by Steve Holmes » Thu Jul 04, 2013 10:44 pm
Kas was not only a Triumph employee, he was a Triumph enthusiast, and was desperate to inject some excitement into the brand, whose reputation had been built on the back of designing sporting vehicles, aimed at the driving enthusiast. Although never flush with money, even when Standard-Triumph was purchased in 1960 by Leyland Motors, there remained recognition within the company that its sporting endeavours were an important part of its marketing strategy, and the reasoning behind many people buying its cars.
But Kas made sure he armed himself with the best offensive strategy he could, to help sway the company top-brass into giving this concept the green light. So, on his way to England, he stopped off at New York, to visit his good friend, and Editor of
Car And Driver magazine, Leon Mandel. Kas showed Leon the concept drawing sketched out by Pete Brock, and asked, “If I get this car built will you give me the cover of the Sebring issue next spring?" After mulling over the proposition, Leon agreed, and Kas now headed for England with Pete’s beautiful concept drawings under his arm, and the guarantee of front page exposure with one of the worlds most influential automotive magazines.
On meeting with managing director George Turnbull, Kas was given the green light, not only to build the car, but to race it in the 1968 Sebring 12 Hour, on March 23, 1968. His budget was US$25,000, which, even in 1967 was completely insufficient. But to Kas, this mattered not, he was an enthusiast, who wanted to see this concept brought to reality. He immediately let Pete know the good news, and relayed the impossibly tight budget they had to work with. Pete then set to work, using his vast array of connections, gathering sponsors, to cover some of the costs.
The Triumph TR-250K (‘K’ for Kastner?), as it was designated, needed to be built on an existing platform, to keep costs down, and to help push through the argument that the car should eventually go into full production. The standard production Triumph TR-250 was built specifically for the US market, itself based on the TR5, but fitted with Zenith-Stromberg carburettors, instead of the TR5’s fuel injection system. A TR4A frame was sourced, along with a TR-250 motor, on which Webers replaced the standard Zenith-Stromberg’s. The motor was then set back 11” in the chassis, for better weight distribution and to allow for the low, sharp nose design.
Mechanical and chassis work on the TR-250K was undertaken by Kas, Jim Coan, and Bob Avery at Triumph’s competition workshop. Pete organised the fabrication work of the sweeping, alloy body, contracting the job to Borth and Rose. Pete also sourced the swept back windshield, incidentally, a Hino Samurai GT item, which he still had from his programs with the Japanese manufacturer. Typically, there were delays, as virtually everything sitting above the chassis had to be custom built from scratch. Kas was coming under increased pressure from the Triumph PR team, wanting to know how the car was progressing, and when it would be ready.
[attachment=1]250K 3.jpg[/attachment]
Kas was not only a Triumph employee, he was a Triumph enthusiast, and was desperate to inject some excitement into the brand, whose reputation had been built on the back of designing sporting vehicles, aimed at the driving enthusiast. Although never flush with money, even when Standard-Triumph was purchased in 1960 by Leyland Motors, there remained recognition within the company that its sporting endeavours were an important part of its marketing strategy, and the reasoning behind many people buying its cars.
But Kas made sure he armed himself with the best offensive strategy he could, to help sway the company top-brass into giving this concept the green light. So, on his way to England, he stopped off at New York, to visit his good friend, and Editor of [i]Car And Driver[/i] magazine, Leon Mandel. Kas showed Leon the concept drawing sketched out by Pete Brock, and asked, “If I get this car built will you give me the cover of the Sebring issue next spring?" After mulling over the proposition, Leon agreed, and Kas now headed for England with Pete’s beautiful concept drawings under his arm, and the guarantee of front page exposure with one of the worlds most influential automotive magazines.
[attachment=0]250K 4.jpg[/attachment]
On meeting with managing director George Turnbull, Kas was given the green light, not only to build the car, but to race it in the 1968 Sebring 12 Hour, on March 23, 1968. His budget was US$25,000, which, even in 1967 was completely insufficient. But to Kas, this mattered not, he was an enthusiast, who wanted to see this concept brought to reality. He immediately let Pete know the good news, and relayed the impossibly tight budget they had to work with. Pete then set to work, using his vast array of connections, gathering sponsors, to cover some of the costs.
The Triumph TR-250K (‘K’ for Kastner?), as it was designated, needed to be built on an existing platform, to keep costs down, and to help push through the argument that the car should eventually go into full production. The standard production Triumph TR-250 was built specifically for the US market, itself based on the TR5, but fitted with Zenith-Stromberg carburettors, instead of the TR5’s fuel injection system. A TR4A frame was sourced, along with a TR-250 motor, on which Webers replaced the standard Zenith-Stromberg’s. The motor was then set back 11” in the chassis, for better weight distribution and to allow for the low, sharp nose design.
Mechanical and chassis work on the TR-250K was undertaken by Kas, Jim Coan, and Bob Avery at Triumph’s competition workshop. Pete organised the fabrication work of the sweeping, alloy body, contracting the job to Borth and Rose. Pete also sourced the swept back windshield, incidentally, a Hino Samurai GT item, which he still had from his programs with the Japanese manufacturer. Typically, there were delays, as virtually everything sitting above the chassis had to be custom built from scratch. Kas was coming under increased pressure from the Triumph PR team, wanting to know how the car was progressing, and when it would be ready.