TriumphTR3

Triumph TR3 Pictures

The Triumph TR3 in pictures, inside and out: the small-mouth TR3 of 1955–57, the facelifted TR3A, the TR3B's outward shape, the cockpit and the engine bay, the hard-top, the badges and grilles, and the cars in competition, from Zandvoort in 1960 to historic events today.

A left-hand-drive dashboard trimmed in tan leather, with a sprung three-spoke steering wheel, two large dials and a centre panel of small gauges and switches.
A left-hand-drive TR3A's cockpit in tan leather, photographed at Fox Island, Washington, on 13 August 2016: the sprung three-spoke wheel, the two large dials and the centre panel of gauges and switches.Thorsten Lindner, CC BY-SA 4.0

The TR3 changed its face once, and the face is the quickest way to tell which version a photograph shows. The TR3, built from 1955 to 1957, kept the TR2's small mouth with a new grille; the TR3A, from commission number TS22014 in September 1957, had a full-width grille; and the TR3B of 1962 looked like a late TR3A. The pictures are grouped by what they show: the versions first, then the interior and the engine bay, the hard-top, the cars in competition and the badges. Each picture in a group opens a larger view.

A date in a caption is the photograph's, not the car's. All but one of the pictures show cars as they are kept today, some with later changes, a painted grille surround, a steering wheel and a radio among them, which the captions point out; the exception is a press photograph from Zandvoort in 1960. Colours are as the camera saw them, and no factory list of the TR3's colours is among the sources read. Standard-Triumph's American owners' newsletter gives glimpses: two more colours, Salvadore Blue and Beige, announced for America in December 1955, and in February 1957 a poll of owners' favourite colours, which white won and avocado green came last.⁠1​2​3​4

The TR3 and the TR3A

On the TR3 the egg-crate grille stands forward, close to the edge of the small mouth, and neither the doors nor the boot (trunk) lid has an outside handle. The facelift of 1957 brought the full-width grille, TRIUMPH letters across the nose and on the boot lid, a lockable boot handle and handles outside the doors, though in America the TR3A kept the name TR3 for the 1958 model year. The standard wheels were pressed steel with chrome hub caps, and wire wheels cost extra, yet most of the cars here wear them; the whitewall tyres on one were among the extras Standard-Triumph's American advertisement listed in 1958.⁠1​5​6​2​7​8

TR3 5

  • A dark green open two-seater with its door open, parked on dry grass among other classic cars. Opens a larger view

    1 A small-mouth TR3 on wire wheels, its door open and its sidescreens off, at an old-time rally at Aldham, near Colchester, on 9 June 2019.

  • A dark green open two-seater seen from behind, a brown leather suitcase strapped to a chrome rack on its boot. Opens a larger view

    2 The plain boot lid of a small-mouth TR3, with no handle, under a suitcase on an accessory luggage rack, at Capesthorne Hall, Cheshire, on 24 May 2015.

  • A white open two-seater with wire wheels and a yellow-edged grille parked on gravel by a dry-stone wall in a wood. Opens a larger view

    3 A left-hand-drive TR3 on wire wheels, with auxiliary lamps under its bumper and a grille surround painted yellow, which is not original, in a forest car park in Provence on 6 April 2022.

  • A dark green open two-seater with wire wheels and a small flush grille parked on grass beside a grey Citroën 2CV. Opens a larger view

    4 A green small-mouth TR3 with auxiliary lamps under its bumper, beside a grey Citroën 2CV at Belfort, France, on 31 August 2014.

  • A red open two-seater with steel wheels, chrome hubcaps and a small flush grille on a blue-carpeted show stand. Opens a larger view

    5 Pressed-steel wheels with chrome hub caps, the TR3's standard wear, on a red small-mouth car on a club stand at the Classic Motor Show, NEC Birmingham, in November 2025.

TR3A 7

  • A pale blue open two-seater with chrome wire wheels and whitewall tyres parked on a sandy track under trees. Opens a larger view

    6 A pale blue TR3A side on, on a sandy woodland track in June 2010, its chromed wire wheels shod with whitewalls.

  • A silver-champagne open two-seater seen from above and behind, a chrome rack on the boot and red leather seats. Opens a larger view

    7 A champagne-silver TR3A seen from above in the Netherlands in June 2008, a chrome rack over its boot and its red leather cockpit open.

  • A pale blue open two-seater with wire wheels parked on grass in front of a white period van. Opens a larger view

    8 A pale blue TR3A on wire wheels, with no overriders (bumper guards) fitted, parked on grass at a show in September 2023.

