TriumphTR4

Triumph TR4 Rally Car

The four powder-blue works TR4s, 3 VC, 4 VC, 5 VC and 6 VC, that took Triumph back to international rallying in 1962 and 1963, and the three that crossed Canada on the Shell 4000 in 1964: their crews, their events and what became of them.

About the pictureTwo TR4s carrying works registrations at a 2018 show, which the picture cannot prove are the original works cars

Two pale blue Triumph TR4 rally cars parked side by side on grass in front of Sherborne Castle at a summer show.
Stand-in Two rally TR4s registered 3 VC and 6 VC, the registrations of two works cars, at the Sherborne Castle show, Dorset, in July 2018; the picture cannot prove they are the original cars.Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0

By February 1962 Leyland had changed its mind about rallying. It had closed Standard-Triumph's competitions department the year before; now Graham Robson, a young development engineer and rally co-driver, was put in charge of a new team, and in mid-February, Classic & Sports Car reports, four right-hand-drive TR4 hardtops were delivered to it with the optional 2-litre engine, registered 3 VC, 4 VC, 5 VC and 6 VC. Ate Up With Motor puts the budget at £16,000. Ray Henderson, who had worked on the TRS Le Mans cars, was chief mechanic, with the workshops at Fletchamstead North, near Coventry. The colour, Robson recalled, took some deciding:

We rejected red because this would clash with the 'works' Austin-Healey 3000s; green because our advertising agency said that it would not photograph well; and white because it would get too dirty too quickly. A few factory die-hards thought that powder blue was too 'feminine' a colour, but we decided to ignore them.

Graham Robson, as quoted in Classic & Sports Car, 2021⁠1​2​3​4

The cars, one by one

Three cars made up the team, and 6 VC was its reconnaissance and reserve car. John Sprinzel, whom Robson appointed team captain, drove 3 VC in 1962, and Vic Elford took it over in 1963; Mike Sutcliffe and Jean-Jacques Thuner drove the others.

3 VC ran every season. In 1964 it was rebuilt on a new left-hand-drive frame for the Shell 4000 and registered in Oregon as CAG 408, and afterwards it was sold in America. Found later in New York State, at first taken for 5 VC, it was brought back to Britain and restored by Revington TR in the mid-1990s, and Classic & Sports Car calls it "arguably the most original" of the four.

4 VC crashed on the Liège–Sofia–Liège of 1962. It is, Classic & Sports Car says, the only works TR4 that stayed in Britain, and Revington TR restored it for a private owner.

5 VC finished the 1962 Liège, by our inference with Thuner and his co-driver Gretener, and Thuner drove it to 2nd in class on the Geneva Rally that autumn. Classic & Sports Car says it survives but not where.

6 VC was the reserve car. Tommy Wisdom and Jeff Uren drove it on the 1962 Alpine, and Vic Elford used it as a fast chase car on the 1962 Liège. On the Alpine of 1963 Sutcliffe crashed it and Roy Fidler was badly injured; according to Steve McKelvie's account, a new 6 VC was built from a new TR4 with the old car's parts. That car was offered to Revington TR from Wisconsin in 1994.⁠1​5​6

A pale blue Triumph TR4 rally car with a matching hardtop, seen from the rear three-quarter at a show.
By Classic & Sports Car's account 3 VC is perhaps the least altered of the four; this TR4 hardtop wore the registration at Classics at the Castle, Sherborne, in July 2016, though a photograph cannot settle that it is the same car.Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0

Event by event

The team's first event was the Tulip Rally in the spring of 1962, with Robson navigating for Sprinzel, and all three cars finished, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in their class. By the Alpine Rally, Robson recalls, the engines had been re-linered to the larger standard size and given SAH Accessories' heads, camshafts and exhaust manifolds, for 22% more power, and at the end they gave "almost 135bhp". The crews were unpaid, he says, but had £7 a day and BP petrol (gas) vouchers.

