Bettmann , importing continental bicycles into London in1885. With his partner Moritz Schulte they began making Triumph cycles in Coventry soon after and took on the trading name of Triumph.

The company had a really bad spell before WW2 and was put into receivership in 1939. What was left of the business after 1945 was bought by the Standard Motor Company. It was in the early 1950s that they decided to use the Standard brand for their Saloons cars and the Triumph brand for their Sports cars ( or Roadsters). The Triumph Division used the naming convention of TR ( triumph Roadster) plus a number for their series of cars. The first of these was the TR2.

In the Great amalgamation period for the UK Car Industry, Standard Triumph was bought by Leyland Motors in 1960, which became BLMC in 1968.

By the time the Triumph roadsters had got to the TR5, the designer ( Michelotti ) had just about reached the prime of this model of car. It was followed by the TR6 and TR7 but these were not seen as anything like the peak in the 1967-68 TR5 era. The 2.5 litre engine kept its pace good for the day - it got you along at up to 118mph.

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If you are lover of Classic British Cars, or even an owner of one, why not treat yourself to an individual portrait of  a masterpiece of 1960s design - as a photograph or piece of art work. 

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or even better if you own a Classic contact me by e-mail for a discussion about an individual commission. Just drop me a line using the contact page link on the right.

Rover P5

The Rover P5 was the absolute classic British Executive car. It was built from1958 to 1973 but it had several versions during that time. It was the luxury transport for the country's leaders, with Prime Ministers, Harold Wilson, ted Heath, James Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher all using this as their most prized perk of the job. Even the Queen had 2 of her own personal examples.

Classic and Sports Car magazine said of it when reviewing its place as a Classic said,

"If one car defines everything that is good about a British Classic then perhaps that car would be the Rover P5/P5B". 

No wonder it is still one of the most favoured British Classic cars.

The early cars - the P5 Mk1, started its life in 1958 and by the time it had ended production it had sold nearly 21,000 cars. This model had the Rover 3 litre engine which allowed it to reach 95 m.p.h. and did 0-60 it an "Earth Shattering" 17 seconds. In a review of 1960 it was claimed to use 20.5 mpg. At that time it cost £1864.

For a view of what went into developing and producing this fine car, take a look at this Pathe News video of the time....

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Between 1962 and 1965 an uprated MKII model was produced raising the power from the 3 litre engine from115 BHPO to 129 BHP.This version included a four door Coupe style and a further 20,000 cars were made and sold.

This green two tone example is a MK II, made in 1962. ( Notice it does not have the foglights under the main headlights as on all P5B models ) 

The final upgrade of the 3 litre P5 cam in 1962 with another uprating of the 3 litre engine. This was only made for 2 years when a major revision was make - the Rover P5B. This was the massive change that saw the American Buick 3.5 litre V8 engine made of aluminium was put in the car. This lighter and more powerful engine was spotted by the then CEO of Rover - William Martin-Hurst - who bought the rights to produce it for the P5B ( the B being added because of the Buick engine. Rover bought the rights to this engine because they didn't have the finance to develop their own. Truth is that it was used to completely re launch the car, now styled as a luxury top class car to compete with the best.

The styling of the Rover was really overalled to add lots of extras - Rostar Wheels, Coupe versions, Coupe versions and the notable chrome coach lining along each side.

And so there we have it- the Ultimate British Classic luxury car. I might be just a little biased as this is the car I have always dreamed of owning. To see what it is like to drive just watch these two videos from owners :

and a short life story of a single car...…

To find out lots more about the P5 series and to find one to buy why not take a look at the Rover P5 Club  website.

To buy Digital Download Prints of my Classic Car Art go to: https://bccapeterleech.wixsite.com/home