  • A black open two-seater seen from behind with a leather suitcase on its chrome boot rack, new cars parked beyond. Opens a larger view

    9 A black left-hand-drive TR3A with a leather suitcase strapped to its boot rack, in Stuttgart on 9 August 2026.

  • A red open two-seater with wire wheels on the pale floor of a motor museum, an information lectern beside it. Opens a larger view

    10 A red TR3A on wire wheels in the museum at Gaydon, Warwickshire, then the Heritage Motor Centre, in November 2008.

  • A dark green sports car straight from behind: the boot handle, TRIUMPH letters, round tail lamps and the dashboard over the folded hood. Opens a larger view

    11 The tail of a dark green left-hand-drive TR3A, square on, its number-plate (license-plate) lamp below the lockable boot handle.

  • A white open two-seater with wire wheels and two round lamps on its bumper, parked on parched grass at a show. Opens a larger view

    12 A white right-hand-drive TR3A with a pair of auxiliary lamps on its bumper, beside a maroon saloon (sedan) at a show in July 2022.

Picture credits (12)
  1. 1 kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0
  2. 2 SG2012, CC BY 2.0
  3. 3 Rolf Kranz, CC BY-SA 4.0
  4. 4 Thomas Bresson, CC BY 3.0
  5. 5 kitmasterbloke, CC BY 4.0
  6. 6 Neozoon, CC BY-SA 3.0
  7. 7 Alf van Beem, CC0
  8. 8 Calreyn88, CC BY 4.0
  9. 9 Alexander Migl, CC BY-SA 4.0
  10. 10 Father.Jack, CC BY 2.0
  11. 11 Usien, CC BY-SA 3.0
  12. 12 Calreyn88, CC BY-SA 4.0

Contents

The TR3B

What sets a TR3B apart cannot be seen from outside. Ken Streeter's spotter's guide for the Vintage Triumph Register sends the reader under the bonnet (hood) to tell one from a late TR3A, and the commission plate settles it: TSF or TCF, never TS. The car here was shown as a TR3B by its photographer, and nothing in the picture proves or disproves it.⁠1​9

A British racing green open two-seater with wire wheels and a full-width grille on grass at a meeting, a red Morgan behind.
A car its photographer filed as a TR3B, at a meeting in Pau, France, on 23 May 2015; from the front it could equally be a late TR3A.Handelsgeselschaft, CC BY-SA 4.0

Contents

The interior

The TR3 was a two-seater, with an occasional seat behind the driver and passenger among its extras. The trim varied with the year and the buyer: in June 1956 the American newsletter priced cars for collection in England with Vynide or with leather seats; on Sports Cars Illustrated's disc-braked car, of the 1957 model year, rubber mats covered the floor where the early cars had carpet; and leather seats sat over the same mats in the magazine's TR3A, a car of the 1958 model year.⁠10​8​11​12​6

Cockpits 3

  • A red leather cockpit seen from above: two pleated seats, red carpet and a dashboard of round dials. Opens a larger view

    13 The red leather cockpit of a left-hand-drive TR3A, looked down on in the Netherlands in June 2008; its leather-rimmed steering wheel is an aftermarket one.

  • The red leather dashboard of a left-hand-drive sports car: a sprung steering wheel, two large dials and a centre panel of small gauges. Opens a larger view

    14 The red-trimmed dashboard of a left-hand-drive TR3A at a classic car show in Moscow on 12 July 2025, with a radio that is not original.

  • The cockpit of a green sports car with black pleated seats and a wood-veneered instrument panel, seen over the door. Opens a larger view

    15 Black pleated seats and a tonneau over the passenger's side in a left-hand-drive sidescreen Triumph of unknown version, at Pau on 23 May 2015; its wood-veneered centre panel is probably not original.

Picture credits (3)
  1. 13 Alf van Beem, CC0
  2. 14 Retired electrician, CC0
  3. 15 Handelsgeselschaft, CC BY-SA 4.0

Contents

The engine bay

The engine breathes through twin SU carburettors, larger on the TR3 than on the TR2. The hard-top car in Motor Sport's test of July 1957 had a polished rocker cover; the Vintage Triumph Register's list dates a chrome-plated one from engine number TS18230E, and this car has one.⁠7​5​13​1

The engine bay of a red sports car with the bonnet propped open: twin carburettors with round air cleaners and a chrome rocker cover.
The battery, the brake and clutch reservoirs and the twin SUs with round air cleaners, in a small-mouth TR3's engine bay at Nottingham in June 2026.Aethonatic, CC0