The Alpine Rally of June 1962 was the team's best. Sutcliffe and Fidler won a Coupe des Alpes and led the TR4s home, and the team was 2nd; the results below give every place. Motor Sport was amused by the class result:

Incidentally, not content with gaining a Coupe, Triumph advertised a 1, 2, 3 success in the 1,601-2,500c.c. G.T. Class; droll, as it consisted of just four cars, all TR4s!

Motor Sport, July 1962

The Liège–Sofia–Liège was harder: 3 VC lost its radiator, 4 VC crashed, and only the third car finished, one of 18 cars home from 100 starters. On the RAC Rally in November the TR4s, Motor Sport reported, were "bottoming badly", and Classic & Sports Car records that the team came 2nd in the manufacturers' team prize.

In January 1963 one TR4 went to the Monte Carlo Rally beside three Vitesses. On the Tulip, Elford and David Stone set the 3rd-fastest time on scratch in 3 VC, and the team won the GT team prize. The Alpine brought 6 VC's crash and took Elford off the road, without damage to 3 VC; three TR4s were entered for the Liège–Sofia–Liège in their "basic 2 litre trim", and 3 VC retired; and on the RAC Rally Elford's engine blew a cylinder-head gasket on the second night and Fidler rolled his car. By 1964 Standard-Triumph had judged the TR4 no longer competitive and moved its rallying to the Spitfire and the 2000 saloon (sedan), and the TR4s were done in Europe.⁠1​7​8​9​10​6​11​4

A black-and-white photograph of a rally TR4 with a hardtop and race number 16, its bonnet raised, with five men around it: three young onlookers at the left, and a helmeted man and an official at the engine, a dune-backed circuit behind.
Plate I Not a works car: TR4 No. 16, privately entered for the Tulip Rally a year after the works team's last, at the Zandvoort circuit on 23 April 1964 (Anefo).Unknown photographer (Anefo), CC0

The Shell 4000, 1964

The cars had one more event. Standard-Triumph's American company, with Kas Kastner's help, asked to enter the Shell 4000, a rally across Canada from Vancouver to Montreal, and three cars, 3 VC among them, were prepared at the factory and finished by Kastner's shop. They were rebuilt on new left-hand-drive frames, with aluminium-panelled bodies, 2-litre engines with Weber carburettors and magnesium wheels, and registered in Oregon. The company chose a crew from Canada, one from the United States and one from Europe: Bert Rasmussen, a technician at Standard-Triumph (Canada), with Paul Coombe; Gordon Jennings of Car and Driver with Ed Homsey; and Thuner with Fidler. Robson and Kastner drove the service car behind them.

A field of 61 cars started from Vancouver on 18 April 1964. The TR4s were among the fastest on the special stages, Thuner above all, the importer's newsletter reported, and after two blow-outs on one stage Thuner and Fidler drove something like 31 km (19 miles) on the rim of a magnesium wheel. The newsletter claimed that "No sports car entered in the SHELL 4000 ever finished in a higher position" than Rasmussen and Coombe's, and reported the team 2nd in the manufacturers' team award, while Robson recalls that the team took the GT Team Prize; both may be true. According to a dealer's history of 3 VC, Rasmussen and Coombe were 16th overall.

Even so, the TR4s proved themselves to be the fastest sports cars in what was a very 'rough-road' event, and all three of them made it to the finish in Montreal.

Graham Robson, as quoted in Classic & Sports Car, 2021

The American company then sold the cars through its dealers: in June 1964 it offered two of them, and that September one was at a dealer in Rochester, New York. Of the four, 3 VC and 6 VC came back to Britain in the 1990s, 4 VC had never left, and no source read says where 5 VC is.⁠12​13​14​15​1​5​16​17​18

Results

A yellow year marks a win.

