The Triumph TR7 was launched to the public in 1975. From outside observation at least, it looked like Triumph were designing a failure. With awkward styling, a simple live rear axle, fixed roof and a four cylinder engine – The TR7 was supposed to improve on its predecessor, but many elements seemed like a backward step. The TR6 was ancient but still had its six cylinder engine, a soft top and independent rear suspension.

To understand why Triumph did this, we need to look at the situation back in the early 1970s and what parent company, British Leyland were trying to achieve with the Triumph brand.

Gestation Of The TR7

Since the earlier merger of companies, British Leyland had both MG and Triumph selling sports cars against each other. The former Triumph boss, Lord Stokes was now in charge at British Leyland and needed to rationalise the range of cars.

British Leyland Competing Sports Cars 1969-1974 (Excluding Jaguar)

Lord Stokes decided the new sports car should, over time, replace all the sports cars under the British Leyland brand. One sports car would replace all the others, from the entry level MG Midget to the bigger and more powerful Triumph Stag. This would prevent the company from competing directly with itself. The American market was top priority for the new car.

Concept Cars

At the time both MG and Triumph had concept cars that were in development, the MG AD021 and Triumph Bullet. These cars were polar opposites in design and layout.

The MG AD021 was an exotic mid-engined sports car. Designed to replace both the MG Midget and Triumph Spitfire, it featured hydroelastic suspension and a futuristic design.

The Triumph Bullet was more traditional with a simple front engined, rear drive setup. It had been worked on since 1969 and had been modified to fit a variety of engines to expand the range further.

The Bullet was the concept that got the go ahead in 1971 and it was to be badged “Triumph” despite MG being a much better known brand in America. It could be argued that Lord Stokes did this out of loyalty to his previous employer, but the rationalization plan intended to keep MG as the open top car brand, which left Triumph for other sports car variants.

A Backward Step?

So why did British Leyland go with the Bullet and not the more exotic AD021?

In the world of British Leyland the answer would usually be lack of funds or lack of time. In this case, the answer was actually based on research. Triumph had sent out Spen King and Mike Carver to America to analyse what the great American public wanted from a prospective new sports car.

It turned out mechanical simplicity and exotic looks were most important. In the US you might be hundreds of miles from the nearest Triumph dealer, so simple mechanics a local garage could fix was the preferred option.

Against the contemporary Porsche 914 and Fiat X19, the TR7 was able to look exotic, while maintaining a simple front engine, rear drive layout. The compact slant four engine fitted neatly under the steep bonnet. The steep windscreen was apparently designed to enable American customers to see up at the overhead traffic lights.

The lack of a soft top was down to American legislation that seemed hell bent on banning convertibles. In response British Leyland designed the TR7 as a hard top, leaving the convertible market to the existing open top MG models.

All good points so far, until you found the spec sheet. The slant engine was advanced but it was less powerful than the old Triumph TR6 engine by 45bhp. If it was badged MG, the comparison wouldn’t have been made, but would you upgrade from the old TR6 to the new, less powerful TR7?

Plan For The Worse, Hope For The Best

Production of the TR7 started in 1975. Despite the planning of British Leyland, the TR7 would suffer the same quality issues and industrial action that previous cars had. In the rush to hit the production deadline, several badly finished cars were sent to the press for testing which didn’t go down well. An issue with overheating was also experienced by a press car too.

The Speke plant in Liverpool was shut for almost a year after workers went on strike. British Leyland moved the entire operation to Canley in Coventry in 1978. Quality improved drastically, but the car’s image had been tarnished somewhat by the earlier quality issues. Cars built in Canley were identified by the rather crude laurel badge on the front of the car.

The Battle For Sports Car Sales In America

The success of earlier MG and Triumph models in America didn’t go unnoticed and Fiat, Porsche and Datsun all had cars lined up to chase the Yankee dollar. They were all universally acclaimed for their handling and the Datsun in particular was about as practical as a sports car could be.

“It is neither a saloon car nor a sports car in behaviour, yet it has only two seats in a very attractive and comfortable interior. It is an easy enough car to drive when pottering around and reasonably quiet when so driven, but drive the TR7 like the sports car Leyland proclaim it to be and it becomes fussily unpleasant”

Motorsport Magazine – Clive Richardson June 1979

TR7/TR8 Rally Success

With overly high suspension and angular looks the TR7 looked like the Lancia Stratos’ ugly sister. The Triumph is all awkward angles where the Lancia exudes style, but they both shared success in rallying.

The late introduction of the Rover V8-powered TR8 derivative, which was only sold in North America, was converted into a rally car in 1978. The Rover V8 was lighter and more powerful than the slant four engine on the TR7. The road going V8 had around 155 bhp, but the rally spec car had 300 bhp. It’s early success on tarmac stages led to some improvements for forest stages including a hydraulic tappet system. With Tony Pond behind the wheel, the TR8 rally car was almost unbeatable.