Contents

The hard-top

A photograph seldom shows which hard-top a car wears, the factory's steel one or a glass-fibre top, so the captions say only that each car has one.⁠7

Hard-tops 2

  • A pale blue sports car with a white hardtop and sidescreens parked on gravel beside a red Ferrari and a dark TVR. Opens a larger view

    16 A pale blue TR3A wearing a white hard-top and a pair of auxiliary lamps, on gravel at Goodwood on 1 March 2009.

  • An unrestored orange-red sports car with a matching hardtop, faded paint and rust spots, in a showroom with black drapes. Opens a larger view

    17 Worn and chipped orange-red paint on a TR3A with a hard-top of the same colour, in Cape Town, July 2018.

Picture credits (2)
  1. 16 Brian Snelson, CC BY 2.0
  2. 17 Ranjithsiji, CC BY-SA 4.0

Contents

In competition

The works TR3s' results are on Racing. The one period picture here is an Anefo press photograph of a national sports-car race at Zandvoort on 22 May 1960, whose archive caption gives two drivers, Rob Slotemaker and J. Vetter, but not their cars. The other two are recent: a TR3A racing in the Tour Auto of 2014, and one in historic-rally trim at a museum's car meeting in 2021.⁠7​14​15

Racing and rallying 3

  • Two open Triumph sports cars cornering side by side on a race track, their helmeted drivers low behind small screens, in black and white. Opens a larger view

    18 An Anefo press photograph from the national sports-car races of 22 May 1960 at Zandvoort: a TR3A, right, beside a sidescreen Triumph numbered 81.

  • A dark green sports car with yellow wire wheels and three spot lamps parked on gravel beside a red camper van. Opens a larger view

    19 Rally plate, spot lamps and yellow wire wheels: a green TR3A in historic-rally trim at Sparkford, Somerset, in May 2021; not a works car, which would have rallied as a hard-top.

  • A dark blue sports car with its fabric hood up and race number 52 speeds past the armco of a circuit, the background blurred. Opens a larger view

    20 Race number 52, a TR3A with its top up, at speed on the Circuit de Dijon-Prenois in the Tour Auto of April 2014, a modern event for historic cars.

Picture credits (3)
  1. 18 Harry Pot for Anefo, CC0
  2. 19 Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0
  3. 20 François de Dijon, CC BY-SA 3.0

Contents

Badges and grilles

No source read shows a TR3A badge on the facelifted car. The shield on its bonnet reads TR 3, and Standard-Triumph's American advertisements of 1958 and 1960 called it the TR-3 and the TR3; the medallion's colours changed to blue and white at TS41878, by the Vintage Triumph Register's list. Motor Sport was calling the car the TR3A by November 1958, and the clubs use that name for it today.⁠6​16​17​1​7

Badges and grilles 4

  • Close view of a cream car's nose in sunlight: a TR 3 shield badge, TRIUMPH letters and the top of a wide chrome grille. Opens a larger view

    21 The TR 3 shield above the TRIUMPH letters on a cream TR3A in the sun at Heritage Acres, Saanichton, British Columbia, on 6 May 2018.

  • Close view of a silver car's nose: spaced TRIUMPH letters, a shield badge, a headlamp and the top of a wide grille. Opens a larger view

    22 A headlamp, the shield badge and the spaced TRIUMPH letters on a champagne-silver TR3A in the Netherlands, June 2008.

  • The boot lid of a white car: chrome TRIUMPH letters above a T-shaped lockable handle. Opens a larger view

    23 Chrome TRIUMPH letters on a bar above the lockable boot handle of a white TR3A, at Fox Island, Washington, in August 2016.

  • A row of sidescreen sports cars nose to tail on grass, a red one with a full-width grille in sharp focus at the front. Opens a larger view

    24 Full-width grilles in a row: TR3As nose to tail at a Triumph meeting near Vancouver, Canada, in May 2010.

Picture credits (4)
  1. 21 Thomas Quine, CC BY 2.0
  2. 22 Alf van Beem, CC0
  3. 23 Thorsten Lindner, CC BY-SA 4.0
  4. 24 dave_7, CC BY 2.0

Contents

Sources

Every source the site cites is on the sources page.

