Classic car enthusiasts revel in visit of rare Triumph TS2
CLASSIC car enthusiasts had a day to remember as the first original RHD Triumph TR sports car appeared in Newbury as part of a tour around the country.
TS2 is around 70 years old and is owned by the membership of, and meticulously restored and maintained by, the TR Register.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the TR Register, founded in 1970 by enthusiasts of the Triumph sports cars, the TS2 is doing a Round Britain Run in the hands of more than 50 local TR groups.
And on April 18 and 19, the car visited Newbury – giving classic car enthusiasts the opportunity to examine it and take it for a test drive.
Michael Field of the Kennet Valley TR Register’s Group said: “It went down very well.
“It was a good advertisement both for the TR Register – the club that all the TR classic car owners belong to – and as well as broadening the output for people who visit the site.”
Mr Field explained how the TS2 was one of two pre-production Triumph TRs.
TS1 was a left-hand drive, designed to be promoted across the pond and now lives in Canada, while TS2 was the first right-hand drive for the British market.
It was hand built at Banner Lane, Coventry, in July 1953, before the production line came on stream, and promoted the launch of the TR2 at the Dublin Motor Show in 1953.
It spent much of its early life in private hands, registered in Ireland and was sold to a Brendan O’Hara, being used extensively in rallying and club motor sport. It later came into the ownership of motoring journalist Keith Read, then in a poor state, who eventually donated it to the TR Register.
The club set about fundraising for its restoration in the late 1990s and relaunched it in 2000 at the NEC Classic Motor Show.
TS2’s greatest achievements include the 2010 Round Britain Reliability Run, where it covered 2,000 miles in 48 hours and car of the show at Silverstone Classic 2021.