TriumphTR3

Ken Richardson and the Triumph TR3

The development driver who joined Standard-Triumph from BRM in 1952 and ran its works competition team through the TR3's years: the Alpine Coupes of 1956, the twin-cam cars at Le Mans in 1959, and, by later accounts, his move to TVR.

About the pictureA BRM Type 15 V16 at Goodwood in 2018, from the team Ken Richardson tested for; not a picture of him.

A dark green front-engined single-seater racing car at speed, its driver in a white helmet, the background blurred.
Stand-in A BRM V16 at speed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July 2018, driven by a modern demonstrator: a car of the team he served as development and test driver before he joined Triumph; not a picture of the man.Neil, CC BY 2.0

Near the end of the Le Mans 24 Hours of June 1959, with two of his three twin-cam cars out and the third in trouble, Sports Cars Illustrated's reporters watched the man who ran Standard-Triumph's team:

Stop-watch in hand, Ken Richardson, competition manager for Standard Triumph, paced back and forth in front of the Triumph pits at Le Mans.

Richard and Harriet Olguin, Sports Cars Illustrated, October 1959

By then he had been with the works team since its first events, in 1954, which his son Paul's history of 2003 records. His teams' TR3s brought home five Coupes des Alpes from the Alpine Rally of 1956, and a sixth in 1958. The roles and results below give his posts and his own drives from 1956.⁠1​2​3

Before Triumph: BRM

Sources for Ken Richardson

Allen Brown, "Ken Richardson" (driver page), oldracingcars.com⁠4; Richard Heseltine, "Triumph TR2/3", Motor Sport, Jan 2010, p. 122⁠5; Paul Richardson, "TR2 Golden Anniversary", Moss Motoring, 1 Mar 2003⁠2; Triumph Motor Company (1945) Ltd, Triumph T.R.2 Sports Car (sales brochure), Rep. 12.53 (Dec 1953)⁠6; Bill Boddy ("W.B."), "Stop Press – A Fast Triumph", Motor Sport, Jun 1953, p. 50⁠7; Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, July 1956, Jul 1956⁠8; Richard Olguin and Harriet Olguin, "The TR 3-S At Le Mans", Sports Cars Illustrated, Oct 1959, p. 46ff⁠1; Moss Motoring, "Names to Know – Triumph's Kenneth Richardson"⁠9; Motor Sport, "Standard's convincing success in difficult R.A.C. Rally", Apr 1955, p. 17⁠10

A dark green front-engined single-seater racing car with wire wheels on a display floor in front of a brick wall.
A BRM Type 15 V16 of 1950 at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, in October 2006: the BRM type of his years there, not his car.Hugh Llewelyn, CC BY-SA 2.0

Before he came to Triumph, Richardson was BRM's development and test driver, by oldracingcars.com's account, which lists him with no Grand Prix start. A Moss Motoring profile adds that he drove BRM's V16 Grand Prix car in its development, that he qualified a BRM for the 1951 Italian Grand Prix but was not allowed to start because he lacked the right licence, and that in 1949 he crashed Guy Vandervell's Ferrari in the International Trophy. The profile cites no sources.⁠4​9​11

Contents

The TR2 years, 1952–55

In 1952 Standard-Triumph took him on to develop the 20TS prototype into the TR2. His son's history of 2003 follows him from there: the high-speed runs at Jabbeke in Belgium in 1953, 27th in the 1954 Mille Miglia, the works team's first event, and Le Mans in 1955 with Bert Hadley.⁠12​2

From 1:45: Ken Richardson brings his works TR2, No. 29, to its pit before the 1955 Le Mans race, in British Pathé's words.Video: Le Mans 1955 - Reel 1 Part 2 (1955), British Pathé, 1955

Contents

The TR3 years, 1956–59

The TR3's first great result was his. The American newsletter named him manager of the works team for the Alpine Rally of July 1956, and while his crews were winning their Coupes, the car he shared with Heathcote lost a rear wheel and retired. The results of the years that followed are on the racing page.⁠13​8​2

A dark green sports car with yellow wire wheels and three spot lamps parked on gravel beside a red camper van.
A TR3A prepared for historic rallies, at Sparkford in May 2021: a car of the kind his works team ran, not one of them.Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0

Contents

Le Mans, 1959

The twin-cam TR3S cars he took to Le Mans in 1959 had been built under his supervision, a Moss Motoring profile says. Two were out before half distance, and the third was still running near the end:

His only remaining car (#27) had just limped out of the pit area with dwindling oil pressure.

Richard and Harriet Olguin, Sports Cars Illustrated, October 1959

historicracing.com credits him with the TRS team that followed, whose team prize at Le Mans in 1961 it calls his.⁠1​14​9​11

Contents

Leaving for TVR, 1962

By the only accounts of it, both uncited, he left Standard-Triumph around the turn of 1962. A Moss Motoring profile says the Leyland takeover left him "unhappy" and that he went to TVR in 1962; historicracing.com calls him "disillusioned" by it, dates his move to January 1962, and says that he ran TVR's three-car entry at Sebring that March, where one car finished. When Standard-Triumph announced a new rally team of TR4s in February 1962, its manager was Graham Robson; no source read says that he took Richardson's place.

