Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[badhuis]

There is a 1939 Triumph "New Twelve" for sale here locally. I am going to have a look tomorrow morning.
From the short (1 hour) investigation on the internet confirms that this is a rare car - about 55-60 produced before the collapse of Triumph as an independent maker.
According to the seller this is the only one left with the original body - a 4 light 4 door Saloon with nice proportions.

The car was imported from Scotland in the early seventies (I am in the Netherlands). It has been worked on a little since then - the front suspension has received new bearings, the engine has been made running.
One seat is missing, the other seat and rear bench is reasonable - maybe the leather is saveable.

The bumpers are missing. As far as I see on rare pictures of this car the front bumper is a standard affair - spring steel with rolled over ends (if that makes sense). Were bumpers then particular to a car or make or are they shared between different cars with the same width? The rear bumper should have a V in the middle so is probably much harder to source.
Also, both running boards are missing. I am not sure if these would be hard to fabricate, it depends on the curvatures.

Nothing else according to the owner is missing although I have not inquired about wheel trims - the car is on pressed steel wheels at the moment.
The body is good - made of aluminium. The wood beneath it needs attention at the lower ends.

I quite like the car, it has nice lines. I am not afraid to tackle most mechanical things and also not the woodwork. But what I would want to know is how useable such a car is when in good order.
It has a 1500 cc engine so probably around 30-40 bhp? Being a 12 and a Triumph would this mean it can cope with motorways (truck speed)? Or would that be too much.

What I am after is a 30s car which should be able to do distances (holidays) on a motorway. I think, but please correct me if I am wrong, that this condition leaves out any 8HP or 10HP cars.

[mikeC]

The Twelve is certainly a rare survivor, although I don't believe it to be the only one with original body; I am sure one was advertised in good order a couple of years ago. I would expect the bumpers to be unique to the model, but equally I would imagine something very close could be sourced from another make from that era... and if the car is so rare, who would know?
I would expect the Triumph to have a comfortable cruising speed of 50mph (80kph) but cars of this era should not be expected to cruise for extended periods - you will need to develop a driving technique where you back off the throttle from time to time to allow the bores to be lubricated, and you will find speed drops off quite quickly on motorway gradients! You need to think very hard as to whether your expectations for extended touring is realistic... but yes, go for it!

[Rick]

Interesting find!

As MikeC says, extended motorway trips may not be best suited to a car of that size and age - the gearing tends to be quite low on cars like this, which will affect how well it'd cruise along a motorway. It was designed with A and B roads in mind after all. As you point out, an 8hp or 10hp car would be no fun on a motorway IMHO, especially if fully loaded for a holiday.

The main body shape reminds me of the Gloria, so there may be cross-over of some parts with that (although Glorias aren't common either).

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[norustplease]

Not many older classics are suitable for long distance motorway speeds. Post war cars are more likely to be up to this sort of use, for example P4 Rovers, especially ones with overdrives.
Quite few pre war car owners do use their cars for long journeys, and the ATDC regularly take their Austin 10's and 12's onto the continent, but drive at modest speeds on ordinary roads.
_________________
1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV

[JohnDale]

Just for info, the car was originally registered in Stirling, about 20miles away from me. The WG reg was transferred to Sheffield from 1974. Good luck with your potential purchase,cheers,JD.
_________________
1958 Ford Zephyr Mk2 Convertible
1976 Ford Granada Ghia.

[badhuis]

Thank you all for your comments.

According to the Pre 1940 Triumph Club only 2 are known to have survived. If you look at their page about the Twelve, there is a pic of the same car presumably taken years ago. The car has been in the same condition since the 70s (a click on the photograph shows you this). http://www.pre-1940triumphmotorclub.org/twelve.html

Whatever, after reading about prewar cars I have come to the conclusion that a 12HP would not fit me well. I would like to tour Scotland and Wales / Ireland, maybe Spain, annual club meetings, etc. This probably would mean having to cover distances by Motorway. I know that these old cars are not really for motorways so I do not think it will give me much pleasure.

So the idea of owning an old car less than 14 or 16 HP is not for me.
I will keep a lookout for the larger engined models, there are some very nice immediate postwar models around: AC 2-litre (a firm favourite), Alvis TA, Lea Francis 14, Riley RM (especially the B or F), maybe Rover and Humber. I am not so fond of the styling of the Austin 16 and Wolseleys of the period.
We will see what meets our path, there is no hurry to buy anything but I will keep an eye open.