Donald Healey’s 8C Triumph Dolomite
Jonathan wood, turner & whitworth, £75, www.donaldhealeys8cdolomitebook.co.uk
In one of the more intriguing episodes in British pre-war motoring history, mass manufacturer Triumph was teetering on the financial brink when it took on the world’s most impressive cars in competition and on the forecourt. The plot was hatched by Donald Healey and Tommy Wisdom, who cloned the most sophisticated car available and then competed against it. It was so bold that it is a surprise to realise such an episode has been relegated to the footnotes of folklore. Maybe it is because so few were built, but those that know, know.
And the spec and history make them stand out. Modelled on the Alfa Romeo 8C Monza powered by Jano’s 2.3-litre jewel, there were three chassis and two completed cars, powered by a dualoverhead-cam 2.0-litre blown straight-eight. Sadly, world domination and dreams of 1935 Monte Carlo Rally glory ended dramatically when ADU 4 was wiped out by a train in Denmark.
So does this book measure up as a tribute? Wood, fresh from his award-wining volume on Adrian Squire, has the experience and the meticulous approach to research that this foggy subject demands. That Jonathan Turner and Tim Whitworth co-published it is significant because they own the surviving cars and could ensure Wood had access to everything he needed.
The result is an attractive 300-page hardback that promises to be definitive. It follows a logical timeline, covers all the peripheral aspects with aplomb, and boasts material we’ve never seen plus fascinating period extracts from magazines. It even has the route map for the 1935 Monte. However, the meat of the book is the brilliant chassis-bychassis guide that outlines the histories of both these machines, which have long been confused.
Wood even finds space for the two Vitessepowered tribute cars built by pre-war Triumph specialist Rob Green of Gloria Coachworks.
Given the limited subject and how much incorrect information has been published before, there is little to criticise, though renaming the Dolomite Straight Eights as the 8Cs to emphasise their pricier Italian inspiration might rankle.
This book fills one extremely narrow niche, but that it bothers to do so (and so comprehensively) makes it all the more satisfying.