  • 1962

    Geneva Rally 1962

    1962. Jean-Jacques Thuner, in 5 VC: 2nd in its class⁠1

  • 1962

    Tulip Rally 1962

    May 1962. John Sprinzel and Graham Robson (navigator), in 3 VC: finished⁠1

  • 1962

    Tulip Rally 1962

    May 1962. Mike Sutcliffe: finished⁠1

  • 1962

    Tulip Rally 1962

    May 1962. Jean-Jacques Thuner: finished⁠1

  • 1962

    Coupe des Alpes (Alpine Rally) 1962

    June 1962. Mike Sutcliffe and Roy Fidler (co-driver): 4th overall, 1st in GT 1,601–2,500 cc⁠7​1​8

  • 1962

    Coupe des Alpes (Alpine Rally) 1962

    June 1962. Jean-Jacques Thuner and J. Gretener (co-driver): 6th overall, 2nd in GT 1,601–2,500 cc⁠8​1

  • 1962

    Coupe des Alpes (Alpine Rally) 1962

    June 1962. Tommy Wisdom and Jeff Uren (co-driver), in 6 VC: 9th overall, 3rd in GT 1,601–2,500 cc⁠8​1

  • 1962

    Coupe des Alpes (Alpine Rally) 1962

    June 1962. John Sprinzel and Willy Cave (co-driver), in 3 VC: retired: rammed in fog⁠1

  • 1962

    Liège–Sofia–Liège 1962

    August 1962. Jean-Jacques Thuner and J. Gretener (co-driver): 9th overall, 3rd in its class⁠6​1

  • 1962

    Liège–Sofia–Liège 1962

    August 1962. John Sprinzel, in 3 VC: retired: lost its radiator⁠1

  • 1962

    Liège–Sofia–Liège 1962

    August 1962. In 4 VC: retired: accident⁠1

  • 1962

    RAC Rally 1962

    November 1962. John Sprinzel, in 3 VC: finished⁠1

  • 1963

    Tulip Rally 1963

    1963. Vic Elford and David Stone (co-driver), in 3 VC: 4th in GT⁠1

  • 1963

    Coupe des Alpes (Alpine Rally) 1963

    June 1963. Mike Sutcliffe and Roy Fidler (co-driver), in 6 VC: retired: accident; Roy Fidler badly injured⁠5

  • 1963

    Liège–Sofia–Liège 1963

    27 August 1963. Don Grimshaw and Roy Dixon (co-driver), in 3 VC: retired: fell off its jack in the dark⁠6​1

  • 1963

    RAC Rally 1963

    November 1963. Vic Elford and David Stone (co-driver), in 3 VC: retired: cylinder-head gasket⁠11​1

  • 1963

    RAC Rally 1963

    November 1963. Roy Fidler and Don Grimshaw (co-driver): retired: rolled at Wythop⁠11

