Wednesday 29 January 2020

Back in the day

Talbots and TR4s are no strangers to international rallying. Before the war, the Coupe des Alpes was the most formidable rally of Europe. The Talbots' powerful engines and slick pre-selector gearboxes ate up the miles over the mountain passes. In 1932 a team of four Talbots won the Alpine, accumulating a combined penalty points total of zero. Car BGH 23, pictured here in the 1934 event in which Talbots again triumphed, is still rallied in historic events today.

A Triumph works rally team of four TR4s campaigned in the premier international road rallies in 1962 and 63, achieving creditable performances in the Tulip Rally, the 3,500km Liege-Sofia-Liege, and the Monte Carlo. But rallying then shifted to special forest stages, front wheel drive and the Mini Cooper. And big budgets: cash-strapped Triumph could no longer hold its own.

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