The People Behind the Triumph TR3

The managers who set the TR3's course, the engineers and the stylist who shaped it, the works team and the drivers who made its name in competition, the people who sold it to America, and the journalists who judged it.

About the pictureTR3As at an owners' club meeting; the people of this page are not in it.

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.
Stand-in TR3As lined up at an owners' club meeting near Vancouver in May 2010; the people of this page are not in it.dave_7, CC BY 2.0

No one person made the TR3. Between the TR's beginning in 1952 and the last TR3B of 1962, Standard's engineers, stylists, rally team and salesmen all left their mark on it.

One of them has a page of his own: Ken Richardson, who ran the works competition team. Those with records of their own have cards at the foot of this page; the lists below hold the others, with only what the sources record of them.⁠source 1​source 2

The company and its engineers

Five of the company's people have cards below: Walter Belgrove, whose styling department drew the TR2's body; Alick Dick, the managing director as the TR3 went into production; Harry Webster, the engineering chief; and Ray Bates and Frank Marsden, of the team that built the TR3 Beta. Five more appear in the sources only in passing:

  • 1947

    Ted Grinham

    Standard's chief engineer. Bruno Dwinger credits him with the wet-liner four that powered Ferguson tractors from 1947 and the Vanguard from 1948, and the TR in a version of its own.

  • 1952

    Sir John Black

    Head of the Standard Motor Company when the TR was conceived; by Karl Ludvigsen's account, its aim at the American market was his, after a visit there that summer.

  • 1959

    Lord Tedder

    Chairman of the Standard Motor Company, who saw off the American owners' rally of Europe in 1959.

  • 1960

    Gordon Birtwistle

    The high-speed development engineer, who took the black Beta of about 1960 to the Motor Industry Research Association's track for a good deal of testing, by his own account to the TR Drivers Club.

  • 1962

    Stanley Markland

    Standard-Triumph's managing director in 1962, who announced its works team of TR4s.⁠source 3​source 4​source 1​source 5​source 6​source 7​source 8​source 9

Contents

Style

Giovanni Michelotti, the Turin stylist, came to Triumph through the TR3: the one-off Dream Car of 1957 was his start, and its page gives the several accounts of how he was found. The Italia, on TR3A running gear, and the TR4 followed.⁠source 10​source 11

A rain-beaded red wing carrying an Italia 2000 script and a round badge with Michelotti's signature.
Giovanni Michelotti's name on his work for Triumph: the Italia 2000 script and his signature badge on the wing (fender) of a red Italia, at Morges, Switzerland, in October 2013.Akela NDE, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr

Contents

Competition

Ken Richardson ran the works team from the old Service Department at Canley, with three mechanics in 1957 and a chief mechanic, Ben Warwick, by 1958. In 1962, with the TR3's works career over, Standard-Triumph put Graham Robson, a company development engineer, in charge of its new rally team of TR4s.

The drivers the sources name in the TR3's results, from the five crews who won Coupes des Alpes in 1956 to the TR3S crews at Le Mans in 1959 and the Americans at Sebring, are among the cards below. Three more appear only in single reports:

  • 1958

    Paddy Hopkirk

    Paired with J. Struthers Scott in the works entry the American newsletter announced for the 1958 Monte Carlo Rally.

  • 1958

    Patsy Burt

    Raced a powder-blue TR3A in sprints and hill climbs in 1958 and 1959, Motor Sport recalled.

  • 1961

    William Gurnee

    6th in the national E Production standings in a TR3, ahead of every other Triumph driver.

Annie Soisbault won Motor Sport's praise on the 1959 RAC Rally:

The heroine of the Welsh section was undoubtedly Mlle. Soisbault, known to the British competitors as Miss Sauce-boat, who, when a snow-chain shorted the electrical system of her TR3A, drove the tight sections on side lights only.