  • Primarymade at the time, by the maker or by people who were there
  • Referenceserious later work: clubs, specialists, magazines, books
  • Databaseresults and listings, entry by entry
  1. Carl Musson (production dates and numbers) and Ken Streeter (spotter's guide), "TR3 (1955-1962)": the history, "Production Dates and Numbers" and "The TR2-TR3 Series Spotter's Guide", Vintage Triumph Register, Ken Streeter, "The TR2-TR3 Series Spotter's Guide"; Ken Streeter, "The TR2-TR3 Series Spotter's Guide"; "Production Dates and Numbers": TS22014; Ken Streeter, "The TR2-TR3 Series Spotter's Guide"; "Production Dates and Numbers": TSF1, TCF1; "Production Dates and Numbers": TS18230E; "Production Dates and Numbers": TS22014; TS41878, the bonnet medallion. vintagetriumphregister.org/tr3 Reference
  2. Graham Robson (essay "15 Years of Evolution"), Triumph TR2 – TR3/3A, TR4/4A – TR5, TR250 1953–1968 Parts & Accessories Catalogue, Rimmer Bros, edn 2.1 (source code TR2512), Part 1, p. 7, TS22014, 17 September 1957; p. 7, TS22014. rimmerbros.com/images/PDFs/TR2-5_Part1.pdf Reference
  3. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1955, Dec 1955 (vol. I no. 9), the two additional colours. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOADec1955.pdf Primary
  4. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, February 1957, Feb 1957, the owners' colour poll. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAFeb1957.pdf Primary
  5. Karl Ludvigsen, "Triumph gets a going over", Sports Cars Illustrated, Mar 1956, pp. 36–38, 56, pp. 36–38, the new grille; pp. 36–38, the larger carburettors. Primary
  6. Len Griffing, "SCI Road Test — Triumph TR3", with the Standard-Triumph Motor Co. Inc. advertisement in the same issue, Sports Cars Illustrated, Mar 1958, pp. 30–31, 58, pp. 30–31, the 1958 front; the advertisement's extras; data panel, the leather seats and rubber mats; the Standard-Triumph advertisement, "TR-3". Primary
  7. TR Register, Buyer's guide pages (group): "Buyer's Guide" (general), "Triumph TR3 Buyers Guide", "Triumph TR3A Buyers Guide", TR3 and TR3A guides, wheels; TR3 guide, "Engine Details"; TR3 guide: the factory steel hard-top; options: the glass-fibre hard-top; TR3 and TR3A guides, the "GT Kit"; "Triumph TR3A Buyers Guide": the name. tr-register.co.uk/resources/buyers-guide Reference
  8. The Autocar, "The Autocar Road Test No. 1622 — Triumph TR3 Hardtop", 11 Jan 1957, pp. 41–43, data panel, wheels; the extras: the occasional rear seat, leather. trvc.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/road-test-TR-3-1957.pdf Primary
  9. TR Drivers Club, "Triumph TR3B" (updated March 2015), the TSF and TCF specification. trdrivers.com/articles21/triumphtr3b.html Reference
  10. Motor Sport, "Sports and high-performance cars at Earls Court", with the list "Sports Cars Costing Under £1,000 Inclusive of P.T.", Nov 1955, p. 16, p. 16, the TR3's occasional seat. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-1955/16/sports-and-high-performance-cars-at-earls-court Primary
  11. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, June 1956, Jun 1956, overseas-delivery prices, Vynide or leather. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAJune1956.pdf Primary
  12. Karl Ludvigsen, "Disc Braked TR-3", with the Standard-Triumph advertisement in the same issue, Sports Cars Illustrated, Apr 1957, pp. 16–19, 58, the rubber mats. Primary
  13. Bill Boddy ("W. B."), "Triumph TR3 Road-Test", with the data panel "The Triumph TR3 Hard-Top" (p. 14), Motor Sport, Jul 1957, pp. 13–14, p. 13, the polished rocker cover. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/july-1957/13/triumph-tr3-road-test Primary
  14. Bill Boddy, "Sports Cars of the 'Big Five'", Motor Sport, May 1957, p. 15, p. 15, the works cars. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/may-1957/15/sports-cars-of-the-big-five Primary
  15. Wikimedia Commons, "Category:Triumph TR3" and its subcategories, "Triumph TR3 in competition": the Zandvoort photograph, Bestanddeel 911-2733. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Triumph_TR3 Database
  16. Sports Cars Illustrated, Standard-Triumph advertisement: "Convertible model, $2675 (At U.S. Ports of Entry ...)", Apr 1960, the Standard-Triumph advertisement, "TR3". Primary
  17. Motor Sport, "The Cars at Earls Court", Nov 1958, p. 22, p. 22, "TR3A". motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-1958/22/cars-earls-court Primary

Contents