Triumph Mayflower
Encyclopedia
The Triumph Mayflower is a small car which was produced by Britain's Triumph Motor Company
from 1949 until 1953.
It was the first small car to be built by Triumph under new owners, the Standard Motor Company
. It used a version of the pre-war Standard 10 side-valve engine updated by having an aluminium cylinder head and single Solex carburettor. The engine developed 38 bhp at 4200 rpm. The 3-speed gearbox, with column shift, came from the Standard Vanguard
and had synchromesh on all the forward ratios. There was independent suspension at the front using coil springs but a solid back axle and half-elliptic leaf springs, also based on the one used on the Vanguard, was at the rear. The front-suspension design went on to be used on the Triumph TR2
. Lockheed hydraulic brakes were fitted.
A car tested by the British magazine The Motor
in 1950 had a top speed of 62.9 mph (101.2 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–50 mph (80.5 km/h) in 26.6 seconds. A fuel consumption of 28.3 mpgimp was recorded. The test car cost £505 including taxes. In the same year the similarly sized but less well equipped and more aggressively priced Morris Minor was advertised at £382.
The Mayflower had traditional "razor edge" styling similar to its larger brother, the Triumph Renown
and apeing the looks of the upmarket Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars. It was hoped this would be especially appealing to the American market. The car was of unitary construction with steel body panels and was built by Fisher and Ludlow at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham to a design by Leslie Moore, chief body designer of Mulliners
of Birmingham with input from Triumph's Walter Belgrove.
As well as the saloons, ten drophead coupés were built in 1950.
The styling, created at the behest of Standard's Managing Director Sir John Black
, proved controversial and tends to polarise opinion. Although it has many admirers, others share the opinion of Top Gear presenter James May
, who called it the ugliest car of all time in one of his columns.
The Mayflower was an attempt to create a small car with an upmarket image, and failed to meet its sales targets. Standard-Triumph's next small car, the Standard Eight
, was launched with a very basic specification and aimed at a different type of buyer. From the ending of Mayflower production in 1953 there was no small Triumph saloon available in the UK until the launch of the Triumph Herald
in 1959, although in some overseas markets derivatives of the Standard 8 were sold as Triumphs.
produced a coupe utility
variant of the Mayflower at their Port Melbourne plant in Victoria, Australia
. 150 examples were built from Mayflower Saloon CKD kits imported from the United Kingdom
, with bodywork locally modified to form a rear load area to which timber floor and side panels were added.
Triumph Motor Company
The Triumph Motor Company was a British car and motor manufacturing company. The Triumph marque is owned currently by BMW. The marque had its origins in 1885 when Siegfried Bettmann of Nuremberg initiated S. Bettmann & Co and started importing bicycles from Europe and selling them with his own...
from 1949 until 1953.
It was the first small car to be built by Triumph under new owners, the Standard Motor Company
Standard Motor Company
The Standard Motor Company was founded in Coventry, England in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay . The Standard name was last used in Britain in 1963, and in India in 1987.-1903–1914:...
. It used a version of the pre-war Standard 10 side-valve engine updated by having an aluminium cylinder head and single Solex carburettor. The engine developed 38 bhp at 4200 rpm. The 3-speed gearbox, with column shift, came from the Standard Vanguard
Standard Vanguard
The car used a conventional chassis on which was mounted the American inspired semi-streamlined four-door body, which resembles a Plymouth. Suspension was independent at the front with coil springs and a live axle and leaf springs at the rear. Front and rear anti-roll bars were fitted. The brakes...
and had synchromesh on all the forward ratios. There was independent suspension at the front using coil springs but a solid back axle and half-elliptic leaf springs, also based on the one used on the Vanguard, was at the rear. The front-suspension design went on to be used on the Triumph TR2
Triumph TR2
The Triumph TR2 is a sports car which was produced by the Standard Motor Company in the United Kingdom between 1953 and 1955, during which time 8,636 cars were produced....
. Lockheed hydraulic brakes were fitted.
A car tested by the British magazine The Motor
The Motor (magazine)
The Motor was a British weekly car magazine founded on 28 January 1903....
in 1950 had a top speed of 62.9 mph (101.2 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–50 mph (80.5 km/h) in 26.6 seconds. A fuel consumption of 28.3 mpgimp was recorded. The test car cost £505 including taxes. In the same year the similarly sized but less well equipped and more aggressively priced Morris Minor was advertised at £382.
The Mayflower had traditional "razor edge" styling similar to its larger brother, the Triumph Renown
Triumph Renown
The Triumph Renown is strictly the name given to the Triumph's large saloon car made from 1949 to 1954 but it is, in reality, part of a three car series of the 1800, 2000 and Renown models...
and apeing the looks of the upmarket Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars. It was hoped this would be especially appealing to the American market. The car was of unitary construction with steel body panels and was built by Fisher and Ludlow at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham to a design by Leslie Moore, chief body designer of Mulliners
H. J. Mulliner & Co.
H. J. Mulliner & Co. was a well-known British coachbuilder operating at Chiswick in West London.The Mulliner family can trace their coachbuilding history back to 1760, building coaches for the Royal Mail in Northampton....
of Birmingham with input from Triumph's Walter Belgrove.
As well as the saloons, ten drophead coupés were built in 1950.
The styling, created at the behest of Standard's Managing Director Sir John Black
John Black (Motor industry)
Sir John Paul Black held several senior positions in the British motor industry including chairman of Standard-Triumph....
, proved controversial and tends to polarise opinion. Although it has many admirers, others share the opinion of Top Gear presenter James May
James May
James Daniel May is an English television presenter, journalist and writer. He is best known for his role as co-presenter of the award-winning motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond....
, who called it the ugliest car of all time in one of his columns.
The Mayflower was an attempt to create a small car with an upmarket image, and failed to meet its sales targets. Standard-Triumph's next small car, the Standard Eight
Standard Eight
The Flying Eight was the smallest member of the Standard Flying family.Introduced in 1938 or 1939 , the Flying Eight featured, in its saloon form, the "streamlined" body of the little Standard Flying Nine which had appeared in 1937...
, was launched with a very basic specification and aimed at a different type of buyer. From the ending of Mayflower production in 1953 there was no small Triumph saloon available in the UK until the launch of the Triumph Herald
Triumph Herald
The Triumph Herald was a small two-door car introduced in 1959 by the Standard-Triumph Company of Coventry. Body design was by the Italian stylist Michelotti and the car was offered in saloon, convertible, coupé, van, and estate models....
in 1959, although in some overseas markets derivatives of the Standard 8 were sold as Triumphs.
Coupe Utility - Australia
Standard Triumph (Australia)Australian Motor Industries
Australian Motor Industries was an automobile assembly firm that was significant in the early history of the automobile industry in Australia.- Start of production :...
produced a coupe utility
Coupé utility
The coupé utility automobile body style, also known colloquially as the ute in Australia and New Zealand, combines a two-door "coupé" cabin with an integral cargo bed behind the cabin—using a light-duty passenger vehicle-derived platform....
variant of the Mayflower at their Port Melbourne plant in Victoria, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. 150 examples were built from Mayflower Saloon CKD kits imported from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, with bodywork locally modified to form a rear load area to which timber floor and side panels were added.
Die-cast models
- Mikansue modelled the Mayflower in the 1980s (?)
- Lansdowne modelled the Mayflower in the 2000s
- Oxford Diecast produced a 00 scale model in 2008