  • 1964

    Shell 4000 Rally 1964

    18 April 1964, Vancouver to Montreal, Canada. Bert Rasmussen and Paul Coombe (co-driver), in 3 VC: finished⁠14​1​5

  • 1964

    Shell 4000 Rally 1964

    18 April 1964, Vancouver to Montreal, Canada. No. 131, Gordon Jennings and Ed Homsey (navigator): finished⁠14​5

  • 1964

    Shell 4000 Rally 1964

    18 April 1964, Vancouver to Montreal, Canada. Jean-Jacques Thuner and Roy Fidler (co-driver): finished⁠15​1

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. Julian Balme, "TR4: Triumph's rally underdog", Classic & Sports Car, 4 Aug 2021, the team: delivery in mid-February 1962, the 2-litre engines, Robson, Henderson and the mechanics, the colour; each car: crews; 3 VC as CAG 408, found in New York State and repatriated; 4 VC in Britain; 5 VC at Geneva; 6 VC from Wisconsin; "All four team cars survive"; Robson's account of 1962 and 1963: the Tulip, the Alpine, the Liège, Geneva and the RAC; the engines; £7 a day; "almost 135bhp"; the new frames, the wheels, Oregon, CAG 408; Robson's GT Team Prize; "Even so, the TR4s proved themselves …"; sold through US dealers; 5 VC with Webers, 2nd in class behind Walter's Porsche Carrera; 3 VC; 6 VC; "5 VC limped home"; 4 VC crashed; 3 VC, "fourth overall in the GT category"; 3 VC "retired, after falling off its jack in the dark"; Robson: "the engine blew a cylinder-head gasket"; 3 VC as CAG 408. classicandsportscar.com/features/tr4-triumphs-rally-underdog Reference
  2. Motor Sport, "XXXIe Rallye Monte Carlo", Mar 1962, p. 17, p. 17, the department disbanded; Robson to organise a team of TR4s. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/march-1962/17/xxle-rallye-monte-carlo Primary
  3. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, February 1962, Feb 1962, Markland's announcement of the team. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/aTSOA0262.pdf Primary
  4. Aaron Severson, "Grandfather's Ax: The Many Evolutions of the Triumph TR4, Part 1: TR4 and TR4A", Ate Up With Motor, 22 Oct 2012, "Racing the TR4": the budget; powder blue; the TR4 withdrawn in favour of the Spitfire and 2000. ateupwithmotor.com/model-histories/triumph-tr4-tr4a/view-all Reference
  5. Steve McKelvie, "A Shell 4000 Triumph TR4 Works Rally Car", stevemckelvie.wordpress.com (blog), 20 Aug 2015, 6 VC written off on the 1963 Alpine and rebuilt; Rasmussen a Standard-Triumph (Canada) technician; Robson and Kastner in the service car; 6 VC written off. stevemckelvie.wordpress.com/2015/08/20/a-shell-4000-triumph-tr4-works-rally-car Reference
  6. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, August 1963, Aug 1963 (vol. 9 no. 7), Thuner and Gretener on the 1962 Liège; the 1963 Liège entry, "basic 2 litre trim"; the 1962 result: 9th overall, third in category; entry list (OCR). vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOA0863.pdf Primary
  7. Motor Sport, "Matters of Moment", Jul 1962, p. 11, the Coupe and the class of four TR4s. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/july-1962/11/matters-of-moment-july-1962 Primary
  8. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, June 1962, Jun 1962, the 1962 Alpine: team second. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOAJune62.pdf Primary
  9. Motor Sport, "Carlsson's SAAB wins third consecutive R.A.C. Rally", Dec 1962, p. 10, p. 10, "bottoming badly"; lost spot-lamps. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/december-1962/10/carlssons-saab-wins-third-consecutive-rac-rally Primary
  10. Motor Sport, "XXXII Monte Carlo Rally", Mar 1963, p. 34, p. 34, three Vitesses and a TR4. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/march-1963/34/xxxii-monte-carlo-rally Primary
  11. Motor Sport, "The R.A.C. Rally", Dec 1963, p. 15, Elford out; Fidler rolled. motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/december-1963/15/the-rac-rally-8 Primary
  12. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, January 1964, Jan 1964 (vol. 10 no. 1), the team announced; preparation in England, final tuning by Kastner. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOA0164.pdf Primary
  13. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, March 1964, Mar 1964 (vol. 10 no. 3), the crews; Jennings and Jerome, then Homsey. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOA0364.pdf Primary
  14. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, May 1964, May 1964 (vol. 10 no. 5), the rally: 61 starters, 18 April, the rim, the stages, "No sports car entered in the SHELL 4000 …", the team award. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOA0564.pdf Primary
  15. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, January 1965, Jan 1965 (vol. 11 no. 1), "very special TR-4's with aluminum bodies"; the crews; 2nd in the manufacturers' team award. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOA0165.pdf Primary
  16. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, June 1964, Jun 1964, two of the cars offered for sale. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOA0664.pdf Primary
  17. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, September 1964, Sep 1964, one at a Rochester dealer. vintagetriumphregister.org/tsoa/TSOA0964.pdf Primary
  18. Pendine, "1962 Triumph TR4 Ex Works Rally Car" (3 VC), a dealer's history of 3 VC: Rasmussen and Coombe 16th overall. pendine.com/cars-for-sale/1962-triumph-tr4-ex-works Unchecked