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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