Triumph Mayflower
Triumph Mayflower | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Manufacturer | Standard Motor Company |
Production | 1949–53 35,000 were made[1] |
Assembly | Coventry, England Port Melbourne, Australia |
Body and chassis | |
Body style | 2-door saloon 2-door drophead coupé 2-door coupé utility |
Powertrain | |
Engine | 1,247 cc straight-4 side-valve[2] |
Transmission | 3-speed manual[2] |
Dimensions | |
Wheelbase | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 272: attempt to index local 'cat' (a nil value).[3][4] |
Length | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 272: attempt to index local 'cat' (a nil value).[3] |
Width | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 272: attempt to index local 'cat' (a nil value).[3] |
Height | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 272: attempt to index local 'cat' (a nil value).[5] |
Chronology | |
Successor | Standard 8/Triumph Herald |
The Triumph Mayflower is a British four-seat 1 1⁄4 litre small luxury car noted for its razor-edge styling. It was built by the Standard Motor Company and sold by Standard's subsidiary, The Triumph Motor Company (1945). It was announced at the October 1949 British International Motor Show, but deliveries did not commence until the middle of 1950. The Mayflower was manufactured from 1949 until 1953.
The Mayflower's "upscale small car" position did not find a ready market and sales did not meet Standard's expectations. Standard's next small car, the Standard Eight of 1953, was a basic 0.8 litre economy car.
Contents
Design and engineering
The Mayflower used a version of the pre-war Standard Flying Ten's[6][7] side-valve engine updated by having an aluminium cylinder head[2] and single Solex carburettor.[3] The engine developed 38 bhp (28 kW)[2][3] at 4200 rpm.[3] The 3-speed gearbox, with column shift, came from the Standard Vanguard[6] and had synchromesh on all the forward ratios.[8] There was independent suspension at the front[3][6] using coil springs and telescopic dampers,[3][9] but a solid axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs,[3] also based on the Vanguard's design,[citation needed] was at the rear. Lockheed hydraulic brakes were fitted.[8]
The Mayflower was the first car with unitary construction to be manufactured either by Standard or by the Triumph company that existed before Standard bought its assets. The body was designed by Leslie Moore, chief body designer of Mulliners of Birmingham with input from Standard's Walter Belgrove. The body shells were built by Fisher and Ludlow at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham.[7][10]
The Mayflower had traditional "razor edge" styling similar to that of the Triumph Renown imitating the style then still used by Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars.[7][11][12] Standard's managing director Sir John Black believed this would be especially appealing to the American market. One advantage of the car's upright styling was that it could seat four people in comfort despite its small size,[11] although there were complaints about the rear seat being constrained by the rear axle and being too narrow as a result.[13]
Non-saloon versions
Ten drophead coupés were built in 1950.[1][2]
Standard Triumph (Australia) produced a coupe utility variant of the Mayflower at their Port Melbourne plant in Victoria, Australia. 150 examples were built from Mayflower Saloon CKD kits imported from the United Kingdom, with bodywork locally modified to form a rear load area to which timber floor and side panels were added.[14]
Performance
A Mayflower tested by British magazine The Motor in 1950 had a top speed of 62.9 mph (101.2 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–50 mph (80 km/h) in 26.6 seconds. A fuel consumption of 28.3 miles per imperial gallon (10.0 L/100 km; 23.6 mpg-US) was recorded. The test car cost £505 including taxes.[5]
Reception
The Mayflower was announced and displayed for the first time on 28 September 1949, the first day of the Earls Court Motor Show.[15] Deliveries, including complete knock down (CKD) kits for overseas markets, began in the middle of 1950.[6][16]
Despite its low performance, the Mayflower impressed automobile testers, including Tom McCahill from Mechanix Illustrated[7] and The Scribe from Autocar.[17]
Legacy
The Mayflower had been an attempt to create a small car with an upmarket image,[4] but it failed to meet its sales targets.[2] Standard announced the Mayflower's replacement in a press release in early February 1952; the announcement further stated that the replacement would probably not be on sale until 1953.[18] The Standard Eight, which replaced the Mayflower, had a basic specification and was aimed at a different type of buyer. From the ending of Mayflower production in 1953 there was no small saloon with the Triumph name available in the United Kingdom until the launch of the Triumph Herald in 1959.[19] The Standard Ten saloon and Standard Companion estate were sold as Triumphs in the United States.[20]
The front suspension design from the Mayflower was used on the Triumph 20TS prototype and, with modifications, on the Triumph TR2.[6][11][21]
The Mayflower's "razor-edge" styling proved controversial and tends to polarise opinion. Although it has many admirers,[who?] others share the opinion of journalist James May, who called it the ugliest car of all time.[22]
Cultural impact
The Mayflower is the subject of a well-known painting by Australian artist John Brack—The Car.[23]
Die-cast models
Die-cast models of the Mayflower include Mikansue models from the 1980s, Lansdowne models from the 2000s, and Oxford Diecast 00 scale models from 2008.[citation needed]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sedgwick & Gillies 1986, p. [page needed]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Robson 2011, p. 137.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Culshaw & Horrobin 2013, p. 318.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Langworth 1973, p. 132.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "The Triumph Mayflower", The Motor, 6 December 1950
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Robson 2011, p. 134.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Vance 2006.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Triumph Mayflower - Brief Specification
- ↑ Jain & Asthana 2002, p. 293.
- ↑ Robson 2011, pp. 135–137.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Cook 2001, pp. 22–23.
- ↑ Langworth 1973, p. 131.
- ↑ Sewell 2006.
- ↑ Triumph Mayflower 'CoupeUtility', 2006
- ↑ "The Mayflower is an elegant little car with a 1250cc, four cylinder engine, three speed gearbox, and a full width, two-door saloon body with much the same knife-edge lines as the bigger Triumph saloon. The interior finish is in the same good taste as the external lines and the whole car is an attractive combination of the merits of modern design with the high quality looked for in British cars." - From Our Motoring Correspondent. "Motor Show To-Day." The Times (London). Wednesday, 28 September 1949. (51498), p. 4.
- ↑ Piggott 2006, p. 25.
- ↑ Langworth 1973, pp. 132–133.
- ↑ "New Standard Car." The Times (London). Monday, 4 February 1952. (52226), p. 6.
- ↑ Culshaw & Horrobin 2013, pp. 318–320.
- ↑ Langworth 1973, p. 138.
- ↑ Langworth 1973, pp. 133–134.
- ↑ May 2008.
- ↑ Watson 2009.
References
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External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Triumph Mayflower. |
Triumph Motor Company timeline, 1946 to 1984 — a marque of British Leyland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Small family car | Mayflower | Herald | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Toledo | Acclaim | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TR-10 | 1300 | 1500 | 1500 TC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vitesse | Dolomite | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Large family car | 1800 Town & Country | 2000 Saloon | Renown | 2000 / 2.5 PI | 2000 / 2.5 PI / 2500 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Convertible | Stag | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grand tourer | Italia | GT6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sports car | Spitfire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Roadster | TR2 | TR3 | TR3A | TR3B | TR7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TR4 | TR4A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TR5 | TR6 | TR8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TR250 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prototypes and cancelled projects: |
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