Motor Sport, December 1959

Contents

Publicity, the clubs and the American company

Three of the people who sold and serviced the car have cards below: I. J. Penrice, Standard's publicity manager, and in America Kas Kastner and George Waltman. The others:

  • 1957

    Jack Croft

    Standard's press officer, who was leaving to lead the TR Owners' Club's second Continental tour when Motor Sport called that spring.

  • 1957

    Joe Smith and George Fletcher

    The service engineers sent from England to run schools for the American dealers.

  • 1958

    Alan F. Bethell

    President of Standard-Triumph Motor Company Inc. in New York.

  • 1958

    Peter Snow

    The American company's service manager, who lent Sports Cars Illustrated its TR3A for the 1958 test.

  • 1959

    Philip Ashley-Carter

    Standard's tour supervisor for the American owners' rallies in Europe; he died on 30 December 1959.⁠source 2​source 21​source 22​source 23​source 24​source 25​source 9

Contents

The press

The TR3's reputation was made in print, and a few writers made most of it; the road tests page gives their verdicts. Bill Boddy tested the car for Motor Sport in 1957 and came back to it in his review of the year. In America Karl Ludvigsen tested two TR3s for Sports Cars Illustrated, the second with disc brakes, Len Griffing the TR3A for the same magazine in 1958, and Wayne Thoms the TR3 for Motor Trend in 1957. Richard and Harriet Olguin reported the TR3S at Le Mans for Sports Cars Illustrated, and Dennis May described its twin-cam engine for Car and Driver in 1961.⁠source 26​source 27​source 4​source 28​source 23​source 29​source 30​source 31

Contents

People

  • Keith Ballisat

    Works Triumph rally driver of 1958–59. With Alain Bertaut he won a Coupe des Alpes on the 1958 Alpine Rally in a works-prepared TR3, 1st in class and 4th overall and fastest up the Stelvio, and Shell's film of that rally follows his TR3 down the passes. In 1959 he won his class on the Tulip Rally and was 2nd overall "by only a few precious seconds", was 2nd in class and 8th overall on the Liège–Rome–Liège with Bertaut, and, in a Herald, drove in one of the two Triumph teams that took the first two manufacturers' team awards on the RAC Rally.

  • engineer

    Ray Bates

    Standard-Triumph engineer. By Frank Marsden's account, the two TR3 Beta prototypes of about 1960 were built by his team after its move from Radford to Fletchamstead North.

  • Marcel Becquart

    Maurice Gatsonides's co-driver in a works Triumph TR3 on the 1958 Monte Carlo Rally: 1st in the 1,300–2,000 cc class and 6th overall, the only crew from The Hague start to finish.

  • chief stylist, stylist

    Walter Belgrove

    Car stylist. According to the Standard Motor Club, he was born in Liverpool in 1900, was chief stylist of the pre-war Triumph company from 1934 and formed Standard's first styling department after the war. He drew the Standard Vanguard, the TRX and the 20TS, from which the TR2 was developed; in 1978 J. R. Davy credited him with the Renown, the Vanguard and the TR2. After a complete falling-out with the chief engineer, Ted Grinham, he resigned after the 1955 Motor Show, later took small commissions (among them bodywork for the Ferguson P99), retired to Devon and died in 1983.

  • John Bentley

    Drove TR3 No. 20 at the 1959 Sebring 12 Hours with Robert Samm and Moore: after kerb damage it finished 48th, 6th in the 2-litre GT class.

  • Alain Bertaut

    French driver. Keith Ballisat's co-driver in a works Triumph TR3 on the 1958 Alpine Rally, when they won a Coupe des Alpes, 1st in class and 4th overall, and on the 1959 Liège–Rome–Liège, 2nd in class and 8th overall. In 1964 he drove a Standard-Triumph Spitfire with Jean-François Piot in the Reims 12 Hours.

  • P. Bolton

    With P. Craven, 3rd in the 1,300–2,000 cc class in a TR3 on the 1958 Monte Carlo Rally.

  • Peter Bolton

    British racing driver. He drove one of the three works TR3S twin-cams at Le Mans in 1959, No. 26 with Mike Rothschild; at Sebring in 1963 he and Rothschild won the GT class up to 2.5 litres in a Standard-Triumph TR4, 22nd overall; and he drove works Spitfires at Sebring and Le Mans in 1965.

