The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

The Triumph 1300 FWD range to the last Dolomite’s were sold in a range of body colours, some popular and some not so popular.

I remember reading somewhere that many cars were painted in a batch of the same colour at any given time at the factory.

I wonder if the cars painted in the popular colours took priority over the cars painted in the less popular colours, although this is just a theory.

With the FWD range and the Dolomite’s being built at the same factory at Canley as the TR6, Stag and the 2000 family, I presume mixed models must have been painted in the same batch?

I remember that the article said that black cars were only painted on Friday afternoons; this according to the article was because they had to wait until there were enough orders to justify switching the lines.

This makes the Dolomite 1500 SE is an interesting one because they were built in very few numbers, were all black and if the article is accurate, would these have only been painted on Friday afternoons?

Although by the time the Dolomite 1500 SE came onto the scene, which I think was May 1979; Dolomite production had slowed down enormously and the TR6, Stag and 2000 family were no more.

The TR7 also had a couple of ‘Limited Edition’ models, one being the Spider and the other being the ‘Premium’, I wonder if the same is true for these as well?

When production of the TR7 moved from Speke to Canley in ’78, were the TR7 special edition models and the Dolomite 1500 SE cars painted in the same batch as each other?

What do others think?

Steve

A lot of people would definitely say the 1500 SEs were "Friday afternoon cars" I reckon

There could be some truth in the batch colour theory. I've seen a number of production line photos were the cars have all appeared to be the same colour behind each other.

Good question ben.

There is a line in my 1974 Toledo brochure that says "The Toledo's good looks stem from its restrained styling and deep-lustre hand-sprayed finish".

It appears as though they may have been, although I don't know for certain, can anyone provide the answer?

Presumably, if the cars were hand sprayed, this method was used throughout the remaining production life of the Dolomite.

Did the various BL factories differ in this method or were they all the same?

Steve

Black has traditionally been a "batch" colour, regardless of manufacturer. That is why it is subject to increased delivery times and extra cost.

I would imagine that, of the Triumph colours, magenta and java green were similarly batched as there was very limited take up of those colours.

Early metallics on the Allegro, Marina and TR7 were also batched.

Nowadays, the opposite is true. 98% of cars are supplied with metallic paintwork so if you want fire engine red you tend to have to wait for it. Silver, gunmetal, metallic blue etc are available at the drop of a hat.

_________________
Martin.

2021 Land Rover Discovery Sport HSE PHEV
2021 Dacia Duster 1.3 TCe
1963 Austin A40 Rally Car
2021 Honda Cross Tourer Highlander

I guess this is really about "rustproofing" ( ) but might help understand the process that a Dolomite went through.

Comes from The Sales Man's Guide 1976:

The pictures certainly give us another angle and a further insight to how the cars were originally made.

Thanks Alan

Steve