Sprint decals

[GrahamFountain]

Were these decals used by BL on any of the Dolomite Sprints?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SPRINT-Stick ... Sw4M5byYXN

These are the ones that TriumphTune/Moss used to sell in 2 sizes back in the 90s.
The only pictures I have of a car as stickered-up by BL with them are of the FHC TR8 homologation specials built 1977-8, and I think only from the batch made at Speke at the end of June 1977 during the shutdown for the changeover to the 1978 year model - there's one in David Hardcastle's book on the Rover V8 engine and one on the front of the TR8's FIA Form of Recognition.

Graham

[mahony]

I think they may have been fitted to Tr7's with the Sprint engine fitted, not entirely sure though !

[GrahamFountain]

People, inc me, have put them on TR7 Sprints, both some of the (probably) 61 real and many fake ones. But according to David Knowles and to the pictures taken of the TR7 Sprint homologation (for the re-approval of the 16-valve head as a Group-4 option on TR7 rally cars after the 100-off rule was dropped) on 1 Nov. 1977, the factory cars, at least some of them, and both 1977 and 1978 year models, had side stripes with a different font, and just TR7 and Triumph TR7 on the front and boot.

Like I said, the only pictures that I've found and which can be shown to be BL cars with these stickers are the "Sprint TR7 V8" cars that were homologation specials for the TR8 or TR7V8 as it was called in rallying. According to Graham Robson, they were called the TR7V8 because Sales and Marketing Dept. wouldn't let the Competitions Dept. use the name TR8 before the DHC TR8 was launched, and that was the compromise.

So the question is, do they have any connection to the Dolomite Sprints, like on later car bonnets and boot-lids?

Graham

[Carledo]

I've never seen any Dolomites fitted with that badge in the UK, only a couple of Aussie Sprints. And they could have been retrofits, neither of the cars they were fitted to were Yellow and only Mimosa cars were officially imported to Oz. This would indicate a respray and/or personal import, neither of which are good markers of originality.

Thanks for posting the ad though, I know someone who'd love a pair in gold!

Steve

[GrahamFountain]

Thanks Steve,
If they weren't used on the Dolomite Sprint or TR7 Sprint, they must be leftovers, perhaps from a minimum size order for tryout that failed some late hurdle.
Don't suppose at this late date we'll ever know if it was for the Dolomite, the TR7, or the mythical "Sprint TR7 V8", or something else.


This is the picture off the TR8's FIA Form of Recognition showing the decal set - I've seen the V8 part as well, but I don't think it was used by BL on the TR8s. I think the TR7 part was standard, but I should check.

Is that font peculiar to Triumph - I've seen it on Spitfires -, does anyone know, or could it be wider, like MG or Rover?

Graham

[Carledo]

Thanks Steve,
If they weren't used on the Dolomite Sprint or TR7 Sprint, they must be leftovers, perhaps from a minimum size order for tryout that failed some late hurdle.
Don't suppose at this late date we'll ever know if it was for the Dolomite, the TR7, or the mythical "Sprint TR7 V8", or something else.


This is the picture off the TR8's FIA Form of Recognition showing the decal set - I've seen the V8 part as well, but I don't think it was used by BL on the TR8s. I think the TR7 part was standard, but I should check.

Is that font peculiar to Triumph - I've seen it on Spitfires -, does anyone know, or could it be wider, like MG or Rover?

Graham

That font is all over the Spitfire 1500 and TR7 but AFAIK wasn't used on much else, much too brash for Rover, I THINK it may have been used on the 1500 Midget which shared it's powertrain with the Spit, could be wrong on that though. Like a lot of other badges and decals for Triumphs that never made production (Dolomite 135 and Toledo TS to name but 2) they seem to have found their way onto the market regardless of the fact that the model they were made for didn't!

My guess is that these particular ones, being Gold, were destined for TR7/8s rather than Dolomites, as the Dolomite Sprint coachlines were only offered in Black or Silver, a gold badge would look odd!

What does the front wing badge on that TR7V8 say? Can't read it on my copy!

FWIW, The Dolomites i've seen WITH that badge on, have it fitted in much the same place as that TR, on the rear end of the rear wing, either just above or just below the coachline.

Steve

[xvivalve]

I've seen factory TR7 Sprints wearing just one of these decals on the offside of the bootlid.

[GrahamFountain]

What does the front wing badge on that TR7V8 say? Can't read it on my copy!

Steve

I can't get anywhere with the picture of the front in the FIA form, even with image enhancement. But the front of one in David Hardcastle's book on the V8 shows the Speke TR7 decal with a smaller version of this Sprint decal below and offset to the right.

Graham

[GrahamFountain]

I've seen factory TR7 Sprints wearing just one of these decals on the offside of the bootlid.

One of Rob/Chris Turner's well restored TR7 Sprints is in David Knowles' book with the small versions under the TR7. Bill Piggott's shows the larger one in black on the right side of a boot lid and claims it was on the cars that escaped (runs to the poetic does Bill; a "coterie" of sales literature yet - and I didn't even know prairie dogs were used). But the picture shows it on a Persian Aqua paint job, which wasn't in the TR7s colour range till much later. So I think that's on a homebrewed job.

Also, many of the factory cars were on company lease for a year, some, like SJW 542S three years then bought by the lessee (cheap, because they weren't a catalogued model), where the lessees may have had access to "spare" (not nailed down or able to be torn loose) bits floating round the company. So some of them might have picked up the stickers before sale to the hoi polloi.

And TT/Moss had both sizes in black, silver, and gold right through the 90s. But they also had the side stripes that were fitted to production cars (TT only had silver and gold), and these had a works part number for them - UKC something I think. Whereas these Sprint stickers in the Spitfire font had no Unipart number and I don't think they were even catalogued. I can find the old catalogue if I look.

But I never checked (AFAIR) if they were ever used on the Sprints before.

Graham