Triumph Twelve

The Triumph Twelve was a four-door saloon built in 1939 by the Triumph Motor Company, the last model the company made before it was taken over by the Standard Motor Company. Donald Healey and Walter Belgrove developed it, and it moved Triumph further into the low-price segment. Its technical base was the heavily modified frame of the Dolomite 1.5 litre, and Belgrove added a conventional radiator grille, new wings, a bolted-on luggage box that also held the spare wheel, hydraulic dampers, a sliding roof and centralised lubrication, while a mechanical fuel pump and disc wheels were chosen to save cost, with wire wheels only an option. The development and tooling costs turned a small profit in 1938 into a loss in 1939. Because it was built while the company was already in bankruptcy proceedings no exact production figure exists, and about 50 cars are thought to have been made.