  • P. Craven

    With P. Bolton, 3rd in the 1,300–2,000 cc class in a TR3 on the 1958 Monte Carlo Rally.

  • managing director

    Alick Dick

    Managing director of the Standard Motor Company, later Standard-Triumph, from early 1954, when Motor Sport saw "young Alick Dick" set up "as head of the Standard empire" on Sir John Black's retirement, until Leyland's takeover in 1961. The TR3 and most TR3As were built under him. Michelotti's arrival is told two ways: Graham Robson says he was introduced through Raymond Flower and hired on Harry Webster's recommendation with Dick's approval; G. William Krause says the TR3 "Dream Car" followed a chance meeting between Dick and Michelotti at a motor show.

  • C. DuBois

    Robert Leidgens's co-driver in the factory TR3 team on the 1958 Liège–Rome–Liège: 3rd in the over-2-litre class and 6th overall.

  • Faichney

    Nancy Mitchell's co-driver in the works TR3 hard-top, No. 300, in the 1957 Mille Miglia; it retired with radiator trouble.

  • Fauvel

    Drove TR3 No. 236 with Laine in the 1956 Mille Miglia: 94th overall and 2nd in the 2-litre production sports class.

  • Maurice Gatsonides

    Rally and racing driver. In TR2s he finished the 1954 Mille Miglia with Ken Richardson (27th in racingsportscars' results; Motor Sport reported 28th at the time). In TR3s, one of five Coupes des Alpes on the 1956 Alpine Rally; with Marcel Becquart 6th overall and 1st in class on the 1958 Monte Carlo Rally; 2nd in class, 5th overall, on the 1958 Liège–Rome–Liège.

  • Giraud

    Drove TR3 No. 318 with Le Cornu in the 1957 Mille Miglia: 104th overall and 5th in the 2-litre GT class.

  • R. Gorris

    Maurice Gatsonides's co-driver in the factory TR3 team on the 1958 Liège–Rome–Liège: 2nd in the over-2-litre class and 5th overall.

  • Les Griffiths

    One of the five Triumph TR3 drivers who won a Coupe des Alpes on the 1956 Alpine Rally: the five went unpenalised and took the first five places in the 1,600–2,000 cc class.

  • Göttgens

    With Van Den Driesche, 18th overall and 4th in the 2-litre sports class at the 1956 Reims 12 Hours, in a Triumph that racingsportscars' list of TR3 results includes.

  • Joseph Hubert Göttgens

    Drove Triumph TR3 No. 309 in the 1957 Mille Miglia; racingsportscars records a fatal accident.

  • Heathcote

    Ken Richardson's co-driver in the works TR3 that retired from the 1956 Alpine Rally when a rear wheel came off.

  • Louis Heuss

    With Jim Roberts, 26th overall and 3rd in the 2-litre GT class in a works TR3 at the 1958 Sebring 12 Hours.

  • Gene Hobbs

    The third driver, with Charles Kolb and Col. Fred Moore, of the Standard-Triumph TR3 No. 21 at the 1959 Sebring 12 Hours; it retired with valve-gear trouble half an hour from the finish.

  • Pat Hopkins

    One of the five Triumph TR3 drivers who won a Coupe des Alpes on the 1956 Alpine Rally: the five went unpenalised and took the first five places in the 1,600–2,000 cc class.

  • Harold Hurtley

    With Bob Oker, 36th overall and 5th in the 2-litre GT class in a works TR3 at the 1958 Sebring 12 Hours. The January 1958 entry list named him, as "Harold Hurtley", with Mike Rothschild; the result pairs Hurtley with Oker and Kimberly with Rothschild, the two names swapped between the same two cars.

  • Johns

    Co-drove Mike Rothschild's Standard-Triumph TR3, No. 33, at the 1957 Sebring 12 Hours: 21st overall and 2nd in the 2-litre GT class.

