The Illustrated History of Triumph Sports and Racing Cars. G. William Krause

after the show. Richardson had a long affiliation with Standard during the war years and, after the war, Standard was doing machining work on the BRM V-16 engines.

      In an interview with Triumph Over Triumph magazine in 1997, Richardson said that he found the car to be an accident on wheels after only a few minutes on the road. Specifically, he noted that the car wallowed, shook, and even jumped sideways. The front suspension flexed under load, steering was imprecise and unpredictable at speed, and the brakes locked easily. “This caused several moments for me that can only be described as very unpleasant adrenaline cocktails,” Richardson said. In summary, he went on to describe the prototype as “a complete dog’s breakfast.”

      When writing up his evaluation for Sir John, Richardson thought to himself that it was going to be the end of his job at Standard-Triumph. Instead, Richardson played a key role in polishing the diamond-in-the-rough into a real production sports car. Of course, there was no time to spare because Black demanded the revised car be ready for the Geneva show, a mere four months later.

      As feared, the Flying Nine chassis was the root of the prototype’s shortcomings. Richardson’s team went to work building a new frame. Dimensions from the original form were retained, but an all-new chassis was designed with stronger steel, greater boxing, and relocated cross braces with additional gussets. Richardson road-tested the prototype tirelessly with every change until he was satisfied that it would pass as a production car.

      Meanwhile, Belgrove was busy re-styling the 20TS. The front portion of the car was left intact except for relocating the indicator lights into the front apron. The tail of the car was completely redesigned. It was lengthened by 10 inches and given a normal trunk with a proper closing lid. Belgrove came up with the nifty idea of locating the spare wheel in its own compartment below the trunk floor with an access door on the rear panel. He also designed a stylish, removable hardtop using the revolutionary new glass fiber material. However, it was deemed too expensive and tabled until 1954.

      Optimism at Standard-Triumph grew with each improvement, but the pressure was on as word of a new MG TF came from Abingdon, and Healey was already in production with the Austin-Healey 100. Then a shot rang out that startled them all. Rootes announced that its new Sunbeam Alpine had broken the 100-mph barrier. The official top speed of 120 mph was achieved by noted rally driver Sheila Van Damm. Focus immediately moved to the Vanguard powerplant; 71 bhp would never do. The edict was power with reliability.

      Compression was raised to 8.6:1 from 7:1, which had immediate results of delivering 80 bhp. Intake valve size was increased by 5 percent, valve lift was increased, and camshaft timing was changed for 10 degrees of greater overlap at Top Dead Center. These tweaks yielded an additional 4 bhp. Finally, the twin 1½-inch constant-vacuum down-draft SU carburetors were fitted with new needles that resulted in 90-bhp output.

      With each engine upgrade, Richardson dutifully flogged the car on the test track, pushing the engine well past the recommended 5,000 rpm. Cylinder heads cracked, bearings broke, and camshafts bent. Engineers responded to each incident quickly. A redesigned head gasket coupled with extending the head bolts deeper into the block cured the cracking. Lubrication systems were improved to protect the main bearings and a heavier metal in the crankshaft cured the ills.

      Power was transmitted through a 9-inch dry clutch to the unchanged Vanguard gearbox. A Laycock de Normanville overdrive was bolted to the rear of the box but was only useable in top gear. The transmission posed no problems during development and was left untouched throughout the process.

      After Richardson was regularly and reliably hitting the century mark on the test track, Black ordered him and the TR2 to the Jabbeke Road in Belgium for a speed run. The highway, located in the northwest of Belgium, was something of a Bonneville Salt Flats of Europe where many speed tests were conducted in the 1950s. What made it so desirable then was that it was a brand-new, smooth concrete highway that was long, straight, and incredibly flat.

       The prototype 20TS later became the TR1 that launched the iconic TR line of sports cars. The TR1 shown here at the Brussels Auto Show was unveiled at the 1952 Earls Court Motor Show after just eight weeks of gestation. It was created on a very small budget; many of the styling cues seen here were carried over to the final production model. (Photo Courtesy Revs Institute, Karl Ludvigsen Collection)

      On May 20, 1953, a TR2 trimmed with a single diminutive Brooklands-style racing windshield, metal tonneau cover, metal undertray, and rear fender skirts made its first official run. Triumph legend suggests that the seat was removed and Richardson was sitting on a cushion to get as low in the car as possible.

       The 20TS is shown in Coventry on a break from testing by Ken Richardson. The grit and grime of the proving grounds is evident on the side of the car. This view also reveals the sharply curtailed rear end and the exposed spare tire. With the exception of the fender-mounted turn signal indicators, the front section of the car was retained in the final design. (Photo Courtesy British Motor Industry Heritage Trust)

       Here, Ken Richardson is all set for his speed test at Jabbeke Road in Belgium in 1953. The TR2 was modified to reduce drag by removing bumpers and including a metal tonneau cover, rear fender skirts, and a belly pan. The full windshield was removed and replaced with a small aero screen. To get as low as possible in the car, Richardson removed the seat and sat on the floor. The TR2 was clocked at 124.889 mph and went into the record books with the highest top speed of the day for a 2-liter production car. (Photo Courtesy British Motor Industry Heritage Trust)

      The first two-way run was clocked at just over 104 mph. This was a credible run, but was disheartening to the Triumph crew because everyone felt the potential was much greater. With typical British aplomb, Richardson suggested to the engineers that the car might do better running on all four cylinders rather than three. A plug wire was quickly replaced and on the ensuing run the TR2 topped 124.8 mph, thereby officially launching Triumph’s new sports car.