Background
John Black is perhaps one of the lesser known captains of the British motor industry. Despite that he was a true mover and shaker who built a solid reputation for getting things done. He moved from Hillman in 1929 to take up the role of joint managing director at the Standard Motor Company. His go-getting influence was decisive with Standard going from producing less than 35 cars a week at the start of the 1930’s to over 50,000 a year by the end of the decade. During the Second World War, Black was a leading light of Britain’s pivotal shadow factory organisation – work that would see him knighted for his trouble in 1943.
In 1944, the now, Sir John Black oversaw the acquisition of the struggling Triumph Motor Company business, relegating it to a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard. Black even temporarily suspended the promotion of Triumph cars in favour of Standards. It was at this time that Black would introduce Standard to the Morgan Motor Company of Malvern as its foremost engine supplier. By now Black had grown a little bored of the Standard portfolio, as it was terribly standard and mainly consisted of stuffy Standard Vanguards and even drab, grey Fergusson tractors. It was worryingly short on glamour, the sort that only a sports car could bring, and Black saw the Morgan deal as a potential entrée to the segment. In 1950 Black approached HFS Morgan and proposed that Standard buy his famous family business.
HFS Morgan rebuffed Black’s offer out of hand so Black used this snub as the impetus he needed to develop his own sports car. By 1952 a prototype, the 20TS, was developed—a two-seater sports car built on a shortened Standard Eight chassis and powered by Vanguard’s 2-litre engine. In 1953 the Triumph TR2 was launched at the Geneva Motor Show. The diminutive sports car not only marked the re-entry of Triumph to the market but also the genesis of the revered Triumph TR lineage.
In 1955 a new and improved TR3 was made available, offering more power and better braking. In 1957 a further revised version of the TR3 was introduced, unofficially but popularly known as the “TR3A.” The full width grill, external door handles and a locking boot catch became signatures of the “A.” The options list was lengthened to include 60-spoke wire wheels. The TR3A proved so popular that the original tooling wore out and had to be replaced.