  • Peter Jopp

    Drove the works TR3S that ran longest at Le Mans in 1959, with Dick Stoop: it led the 2-litre class, 7th overall by SCI's account and 6th by the US newsletter's, until its oil pump drive failed less than two hours from the finish.

  • service manager, driver, team manager, founder, motorsport manager

    Kas Kastner

    American tuner, racer, team manager and author. He began racing in 1952 in an MG TD and opened a tuning shop in Salt Lake City in 1953. The TSOA Newsletter of October 1955 reports an "R. Kastner" winning two races in a TR2 at Cheyenne, Wyoming. In 1959, by the TSOA Newsletter's account, he won the Pacific Coast Class E Championship, the California Sports Car Club championship and the Motoracing West Coast Point Championship in a TR3 he drove to work and to races. After preparing three TR4s that finished 1st, 2nd and 4th in their class at Sebring in 1963 he set up Triumph's US competition department (by his account, no other foreign maker had one there) and wrote Triumph's competition preparation manuals. He finished three of the works TR4s for the 1964 Shell 4000, built the TR4A Super Stock in which Charlie Gates won the 1965 SCCA D Modified title, captained the TR4A team whose cars were 1st, 2nd and 3rd in class at Sebring in 1966, and in 1968 built the TR250K, a prototype on a TR4A chassis, with Peter Brock for Sebring. He was the factory team's guest at Le Mans in 1964 and owned the Macau Spitfire from 14 April 1966 to 2 February 1968. He left Triumph at the end of 1970 and was inducted into the British Sports Car Hall of Fame in its first class, 2017.

  • Joseph Kat

    One of the five Triumph TR3 drivers who won a Coupe des Alpes on the 1956 Alpine Rally: the five went unpenalised and took the first five places in the 1,600–2,000 cc class.

  • William Kimberly

    With Mike Rothschild and Lott, 20th overall and 2nd in the 2-litre GT class in a works TR3 at the 1958 Sebring 12 Hours.

  • Charles Kolb

    Shared TR3 No. 21 with Col. Fred Moore at the 1959 Sebring 12 Hours; it ran without a hitch until valve-gear trouble, a broken rocker-pedestal stud, half an hour from the finish.

  • Laine

    Drove TR3 No. 236 with Fauvel in the 1956 Mille Miglia: 94th overall and 2nd in the 2-litre production sports class.

  • Le Cornu

    Drove TR3 No. 318 with Giraud in the 1957 Mille Miglia: 104th overall and 5th in the 2-litre GT class.

  • Robert Leidgens

    Drove a factory TR3 on the 1958 Liège–Rome–Liège with C. DuBois: 3rd in the over-2-litre class and 6th overall.

  • Lott

    With Mike Rothschild and William Kimberly, 20th overall and 2nd in the 2-litre GT class in a works TR3 at the 1958 Sebring 12 Hours.

  • engineer

    Frank Marsden

    Standard-Triumph engineer who worked on the TR3 Beta. His account, published by the TR Drivers Club in 2015, is the source of the view that "the TR3 BETA came first" and that the TR4 then used its chassis and running gear, and of the works' own name for the project, "TR3B".

  • E. Marvin

    Keith Ballisat's co-driver on the 1959 Tulip Rally: 1st in Class H and 2nd overall in a TR3.

  • Brian McCaldin

    British driver. With Maunsell he was 17th in the 1954 Tourist Trophy in a TR2, the best of the six that finished, and he retired in the 1955 race. With Desmond Titterington, 2nd in class and 8th overall on the 1958 Alpine Rally in a works TR3.

