TriumphTR3

Triumph TR3 Rivals

The cars the TR3 was sold and raced against, chosen only where a period source set them side by side: the MG MGA and the Austin-Healeys above all, with the Morgan Plus Four, the AC Ace and others, compared by price, power and results, and the MGA by numbers built.

About the pictureAn MG MGA roadster, which its photographer dates to 1959: the rival, not a TR3.

A red MG roadster with wire wheels and its hood folded, parked on grass at a rainy show.
Stand-in An MG MGA roadster, which its photographer dates to 1959, wet with rain at a show in September 2024: the TR3's closest rival, not a TR3.Calreyn88, CC BY-SA 4.0

One article in the spring of 1957 took Motor Sport round the works of three sports cars, the MGA, the TR3 and the Austin-Healey 100-Six. It found MG building more than 90 MGAs a day, twice the TR3's rate at Canley, and it treated the three cars as a class of their own. Those three, with the Morgan Plus Four, the AC Ace and, from 1959, the Sunbeam Alpine, are the TR3's main rivals on this page; a car appears only where a period source set it beside the TR3, in a test, a price list of the same class or a race.

The TR3's own prices, power and production are on the TR3's page and the other version pages and in the specifications, and the tables below give the rivals' figures as their sources printed them, each at one date.⁠1​2​3

Who its rivals were

Motor Sport's article named its subject at the start:

This account concerns the sports cars of the "Big Five," in other words the M.G. MGA, the Triumph TR3 and the Austin-Healey 100-Six.

Motor Sport, May 1957

Looking back at the end of the year, Bill Boddy listed the same three among the fast cars he had tested in 1957, the MGA in coupé form. The other pairings come from the price lists, the tests and the results:⁠1​4​2​3​5​6​7​8​9​10​11

RivalWhere a period source set it beside the TR3
MG MGAMotor Sport's factory visits of 1957 and Boddy's year; the price lists of 1955 and 1959
Austin-Healey 100-Six and 3000The same visits and year; the 1959 price list; Sebring, 1957 and 1958
Morgan Plus FourThe price lists of 1955 and 1959; Sebring, 1958 and 1961; it used the TR's engine
AC Ace and Ace-BristolThe 1959 price list; Sebring, 1957 and 1958; Le Mans, 1959
Porsche 356AMotor Trend's class of foreign high-performance cars, April 1957; Sebring, 1957 and 1958
Sunbeam AlpineThe 1959 price list
Alfa Romeo Giulietta SpiderThe 1959 price list; Alfa Romeos took Coupes on the 1958 Alpine Rally
Elva CourierThe TR3's class rival in American club racing by 1962
A red Austin-Healey roadster with wire wheels and its hood folded, parked on gravel in a crowded motor museum.
An Austin-Healey 100-Six, as its photographer names it, at the Haynes International Motor Museum, Sparkford, in June 2017.Hugh Llewelyn, CC BY-SA 2.0

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Prices and power in Britain, 1955

Motor Sport's report of the London Motor Show in October 1955 listed the sports cars costing under £1,000 with purchase tax. The TR3 two-seater came between the TR2 and the TR2 hard-top, and the TR3 hard-top above them all; the TR3's own prices are on the TR3's page. The Austin-Healey 100, whose basic price was £100 more than the TR3's, cost more than £1,000 with tax and was not on the list.

CarPrice with taxBasic priceEngine and power, as printed
Morgan 4/4 Series II£638 12s 6d–Ford Ten engine
MG MGA two-seater£844 0s 10d£59568 bhp
Morgan Plus Four two-seater£844 0s 10d£595The TR2's engine
Morgan Plus Four four-seater£865 5s 10d–The TR2's engine
Triumph TR2 two-seater£886 10s 10d£62590 bhp
Triumph TR2 hard-top£950 5s 10d–90 bhp
Austin-Healey 100Over £1,000£750–

The power figures are as Motor Sport printed them, and none says whether it is gross or net.⁠2

A two-tone blue Morgan drophead coupé with its hood up parked on grass by a marina.
A Morgan Plus Four of 1956, which used the TR's engine, at the Greenwich Concours d'Elegance, Connecticut, in June 2024.Charles from Port Chester, New York, CC BY 2.0

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Prices in Britain, 1959

Four years later, at the London Motor Show of 1959, Motor Sport priced the open sports cars again, and the TR3 sat in the middle of them: dearer than the MGA, the Morgan Plus Four and the new Sunbeam Alpine, cheaper than the Austin-Healey 3000 and much cheaper than the AC Ace.

