TriumphTR2

Triumph TR2 Pictures

The Triumph TR2 in pictures: long-door and short-door cars, the colours they wear today, the Jabbeke car's cockpit, a racing car's engine bay and three press photographs from 1954 and 1955.

An off-white TR2 on cream steel wheels with chrome hub caps and a maroon interior, its boot lid raised, at a crowded classic car show.
At Cholmondeley, Cheshire, in September 2018: an off-white long-door TR2 with its boot (trunk) lid raised, on steel wheels with chrome hub caps.Steve Glover (SG2012), CC BY 2.0

These pictures show the TR2 as it can be seen now, at shows, in museums and at historic races, and as it was seen when new, in three press photographs taken in the Netherlands. The pictures shown in groups open a larger view. Each caption gives what the picture shows and, where the file's record has them, the place and date; a year is the photograph's, not the car's. A car changed since it left the factory is described as changed.⁠1​2

Long door and short door

Up to TS4001 a TR2's door is deep enough to meet the bottom of the body; these are the long-door cars. The change came at TS4002, in October 1954: from then on the door stops short of the bottom of the body, and a sill panel (rocker panel) fills the gap.⁠3​4

The two bodies 2

  • A British Racing Green TR2 with tan seats and green steel wheels inside a pine display frame, seen from the side, a bicycle and an old van behind it. Opens a larger view

    1 Long door: a green TR2 at the Coventry Transport Museum in 2020, which labels it a 1954 car; its door reaches the bottom of the body.

  • A red TR2 on silver alloy wheels with no bumper bar across its front, parked on tarmac below a grass bank. Opens a larger view

    2 Short door: a red TR2 in 2010 with a separate sill below its door, modified with alloy wheels and without its front bumper bar.

Picture credits (2)
  1. 1 Michael Gaylard, CC BY 2.0
  2. 2 Brian Snelson, CC BY 2.0

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Colours

The factory's list of paint colours has not been found; these are colours TR2s wear today. The first two cars were white.⁠3

Colours today 3

  • A red TR2 on wire wheels at a classic car show, seen low from the front three-quarter, with other old cars behind. Opens a larger view

    3 Red: a TR2 at the Goodwood Revival in September 2023, a black tonneau cover over its cockpit.

  • A yellow TR2 on grey alloy wheels, with a blue-lensed spot lamp in its air intake, on a dry show field, a red Triumph with a chrome grille behind it. Opens a larger view

    4 Yellow: a short-door TR2 whose alloy wheels are later, at the Aldham Old Time Rally, Essex, in June 2026.

  • A dark green TR2 with two white-covered spot lamps, wire wheels and a maroon interior, on a dry lawn at a show, four-wheel-drive cars parked behind. Opens a larger view

    5 Dark green: a TR2 with a maroon interior and two white-covered spot lamps, shown in North Parramatta, New South Wales, in August 2015.

Picture credits (3)
  1. 3 Calreyn88, CC BY 4.0
  2. 4 kitmasterbloke, CC BY 4.0
  3. 5 Jeremy, CC BY 2.0

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Interior

This is the cockpit of the Jabbeke car, with its seats out.⁠5

Looking down into the open cockpit of a pale green roadster: a single curved low screen, a black steering wheel, the dials and a floor with no seats fitted.
The cockpit of MVC 575, the Jabbeke car, with its single low screen, at a show in November 2016.Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0

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Engine bay

This engine bay belongs to a racing car, and its fittings are not a guide to a standard engine.⁠2

The front of a green race-prepared TR2 close up: a shield badge reading TR 2, headlamps taped with black crosses, a white surround to the open air intake and the engine under the raised bonnet.
The engine of a TR2 prepared for historic racing, under its raised bonnet (hood) at the Silverstone Classic in July 2011.David Merrett, CC BY 2.0

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In period

The Dutch press agency Anefo photographed TR2s at the Amsterdam motor show in February 1954 and at a sports-car race at Zandvoort in August 1955, and its pictures are now free to use. The agency's captions name none of the drivers at Zandvoort.⁠1

1954 and 1955 3

  • A black-and-white photograph of a white open two-seater on a low white plinth under a hanging STANDARD-TRIUMPH sign, one man in a suit seated at the wheel, saloons parked behind. Opens a larger view

    6 The Dutch importer's stand at the Amsterdam motor show on 24 February 1954, with a long-door TR2 on its plinth.

  • A black-and-white photograph of open sports cars throwing up spray on a wet circuit bend, a TR2 numbered 31 in front, flags flying over a crowded grandstand. Opens a larger view

    7 Two TR2s, Nos. 31 and 32, in the spray at Zandvoort on 7 August 1955, a cycle-winged sports car between them.

  • A black-and-white photograph of a TR2 numbered 31 racing side by side with a low, rounded Porsche spyder numbered 36 on a wet bend, two more cars behind and a full grandstand beyond. Opens a larger view

    8 TR2 No. 31 with a Porsche 550 spyder, No. 36, alongside it at Zandvoort on 7 August 1955.

Picture credits (3)
  1. 6 Wim van Rossem (Anefo), CC0
  2. 7 Harry Pot (Anefo), CC0
  3. 8 Harry Pot (Anefo), CC0

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Sources

Every source the site cites is on the sources page.

  • Primarymade at the time, by the maker or by people who were there
  • Referenceserious later work: clubs, specialists, magazines, books
  • Databaseresults and listings, entry by entry
  1. Nationaal Archief (Anefo), via Wikimedia Commons (CC0), Anefo photographs (group): "Autotentoonstelling Rai gebouw" (24 Feb 1954); "Autoraces Zandvoort voor sportwagens" (7 Aug 1955), 906-3148; 907-2667; 907-2668. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Autotentoonstelling_Rai_gebouw,_Bestanddeelnr_906-3148.jpg Primary
  2. Wikimedia Commons, "Category:Triumph TR2" and its subcategories. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Triumph_TR2 Database
  3. Revington TR, "Technical Specification Change Points" (TR2), October 1954, TS4002; 22 July 1953. revingtontr.com/the-tr-series/tr2/technical-specification-change-points Reference
  4. TR Register, "Triumph TR2 Buyers Guide" (the TR2 data sheet), TR2 page, long and short doors. tr-register.co.uk/resources/buyers-guide/triumph-tr2 Reference
  5. British Motor Museum and National Heritage Memorial Fund (as published by the TR Register and the FBHVC), Press release: the Jabbeke TR2, MVC 575, acquired by the British Motor Museum, 10 Mar 2020, the restoration. old.tr-register.co.uk/article/2020/03/0220/Jabbeke-TR2-arrives-at-British-Motor-Museum Reference

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