  • stylist

    Giovanni Michelotti

    Turin car stylist. He began his career in 1937 as an apprentice at Stabilimenti Farina; according to carrozzieri-italiani he opened his own design studio in Turin in 1949, the first in Italy devoted only to car design; the TSOA Newsletter of 1966 also dates the studio to 1949. His first contact with Standard-Triumph came in 1957: Harry Webster's obituary in the Telegraph says Webster "discovered" him, while Graham Robson says he was found through Raymond Flower and hired on Webster's recommendation with Alick Dick's approval. His first Triumph design was the one-off TR3 "Dream Car" on a TR3 chassis, shown at Geneva in 1957 according to later accounts; Krause says it followed a chance meeting with Alick Dick at a motor show. He went on to design the Italia (1959–62) on TR3A and TR3B running gear. On his own initiative he drew a one-off body for a BMW 507 chassis, shown at the Turin show in 1959, which BMW has owned since 2005. He styled the Herald (1959), whose separate chassis made the Spitfire possible; answering Webster's idea of a "Herald sports car", he built a single prototype in 1960, code-named "Bomb", and later restyled the car as the Mk IV of 1970. For the TR he styled the prototypes Zest (1958) and Zoom (1959) and the TR4 of 1961, which joined Zest's nose to Zoom's tail and kept Zoom's hardtop with its lift-out panel; the TR4A, TR5 and TR250 kept that body with new detail, and its centre section on the TR6 (1969), whose new front and rear Karmann designed because he was busy. According to his son Edgardo, his work for Triumph ended in the late 1970s with a restyle of the TR7 from coupé to spider; he died in January 1980. No source read links him to the Le Mans or Macau competition bodies.

  • Nancy Mitchell

    Drove a works Triumph TR3 hard-top in the 1957 Mille Miglia: "the actual Alpine Rally car" of 1956, prepared with a 114-litre (25-imperial-gallon) tank, a 4.1 axle and Le Mans lamp reflectors. It retired with radiator trouble.

  • Fred Moore

    Racingsportscars' driver page for him lists him in both of the entrant's TR3s at the 1959 Sebring 12 Hours: No. 20, with Samm and Bentley, 48th, and No. 21, with Kolb and Hobbs, which retired. The US factory club's newsletter named "Col. Fred Moore" with Charles Kolb in No. 21, which ran without a hitch until valve-gear trouble half an hour from the finish.

  • Jean Morin

    Drove TR3 No. 316 in the 1957 Mille Miglia: 155th overall and 7th in the 2-litre GT class.

  • Bob Oker

    Racing driver. With Ed Pennybacker he won the 2-litre GT class at the 1957 Sebring 12 Hours in a Standard-Triumph TR3, 19th overall; the US factory club's newsletter later recalled his "record non-stop driving marathon of 11 solid hours". The next year, with Harold Hurtley in the team's third car, he was 5th in the class.

  • Parsons

    Drove TR3 No. 29, entered by Suburban Foreign Cars, with Rushin at the 1961 Sebring 12 Hours: 30th overall and 6th in the 2-litre GT class.

  • Ed Pennybacker

    He had raced his own TR2 in Germany in 1955, and was entered as Maurice Gatsonides's navigator in a works TR3 on the 1956 Alpine Rally. With Bob Oker he won the 2-litre GT class at the 1957 Sebring 12 Hours in a Standard-Triumph TR3, 19th overall. He was also listed with Roberts in No. 70, which retired with suspension failure.

  • publicity manager

    I. J. Penrice

    Standard's publicity manager when Motor Sport visited the factory in 1957; the magazine credited him with starting the TR Owners' Club.

  • development and test driver, competition manager, team manager

    Ken Richardson

    British engineer, test driver and competition manager. According to oldracingcars.com he was born in Bourne, Lincolnshire, in 1911 and died there in 1997, and for many years was BRM's development and test driver. He joined Standard-Triumph in 1952 after driving the 20TS prototype, which he reputedly condemned as unsafe; he tested and developed the TR2, drove it at Jabbeke in May 1953, and from 1954 ran the new works competition department. Through the TR3 years he managed the works team: five Coupes des Alpes and the team prize on the 1956 Alpine Rally, where his own car retired after losing a rear wheel, and the three TR3S twin-cams at Le Mans in 1959. A Moss Motoring profile says he left for TVR in 1962, unhappy with the Leyland takeover.