CarPrice with taxEngine and power, as printed
Austin-Healey Sprite£632–
Morgan 4/4£707Ford engine
Morgan Plus Four two-seater£915The Triumph engine; front disc brakes available
MG MGA 1600£940; coupé £1,026; Twin-Cam £1,19678 bhp as Motor Sport printed it; the maker's figure was 79.5 bhp net at 5,600 rpm
Sunbeam Alpine£9711½ litres, 83.5 bhp at 5,300 rpm
Triumph TR3£991; hard-top £1,041–
Austin-Healey 3000£1,168; four-seater £1,175Front disc brakes standard
Daimler SP250£1,3952½-litre V8, 140 bhp
Jaguar XK150 3.4£1,665–
AC Ace and Ace-Bristol£1,684 and £2,045–
Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider£2,090–
Mercedes-Benz 190SL£2,7631,897 cc, 120 bhp
Chevrolet Corvette£2,905230 bhp

A year later, in November 1960, Motor Sport gave the TR3A the same price, and the hard-top too.⁠3​12​13

A red Sunbeam roadster with wire wheels and a low wide grille parked on rough grass beside other Alpines.
A first-series Sunbeam Alpine at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon, at the model's 60th-anniversary gathering in July 2019.Vauxford, CC BY-SA 4.0

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Prices in America, 1960

In America the like-for-like comparison is Motor Trend's guide to imported cars of May 1960, which priced every car at one date. In it the TR3 convertible cost more than the MGA and the Alpine and less than the Austin-Healey 3000; its own price, unchanged since 1958, is on the TR3A's page, and the hard-top cost $2,835.⁠14

CarPrice, May 1960
MG MGA 1600$2,444
Sunbeam Alpine$2,595
Austin-Healey 3000$3,051
Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider$3,469
Porsche 1600 roadster$3,581
Jaguar XK150 roadster$4,520
AC Ace and Ace-Bristol$4,799 and $5,699

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How many were built

The MGA, built from 1955 to 1962, was made in far greater numbers than the TR3. The MG Car Club's production tables count 101,081 MGAs of every kind, and Krause writes of "slightly more than 101,000"; the three TR3 versions, built over the same years, come to about 75,000. No source read gives a total for the Morgan Plus Four or the Sunbeam Alpine.

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Results against the rivals

Where they met, the results went both ways; the TR3's own results, works and private, are on the racing page. The places below are overall, with the class in brackets:

EventThe TR3sThe rivals
Mille Miglia, 195694th (2nd of the production cars up to 2,000 cc)TR2s 1st and 3rd to 5th in the same class; MGAs 70th and 74th
Sebring 12 Hours, 195719th and 21st (1st and 2nd, GT up to 2,000 cc)MGA 23rd (1st, GT up to 1,600 cc); AC Ace-Bristols 17th and 22nd; Corvettes 12th and 15th; a long-nose Austin-Healey 26th; Porsche 356A Carrera 31st
Mille Miglia, 1957104th (5th, GT up to 2,000 cc); Nancy Mitchell's car retiredMGA 31st; Austin-Healey 100-Six 37th
Sebring 12 Hours, 195820th, 26th and 36th (2nd, 3rd and 5th, GT up to 2,000 cc)AC Ace-Bristols 15th, 16th, 19th (1st in the class) and 22nd; Porsche Carrera 10th (1st, GT up to 1,600 cc); Austin-Healey 100-Sixes 14th, 17th and 23rd; Morgan 40th
Alpine Rally, 1958A Coupe des Alpes for Keith Ballisat and Alain BertautThe other six Coupes to three Alfa Romeos, a Sunbeam Rapier, an Austin-Healey 100-Six and a Ford Zephyr
Le Mans 24 Hours, 1959The three twin-cam TR3S cars retiredAn AC Ace-Bristol the only car up to 2,000 cc to finish
Sebring 12 Hours, 195948th (6th, GT up to 2,000 cc)–
Sebring 12 Hours, 196129th and 30th (5th and 6th, GT up to 2,000 cc)Morgan 4/4 Triumph 26th (4th, GT up to 2,000 cc)
Mobil Mileage Rally, Los Angeles, 19611st in Class E, at 38.99 mpg (US)Porsche, Volvo P1800, MGA, Triumph TR4, Sunbeam Alpine, Jaguar E-type and Austin-Healey 3000 behind it

Motor Sport singled out the Ace-Bristol's run at Le Mans in 1959:

The A.C.-Bristol which is used everyday as a normal sports car was driven to and from the race and was a wonderful example of how to confound the experts and the racing world.

