Message text written by Kurt Oblinger
>On the disk brakes, no, not exactly. Triumph was the first to offer disk
>brakes as standard equipment on a mass produced sports car. (As opposed to
>say the Jaguar D-type which had disks but was very limited production).
>Citroen beat Triumph as the first to offer disk brakes as standard
>equipment on a production car with one of their sedans. The diminutive
>Crosley offered front disks as an option about 1949 or 50, but they had
>reliability problems and the option was dropped.
If you put in enough qualifiers anyone can be the first. The TR3 was the
first "Production Sports Car to offer Disc Brakes as Standard Equipment."
Regardless, it was the TR3 that started the ball rolling toward front disc
brakes as standard equipment on not just sports cars but all cars. Their
appearance on Jaguar race cars only served to give them the appeal of
"Exotic Race Car Stuff." Their appearance on TR3's made them attainable to
the everyday driver.
>As for the targa roof on the surrey top, its a matter of interpretation. A
>gifted designer named Gordon Buehrig who worked for Duesenberg, designed
>the Cord 812 and later the Lincoln Continental MkII, designed a car called
>the Tasco (for The American Sports Car Company) just after the war that
>featured removable transparent roof panels, a concept which he patented.
>When GM introduced the T-top on the Corvette they found out too late that
>theirs was not an original idea and ended up paying Buehrig a royalty for
>every T-top car built. The TR Surrey top design is different enough that
it
>probably can be considered unique for the time and it predated Porsche's
>Targa top on the 911.
Thanks for the primer on Gordon Buehrig. I was unaware of his activities.
Question: how does the composite roof assembly used on the Triumph Stag fit
in?
Dave
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