  • Roberts

    Drove TR3 No. 70, entered by the Triumph Company, with Ed Pennybacker at the 1957 Sebring 12 Hours; it retired with suspension failure.

  • Jim Roberts

    With Louis Heuss, 26th overall and 3rd in the 2-litre GT class in a works TR3 at the 1958 Sebring 12 Hours.

  • Mike Rothschild

    American racing driver. In Triumph TR3s he was 2nd in the 2-litre GT class at the Sebring 12 Hours in 1957 and 1958, and on that record, the US factory club's newsletter said, he was chosen for the works TR3S team at Le Mans in 1959. At Sebring he won the GT class up to 2.5 litres with Peter Bolton in a Standard-Triumph TR4 in 1963, drove works Spitfires at Le Mans in 1964 and Sebring in 1965, and was 2nd in the 2.5-litre GT class with Dick Gilmartin in a works TR4A at Sebring in 1966.

  • Rushin

    Drove TR3 No. 29, entered by Suburban Foreign Cars, with Parsons at the 1961 Sebring 12 Hours: 30th overall and 6th in the 2-litre GT class.

  • Robert Samm

    Drove TR3 No. 20 at the 1959 Sebring 12 Hours with John Bentley and Moore: after kerb damage it finished 48th, 6th in the 2-litre GT class.

  • Ninian Sanderson

    Racing driver. With Bob Dickson he finished 14th at Le Mans in 1955 in the works TR2 PKV 376, and he won the race outright the next year. He drove one of the three works TR3S twin-cams at Le Mans in 1959 and set the team's best practice lap, 4 min 49.8 s; the car retired.

  • Annie Soisbault

    Rally driver for Triumph's works team, 1957–59. The US factory club's newsletter, profiling her in November 1958, said she had driven regularly for Triumph for two seasons and was the French women's champion of 1957, with Coupes des Dames on the 1957 Tour de France and Rally of Corsica. In 1958 she won further Coupes des Dames on the Lyons–Charbonnières, where she was also 6th overall and won her class, and on the Acropolis, and she was 3rd overall on the Tulip Rally. In 1959 she won the over-1,600 cc GT class and the Coupe des Dames on the Liège–Rome–Liège, 6th overall. On the 1959 RAC Rally her team took a manufacturers' team award.

  • Dick Stoop

    Peter Jopp's co-driver in the works TR3S that ran longest at Le Mans in 1959, leading the 2-litre class until its oil pump drive failed less than two hours from the finish. Before the race the US factory club's newsletter (as "J. Stoop") and SCI's line-up had paired him with Ninian Sanderson.

  • Desmond Titterington

    Racing driver. With Brian McCaldin, 2nd in class and 8th overall on the 1958 Alpine Rally in a works TR3.

  • driver, founder

    Bob Tullius

    American racing driver. He bought a TR3 in 1960 and raced from 1961. In TR4s he won the SCCA national E Production championship in 1962, Triumph's first national class title by the importer's account, and D Production in 1963 and 1964; Triumph gave him one of Kas Kastner's Sebring TR4s. With Brian Fuerstenau and Dick Gilmartin he founded Group 44 Inc. in 1965; it won 14 SCCA national titles and three Trans-Am championships before closing in 1990. In 1968 he raced Group 44's TR250 in SCCA C Production. By the importer's count in September he had six wins in the Northeast Division, enough for at least a tie for its title, and three outside it. He was 3rd in C Production at the ARRC, and he co-drove the TR250K at Sebring. From 1969 to 1974 he raced Group 44's TR-6 in SCCA C Production, 2nd at the 1972 American Road Race of Champions, and showed it on British Leyland's stand at the 1972 London Motor Show; Severson writes that the last TR6 built went to him. In 1974–75 he raced Group 44's V12 E-Type in SCCA B Production: 2nd at the 1974 Runoffs by 0.8 s, and national champion in 1975. He had won the SCCA Trans-Am drivers' championship in 1977 and 1978 with a Jaguar XJ-S. From 1979 to 1981 Group 44, Jaguar Rover Triumph's official US racing team, raced the TR8 in IMSA and the Trans-Am. It won its class on the car's debut, the Watkins Glen 6 Hours of July 1979; Tullius won his class four times in 1979, in IMSA GTO and the Trans-Am, as Car and Driver and Lamm count them, and Group 44's No. 44 won the IMSA GTO class four times in 1980. British Sports Car Hall of Fame, first class (2017).