Motor Sport, August 1959

In American club racing, the owners who had raced against the two fastest Elva Couriers in most of the Nationals of 1961 all told the factory club's survey of 1962 that no Triumph could have won E Production that year.⁠21​6​22​7​10​23​9​24​8​11​25

Sports cars racing through a bend past a packed grandstand: an Alfa coupé numbered 76, an Austin-Healey and a Porsche, in black and white.
Plate I An Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint, No. 76, a big Austin-Healey and a Porsche 356 Speedster racing at Zandvoort on 22 May 1960, the meeting at which a TR3A also ran; there is no Triumph in this frame.Harry Pot for Anefo, CC0

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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. Bill Boddy, "Sports Cars of the 'Big Five'", Motor Sport, May 1957, p. 15, p. 15; p. 15, the opening and the M.G. and Triumph sections; p. 15, the M.G. and Triumph lines. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/may-1957/15/sports-cars-of-the-big-five Primary
  2. 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, "Sports Cars Costing Under £1,000"; p. 16, "Sports Cars Costing Under £1,000" and the Triumph, M.G., Morgan and Austin-Healey entries. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-1955/16/sports-and-high-performance-cars-at-earls-court Primary
  3. Motor Sport, "Earls Court Reviewed", Nov 1959, p. 39, p. 39, "Open Sports Cars"; p. 39. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-1959/39/earls-court-reviewed Primary
  4. Bill Boddy, "My Year's Motoring", Motor Sport, Jan 1958, p. 11, p. 11, the 1957 "bag". motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/january-1958/11/my-years-motoring Primary
  5. Motor Trend, "6 Car Comparison Test" and "Cars to Check", Apr 1957, pp. 18–22, the foreign high-performance class. Primary
  6. racingsportscars.com, Sebring 12 Hours 1957, results, results. racingsportscars.com/results/Sebring-1957-03-23.html Database
  7. racingsportscars.com, Sebring 12 Hours 1958, results, results. racingsportscars.com/results/Sebring-1958-03-22.html Database
  8. racingsportscars.com, Sebring 12 Hours 1961, results, results, the Morgan; results. racingsportscars.com/results/Sebring-1961-03-25.html Database
  9. Motor Sport, "The 24 Hours of Le Mans in retrospect", Aug 1959, p. 54, p. 54, the 2-litre class; p. 54. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/august-1959/54/the-24-hoursof-le-mans-in-retrospect Primary
  10. "M. L. T.", Film review: "Coupe des Alpes", Motor Sport, Mar 1959, p. 33, p. 33, the 1958 Coupes; p. 33. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/march-1959/33/coupe-des-alpes Primary
  11. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, February 1962, Feb 1962, SCCA E Production, the Elva Couriers; p. 3, the racing owners' survey. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/aTSOA0262.pdf Primary
  12. Motor Sport, "In the Alps with the M.G.-A 1600 and the Austin Healey 3000", Aug 1959, p. 16, p. 16, the MGA 1600's power. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/august-1959/16/in-the-alps-with-the-mg-a-1600-and-the-austin-heal Primary
  13. Motor Sport, "Open sports cars", Nov 1960, p. 36, p. 36, the 1960 prices. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-1960/36/open-sports-cars Primary
  14. Motor Trend, Imported-car guide, May 1960, the entries for each car. Primary
  15. MGA Guru (mgaguru.com), "Production and Distribution Numbers for MGA" (HS-106), MGA production. mgaguru.com/mgtech/history/hs106.htm Reference
  16. MG Car Club, MGA Register, "Production Figures Summary" and "Production Numbers by Model Type", MGA production tables. mgcc.co.uk/mga-register/mga-facts-and-figures/production-numbers-by-model-type Reference
  17. G. William Krause, The Illustrated History of Triumph Sports and Racing Cars, CarTech, 2017, ch. 3, "slightly more than 101,000". static.summitracing.com/global/images/technicalarticles/sad-ct596.pdf Reference
  18. 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. 6, "TR Production Figures". rimmerbros.com/images/PDFs/TR2-5_Part1.pdf Reference
  19. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1957, Dec 1957 (vol. III no. 12), p. 1, second place. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOADec1957.pdf Primary
  20. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November 1958, Nov 1958, second place in 1958. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOANovember58.pdf Primary
  21. racingsportscars.com, Mille Miglia 1956, results, results. racingsportscars.com/results/Mille_Miglia-1956-04-29.html Database
  22. racingsportscars.com, Mille Miglia 1957, results, results. racingsportscars.com/results/Mille_Miglia-1957-05-12.html Database
  23. 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
  24. racingsportscars.com, Sebring 12 Hours 1959, results, results. racingsportscars.com/results/Sebring-1959-03-21.html Database
  25. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November 1961, Nov 1961, p. 1, the Mobil Mileage Rally. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/aTSOA1161.pdf Primary

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