Some 40 years later his son Paul, writing in Moss Motoring for the TR2's golden anniversary, gave his father's own view of the work: that he had developed the car with a host of engineers behind him.⁠9​11​15​2

An ivory TVR fastback coupé with wire wheels parked on grass at a concours.
A TVR Grantura of the type TVR was building in 1962, at the Hampton Court Concours in September 2021, not a car of his.MrWalkr, CC BY-SA 4.0

Contents

Roles

  1. 1956

    Competition manager

    Ran the works TR3 team: the 1956 Alpine Rally team; in spring 1957 Motor Sport found him with three mechanics, eight TR3s and four Standard Tens, preferring to enter cars much as they were sold; was named in January 1958 to run that year's Sebring team; and ran the five-car 1959 Monte Carlo team as "Factory Competitions Manager"

    Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, June 1956, Jun 1956⁠13; Bill Boddy, "Sports Cars of the 'Big Five'", Motor Sport, May 1957, p. 15⁠16; Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, January 1958, Jan 1958⁠17; Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1958, Dec 1958⁠18

  2. 1959

    Team manager

    June 1959. Ran the three TR3S twin-cams at Le Mans in 1959

    Richard Olguin and Harriet Olguin, "The TR 3-S At Le Mans", Sports Cars Illustrated, Oct 1959, p. 46ff⁠1

Contents

Results

  • 1956

    Coupe des Alpes (Alpine Rally) 1956

    6 July 1956, Marseilles, France. Ken Richardson and Heathcote (co-driver): retired: lost a rear wheel⁠8​2

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
  • Uncheckedencyclopaedias and enthusiast sites: cited beside a good source, named in the sentence, or marked Unchecked
  1. Richard Olguin and Harriet Olguin, "The TR 3-S At Le Mans", Sports Cars Illustrated, Oct 1959, p. 46ff, the race report; race report. Primary
  2. Paul Richardson, "TR2 Golden Anniversary", Moss Motoring, 1 Mar 2003, the first works events, 1954; the 1956 Alpine; Jabbeke; the 1954 Mille Miglia; Le Mans 1955; the 1956 Alpine; the byline. mossmotoring.com/tr2-golden-anniversary Reference
  3. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, July 1958, Jul 1958 (vol. IV no. 7), the 1958 Alpine Rally. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAJuly58.pdf Primary
  4. Allen Brown, "Ken Richardson" (driver page), oldracingcars.com, driver page. oldracingcars.com/driver/Ken_Richardson Reference
  5. Richard Heseltine, "Triumph TR2/3", Motor Sport, Jan 2010, p. 122. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/january-2010/122/by-richard-heseltine Reference
  6. Triumph Motor Company (1945) Ltd, Triumph T.R.2 Sports Car (sales brochure), Rep. 12.53 (Dec 1953). Primary
  7. Bill Boddy ("W.B."), "Stop Press – A Fast Triumph", Motor Sport, Jun 1953, p. 50. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/june-1953/50/stop-press-a-fast-triumph Primary
  8. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, July 1956, Jul 1956, p. 1; p. 1, the Alpine Rally. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAJuly1956.pdf Primary
  9. Moss Motoring, "Names to Know – Triumph's Kenneth Richardson", BRM; the Ferrari crash; the TR3S; TVR. mossmotoring.com/names-know-triumphs-kenneth-richardson Unchecked
  10. Motor Sport, "Standard's convincing success in difficult R.A.C. Rally", Apr 1955, p. 17, p. 17: "W.K. Richardson". motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/april-1955/17/stardards-convicing-successin-difficullt-rac-rally Primary
  11. historicracing.com, "Ken Richardson" (driver page), driver page; the TR3S and the TRS; TVR; Sebring 1962. historicracing.com/driver.cfm?otd=5352 Unchecked
  12. 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, the history: the 20TS. vintagetriumphregister.org/tr3 Reference
  13. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, June 1956, Jun 1956, p. 2, the Alpine team manager; p. 2. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAJune1956.pdf Primary
  14. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, July 1959, Jul 1959 (vol. V no. 7), the fans: about four and about 10 hours. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAJuly59.pdf Primary
  15. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, February 1962, Feb 1962, Graham Robson, the new team manager. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/aTSOA0262.pdf Primary
  16. Bill Boddy, "Sports Cars of the 'Big Five'", Motor Sport, May 1957, p. 15, factory visit, Triumph section. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/may-1957/15/sports-cars-of-the-big-five Primary
  17. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, January 1958, Jan 1958, p. 2. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAJan1958.pdf Primary
  18. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1958, Dec 1958, p. 1. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOADecember58.pdf Primary

Contents