  • Van Den Driesche

    With Göttgens, 18th overall and 4th in the 2-litre sports class at the 1956 Reims 12 Hours, in a Triumph that racingsportscars' list of TR3 results includes.

  • Renée Wagner

    Annie Soisbault's navigator, printed "Mme. Renee Wagner", in a TR3 on the 1959 Liège–Rome–Liège: they won the over-1,600 cc GT class and the Coupe des Dames, 6th overall. The newsletter's factory team for the 1958 rally lists "Mlle. R. Wagner (France)" with Soisbault.

  • George Waltman

    American driver and Triumph service representative. In 1961 he shared a TR3, a Genser-Forman field car with more than 64,000 km (40,000 miles) on it, driven to and from the race, with Williamson at Sebring: 29th overall and 5th in the 2-litre GT class. In a near-stock TR4 he was 30th at Sebring in 1962 with Nick Coné, 4th of the GT cars up to 3 litres; he drove alone in 1963, 37th and 5th in class, in a TR4 entered by Genser-Forman, Triumph's north-eastern US distributor, and won the first Hayden Williams Sportsmanship Award; racingsportscars lists a Genser-Forman TR4 for Waltman and Lawrence in 1964, 40th. He raced a TR4 at the Nassau Speed Week from 1963 to 1965.

  • apprentice, chief chassis engineer, chief engineer, director of engineering, technical director, group technical director

    Harry Webster

    Standard-Triumph's engineering chief: director of engineering from 1957 (Graham Robson says 1956) to 1968. The TR Register names him as chief chassis engineer of the team that engineered the TR2. The Spitfire was his idea of a "Herald sports car"; he brought Giovanni Michelotti into Standard-Triumph's work in 1957, Graham Robson credits his "persuasive powers" with Leyland's approval of the 1960 prototype after Standard's financial collapse, and took Triumph back to Le Mans with Spitfires, which won the 1.15-litre GT class in 1965. After British Leyland was formed he moved to Longbridge; CBE in 1974. He died at Kenilworth, aged 89.

  • Williamson

    Shared George Waltman's TR3, No. 28, at the 1961 Sebring 12 Hours: 29th overall and 5th in the 2-litre GT class.

  • Tommy Wisdom

    In 1956 he was one of the five Triumph TR3 drivers who won a Coupe des Alpes on the Alpine Rally, unpenalised, finishing 1st to 5th in the 1,600–2,000 cc class. In 1962 he drove the works TR4 6 VC with Jeff Uren on the Alpine Rally: 9th overall and 3rd in the GT class from 1,601 to 2,500 cc.

