Your classic Triumph Gloria
TRIUMPH GLORIA SOUTHERN CROSS
OWNED BY Dale Will FROM Colorado, USA FIRST CLASSIC 1957 Lloyd Alexander Combi DREAM CLASSIC Jaguar XKSS BEST TRIP Colorado to Big Sur, via the loneliest road in America
CNB 180, my Triumph Gloria Southern Cross, shares an allbritish Racing Green garage with my 1959 TR3A and ’68 TR250, each epitomising my favourite motoring eras: the ’30s, ’50s and ’60s. The suspension gained independence while the Triumph Company became less so!
The SX was first registered in Manchester in 1936; its history prior to ’55 is otherwise unknown. That year, Dorothea Ball remembers attempting to learn to use its clutch. In ’62, fitted with a twincam Lea-francis engine, it was used by Neville Collier to win the driving test at the first national gathering of the Pre-1940 Triumph Motor Club. Later that decade Bob Saunders restored it, fitting a prewar Triumph 14/60 engine and respraying the car with the green paint it still wears to this day.
Rancher Jerry Thompson brought it to California in 1975, and I found it with Andy Rosenberger in Kentucky in 1996. He had campaigned an ex-le Mans Nash-healey at Sebring in ’55 and was partial to cars of that marque. Details about the car’s life prior to ’55 would be gratefully received.
My 23-year stewardship of the car has focused on refinement of its driving qualities, rather than pursuit of a concours finish. The engine was removed to cure a leaky rear main and revealed very little wear since a likely rebuild when still in England. Better manifolds were sourced from the UK club, but the four-speed ’box is still running original synchros and is a delight compared to contemporary crash ’boxes. Lockheed’s 12in hydraulic
‘CNB 180 is no slouch – it has never been beaten in its class at a Vintage Triumph Register autocross’
drums are superb for the era; Healey reverted to the same on an 8C Dolomite at the Monte in ’36.
Fitted to an SX chassis, the 1.8 ohv unit makes for a potent machine. Donald Healey, then Triumph technical director, used a 14/60 SX coupé for his last Montecarlo foray in 1937, in fact. A few SX roadsters so fitted were supplied to special order and are among the liveliest of Triumphs; although slightly less powerful than the prewar ‘six’, the 14/60 was significantly lighter. A similar 14/60 SX reportedly reached 100mph.
CNB 180 is no slouch. It has never been beaten in the pre-war class at a Vintage Triumph Register autocross. Shod with 17in Dunlop R5 tyres the car drifts with wonderful precision. On a tight course, it has surprised more than a few TRS because Healey insisted on proper weight distribution, placing the engine well back and putting the fuel tank between the rear wheels.
Highlights of ownership have included regular dices on Colorado mountain roads with nearby friend Kurt Furger’s 8 Litre Bentley.
The car has been featured in several books and magazines, including Triumph World, Triumph Sports Cars and Pre-1940 Triumph Motor Cars from Family Photographs – Volume 2. In 2015 it won the prestigious ‘Tom Mittler Award’ at Concorso Sante Fe, given to the car that best captures the spirit of motoring. Driving the Gloria onto the podium, among the Bugattis and Ferarris, was vindication of my choice to preserve the car’s patina from long and loving use.
I wish to thank the Pre-1940 Triumph Motor Club for its knowledge, spares and encouragement.