The End Of The TR7 & Triumph

The rationalization plan went out the window in 1978 when a soft top version of the TR7 was launched, meaning more cannibalized sales between MG and Triumph. The MGB was finally axed in 1980, when British Leyland decided to focus on the “hot hatch” market instead.

In 1981 the strength of the pound meant Triumph made a loss on every car sold in America. This marked the end of the TR7 and the TR8 (although this was never sold in the UK). The car continued in production for the domestic market until 1984.

The last Triumph car made was the boxy Acclaim, shortly after the TR7. The Acclaim was a rebadged Honda Ballade, so the final “real” Triumph was the TR7.

The TR7 sold more than 100,000 examples but isn’t remembered fondly, partially due to the divisive styling but also the fairly mundane engine. The TR7 was another example of a pretty good car, that was impeded by poor construction, internal rivalry and fast improving competitors. It would be the last sports car with a Triumph badge.

Until the 1974 Lotus Elite, most Lotus models were curvy, compact 2 seaters. The Elan +2 had included small backseats but these could only be used by children. Colin Chapman wanted bigger more practical cars that would drive as well as other Lotus cars.

The Lotus Elite (MK2) could seat 4 adults in comfort so was used as the basis of the Eclat. Oliver Winterbottom, had designed the Elite and was tasked with coming up with a sleeker design for the Eclat, which would feature a hatchback instead of the Elite’s shooting brake design.

Winterbottom set about developing the Eclat. The M52 prototype was the result of the work of creating something consistent with the Elite, but sleeker.

Fibre Glass Bodywork & Marine Industry Connection

Winterbottom and Chapman had worked together to design boats for Chapman’s JCL Marine boat company. The GFRP moulding process used in the boat industry was applied to both the Elite and Eclat. The bodywork was built out of two main parts, an upper and lower part. A chrome strip carefully concealed this join on the finished car.

While the Elan was the first Lotus to combine fibre glass body and backbone chassis to keep the car light and responsive to drive, the Elite and Eclat benefited from the enhanced refinement the material was able to add to the driving experience.

“The GRFP is very effective in cutting out out any sort of body resonance and insulating road noise”

Motorsport Magazine – June 1977

One issue that would arise was the felt between the steel chassis and fibre glass body. It was designed to absorb movement between the chassis and body but would trap water over time causing the chassis to rust. Later cars had a galvanized steel chassis to prevent this.

Lotus Eclat Driving Experience

The Eclat started life with the Lotus 907 engine, originally based on a Vauxhall engine block. It was first used in the Jensen Healey in 1972 and was deemed suitable for use in the Eclat. The engine was often criticised for being low on torque, however contemporary road tests revealed a very favourable view of the Eclat – particularly in the driving experience.

“It is not true to say that there is not much fun left in motoring – pick the right roads and the right car and there is but there are very few cars available which are fun to drive all the time. The Lotus Eclat Sprint is one of those cars”

Motorsport Magazine – June 1977

“The Eclat, particularly in its Sprint form, has been aimed unquestionably at the enthusiast, with performance, braking and handling so brilliant as to offer the competent driver sheer ecstasy”

Motorsport Magazine – June 1977

The Legacy Of Winterbottom’s Wedge

As the Elite before it, the Lotus Eclat was a rakish wedge shape. This shape was introduced by Oliver Winterbottom and was a distinct change from the curvy cars Lotus had built before. The pop up headlights reduced the frontal area of the car, providing aerodynamic efficiencies (until the lights were used).

Winterbottom’s angular style became a recognisable Lotus trait for years after he’d finished working at Lotus. The later Esprit was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign and still retained the angular wedge shape developed by Winterbottom. Even the face lifted Esprit (1987) kept the design heritage when Peter Stevens refined Giugiaro’s Esprit shape.

The influence of Winterbottom’s style direction is considerable. His early work on the 1974 Elite and 1975 Eclat fed through to the final Lotus Esprit which finished production in 2004. After thirty years of wedge influenced designs, Lotus began to revert to curvier styling of older cars with the 1996 Lotus Elise (Designed by Julian Thomson).

Winterbottom’s skill with fibre glass bodied sports cars attracted TVR to his services in 1980. His first work with the company was the Tasmin, which was the first of the affectionately known “Wedge” series of cars which made up TVR range throughout the 1980s.

Lotus Eclat Cost Comparison

Picture the scene, it’s 1977 in Britain and you’re on the look out for a new sports car. Here are some of the cars available that would seat 4 and offer some driving thrills:

• Porsche 911 Cost in 1977 £9,999
• Eclat Sprint Cost in 1977 £8,316
• Jaguar XJC Cost in 1977 £8,182
• Porsche 924 Cost in 1977 £6,999