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. 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, TCF2804; p. 5, Robson's essay: Belgrove's body designers. rimmerbros.com/images/PDFs/TR2-5_Part1.pdf Reference
  2. Bill Boddy, "Sports Cars of the 'Big Five'", Motor Sport, May 1957, p. 15, p. 15, the competition department; p. 15; p. 15, Penrice and Croft. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/may-1957/15/sports-cars-of-the-big-five Primary
  3. Bruno Dwinger, "TR 2 bis TR 3 B: Geschichte, Typen und Kaufberatung", TR-Register Deutschland, Nov 2008, 10 pp. (PDF), pp. 1–2, the engine's design. tr-register.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Kaufberatung_Geschichte_TR2_TR3.pdf Reference
  4. Karl Ludvigsen, "Triumph gets a going over", Sports Cars Illustrated, Mar 1956, pp. 36–38, 56, p. 36, Sir John Black's target; pp. 36–38. Primary
  5. Graham Robson, "Alick Dick: Triumph's Managing Director 1954–1961", Moss Motoring, 18 Jan 2021, Dick's years as managing director. mossmotoring.com Reference
  6. Graham Robson, "One Design, Many Derivatives", Moss Motoring, 26 Oct 2022, Webster. mossmotoring.com Reference
  7. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, June 1959, Jun 1959, Lord Tedder and the owners' rally. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAJune59.pdf Primary
  8. TR Drivers Club, "Triumph TR3B" (updated March 2015), "Updated – March 2015": Bates, Marsden, Birtwistle. trdrivers.com/articles21/triumphtr3b.html Reference
  9. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, February 1962, Feb 1962, Stanley Markland; the works TR4 team; Graham Robson; Gurnee "in his Triumph TR-3"; Kastner and the competition bulletin. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/aTSOA0262.pdf Primary
  10. G. William Krause, The Illustrated History of Triumph Sports and Racing Cars, CarTech, 2017, ch. 3, the TR Dream Car and the Italia. static.summitracing.com/global/images/technicalarticles/sad-ct596.pdf Reference
  11. Brian Ridley-Jones ("The Italia") and Mike Napoli ("The F Type Devin") and Steve Dival ("The Swallow Doretti"), Articles (group): "The Italia", "The F Type Devin", "The Swallow Doretti", TR Drivers Club, "The Italia". trdrivers.com/articles21/italia1.html Reference
  12. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1958, Dec 1958, p. 1, Ben Warwick. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOADecember58.pdf Primary
  13. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, July 1956, Jul 1956, the 1956 Alpine Rally. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAJuly1956.pdf Primary
  14. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, May 1959, May 1959 (vol. V no. 5), p. 1, the Le Mans crews. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAMay59.pdf Primary
  15. racingsportscars.com, Sebring 12 Hours 1957, results, results. racingsportscars.com/results/Sebring-1957-03-23.html Database
  16. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, October–November 1957, Oct–Nov 1957 (vol. III nos. 10 & 11), Stop Press, the 1958 Monte Carlo entry. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAOctNov57.pdf Primary
  17. Motor Sport, "Lady Competition Drivers", Sep 1961, p. 11, p. 11, Patsy Burt. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/september-1961/11/lady-competition-drivers-2 Primary
  18. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, October 1961, Oct 1961, the 1961 national points. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAOct61.pdf Primary
  19. Motor Sport, "The R.A.C. Rally", Dec 1959, p. 36, p. 36. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/december-1959/36/the-rac-rally-10 Primary
  20. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, February 1960, Feb 1960, Kastner's titles. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAFebruary1960.pdf Primary
  21. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, February 1957, Feb 1957, the service engineers. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAFeb1957.pdf Primary
  22. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November 1958, Nov 1958, the company's president. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOANovember58.pdf Primary
  23. 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, the test car; pp. 30–31. Primary
  24. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, January 1960, Jan 1960, Philip Ashley-Carter. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAJanuary1960.pdf Primary
  25. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, June 1961, Jun 1961, p. 4, George Waltman. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAJune61.pdf Primary
  26. 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, pp. 13–14. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/july-1957/13/triumph-tr3-road-test Primary
  27. Bill Boddy, "My Year's Motoring", Motor Sport, Jan 1958, p. 11, p. 11. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/january-1958/11/my-years-motoring Primary
  28. Karl Ludvigsen, "Disc Braked TR-3", with the Standard-Triumph advertisement in the same issue, Sports Cars Illustrated, Apr 1957, pp. 16–19, 58, pp. 16–19. Primary
  29. Wayne Thoms, "Triumph TR-3" (An MT Research Report), Motor Trend, Sep 1957, p. 36ff, p. 36ff. Primary
  30. Dennis May, "Triumph's Twin-Cam!", Car and Driver, Jun 1961, pp. 60–64, pp. 60–64. Primary
  31. Richard Olguin and Harriet Olguin, "The TR 3-S At Le Mans", Sports Cars Illustrated, Oct 1959, p. 46ff, p. 46ff. Primary

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