TRS Race Cars

Triumph’s racing fame hit its pinnacle in 1961 with its Le Mans performance of 3rd, 4th, and 5th in class (9th, 11th, and 15th overall, behind two Porches), winning the Durand Cup team prize with all three cars finishing in formation as they crossed the finish line. After Triumph closed its doors, the Durand Cup was provided to the Vintage Triumph Register by Ken Richardson in 1986 to be awarded, as the Ken Richardson Challenge cup, each year at its annual convention. With the 100th anniversary celebration of Triumph motor cars, it might be a good part of that history to learn more about the TRS race cars. There were only four TRS cars ever made, and all are well known and documented. Much has been written about Triumph’s racing history and I will touch briefly on that, but the real story here is how the TRS was built and will include information not normally found in many of those historical writings.

 The four TRS race cars raced at Le Mans in 1960 and 1961 – three in the race and one as a spare. The cars were a further extension of the Le Mans TR3S cars that raced in 1959 at Le Mans. The TRS used the same 150 hp Sabrina engines from the TR3S cars (eventually 160 hp in 1961) and the same TR3S chassis that had been further developed to accommodate the wider ZOOM body style and the rack and pinion steering . A fourth TR3 frame was similarly widened, lengthened, and strengthened for the spare car.

 The body style for the TRS cars came from Triumph’s Zoom, that was the prototype for what would become the TR4. In fact, the moulds for the fiberglass panels were made from the Zoom car. These laminated fiberglass panels are pop riveted to the stamped steel inner panels. Apparently, Triumph never considered using lighter weight aluminum panels rather than the heavier fiberglass. Lessons must have been learned, since the TR4 Rally cars that raced in Europe in 1962 and 1963 and then in Canada’s Shell 4000 Rally in 1964; all sported lightweight aluminum fenders.

While history in the above introduction is well know, not so well known is how the car was put together and the mechanicals that were used. The late Charles Runyan, proprietor of The Roadster Factory (TRF), purchased 926HP, found in a shed in a Californian orange grove, in 1986. It is the car shown in these photos. That same year, Charles spotted 929HP on a trailer at the Greensburg VTR meet and purchased it from Bill Clark.

In 2003, Joh Ames, one time owner of the Triumph Conrero and a TRS, gave a talk on the Sabrina engine at TRF’s Summer Party. The Conrero was to be the replacement for the TRS at Le Mans but Triumph, near bankruptcy, cancelled the racing programme before any more were built. The chassis and Sabrina engine for the Conrero were the same as the TRS cars and were provided by Triumph for the Conrero development. John’s talk lasted several hours, during which many of the TRS parts were passed around the 30 or so attendees. One of my concerns as the parts made their way back to where I was seated, was bare-handed touching of the magnesium pieces. Sure enough, by the time they got to me, fingerprints had already begun to etch into the surfaces.

The restoration of 926HP was started in 2012 by my good friend, Randy Phillippi. Over the years, Randy gave numerous workshops during TRF’s Summer Party on the restoration of 926HP. The photos accompanying this article were taken during those workshops.

Since the frames on TRS cars were painted body colour, the first task was to sand blast the frame and paint it British Racing Green. The TRS frame started life as a TR3 frame which was lengthened to accommodate the twin cam, Sabrina engine. These frames were moved to the TRS from the earlier Le Mans TR3S cars but were now widened to accommodate the rack and pinion steering. The massive frame made the cars among the heaviest at Le Mans.

The suspension on the TRS is similar to that of a TR3 while the mounting of the steering rack is similar to that of the TR4. Rear shocks are Armstrong Levers and are adjustable through a knurled knob.

The leaf springs are like those in a TR4, but with an extra leaf. Rather than the rear drum brakes of the TR3 and TR4, disc brakes were installed at the rear. Front disc brakes were from an Aston Martin while the rear discs were from a Humber Super Snipe!

The Sabrina engine is a twin cam design with many magnesium and aluminium components. It was used in the four TR3S cars, the four TRS cars and the Conrero. The four Le Mans cars had backup engines. When Charles Runyan purchased 926HP, it came with numerous spare parts and at the time these photos were taken, Charles had enough parts for three Sabina engines and he has indicated there are slight differences among the parts they have for these engines. The twin choke SU carburettors for 926HP were rebuilt by Larry Foushee at Group 44. The oil pan and timing chain cover are magnesium. The water pump and head are aluminum which is very expensive to manufacture.

Originally two of the engines were to be rebuilt by Group 44 but that was never seen through to fruition. Following that, another builder took on the task with a quote of $25 000/engine but after $10 000 of work, Charles picked up the engines. There had been the possibility that the two engines would be rebuilt in England as the new owner of the Conrero, Graham Andrews, had the Conrero’s Sabrina engine rebuilt there.

There are two coils on the inner right fender and this idea proved valuable when, during the race, a poor performing engine was determined to be the result of a faulty coil. Switching the wiring to the second coil solved the problem and four laps later, were back on the track. If it were not for the standard two coil setup, the Triumph mechanics would not have been allowed to remove and replace the defective coil.

 The electric fuel pump is located in the centre, just to the rear of the front seats. The fuel lines to the engine are black plastic. A new custom wiring harness was manufactured by Rhode Island Wiring Service (http://www.riwire.com/) to match the original as far as colour coding, fabric insulation, and termination. The electric wires running to the brake lamps are covered in rubber for added safety.

 The red dash pad was missing when 926HP was acquired. Randy used 929HP as a model and bent a piece of aluminum to match and then covered it with red material. The car also has top bows because for Le Mans, if you started with the top up you had to finish with the top up; if you started with the top down, you had to finish with the top down. The photo below, of the bows, shows the fasteners around the rear of the cockpit as well.

The fuse panel with numerous additional fuses when compared with the TR3A of the day, and voltage regulator are in the glove box.  

The toggle switches on the dash are from an RAF fighter jet.

The tachometer (photo above) is interesting in that it increases and decreases in increments of 300 rpm at a time so never really depicts the true revs.

 When looking at the engine side of the firewall, those familiar with the TR4/4A/5/250 will be very familiar with the layout. Similarly, a look at the rear leaf springs will be familiar to TR2 through TR4A. Two other interesting items in the cars, appeared much later in Triumph cars. Note the hand brake location (photo above) on the driveline tunnel. This location eventually appeared on the TR4A models.  

Similarly, the Lucas electric windshield washer bottle system did not appear until the TR5/250 models.

With Charles’ death, 926HP and 929HP were put up for sale and have now been passed on to a new owner. There were rumours that the cars may have gone to Texas, but nothing has been heard of them since being sold. Similarly, Mike Otto’s TRS car, 927 HP, was sold in the UK three years ago to another unknown owner. Mike Otto still owns 928HP but one is left wondering if we will ever see the other TRS race cars again.