Background
‘A sports car with a tractor engine’ – a line some MG enthusiasts like to taunt owners of TR3s with. Presumably they’d also attack Austin Healey 100/4s for being powered by a taxi engine and the Dodge Viper for having a truck engine. Origins matter not when it comes to powerplants, what matters is whether they do the job, and in the case of the TR3, it’s ‘tractor engine’ made it a genuine 100mph sports car way back in 1955. The MG Car Company’s competitor, the MGA, couldn’t manage the ton.
In any event, there’s very little commonality on parts between Triumph’s development of the 2-litre Standard Vanguard engine and the version used by Massey Fergusson in their ground breaking TE20 tractor.
Introduced in 1955 the TR3 was an evolution of Triumph’s 1953 TR2. The original TR had proved popular and effective on track and public highway, so Triumph simply updated the design for the 3. The new model shared the overall body shape and that 1991cc engine with its predecessor.
The large capacity four cylinder unit made a little under 100bhp, which may not seem much these days, but Car and Driver magazine described the lightweight TR3’s acceleration as ‘neck-snapping. In fact, at the time, TR3 was more powerful than the majority of its competitors, including cars like Porsche 356, Sunbeam Alpine and, of course, the MGA.
But the engine was not the only aspect where the compact sports car excelled – the TR3 was the first production car to be fitted with disc brakes. After testing this innovation at the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hour race, Triumph introduced it to TR3 buyers in 1956 – cutting edge technology available in a reasonably priced sports car. The TR3 cost around £1103 back in the day, which would be approximately £30,000 today. Price wise, think of it as Mazda MX-5 or Toyota GT86 of yesteryear.
The TR3 succeeded in achieving numerous racing victories in its class between 1955 and 1959. Notable performances were winning the Liège-Rome-Liège rallies in 1956 and the Sebring 12 Hours in 1957. The car proved very capable on gravel too.
The TR3 is a proper roadster – a car that’s meant to be driven on sunny days with the top down. While it does have a folding roof, it has no side windows, and as a result the driver has to fit curtain-like parts on the sides to keep the worst of the elements out. While there are hardtops and solid side shields on offer, none of them ensure complete protection from the weather. But in exchange, the car offers a stunning silhouette with the roof down – low slung doors and swooping lines make an impressive profile.
The model was updated twice during its lifespan, with the TR3A produced from 1957, and TR3b, which was only made in 1962, the last year of production. Officially all of the cars were called TR3. After the first face-lift the car featured an upgraded engine on the inside and a bigger grille at the front, along with other detail changes.
The TR3A was the most popular iteration of the car, with almost 58,000 of them produced. Interestingly, the TR3B was made alongside its successor, the Giovanni Michelotti styled TR4, which debuted in 1961, as the company worried that customers might not like the drastic changes that came with the new model and stop buying the TR marque altogether. Externally, TR3B didn’t differ much from the earlier model, but it offered the option of the TR4-spec 2.2-litre engine.
