RE: Revington TRS

RE: Revington TRS

Sunday 23rd May 2004

Revington TRS

Ted investigates a modern interpretation of a 40 year old car


Deep in the heart of Somerset lies the little village of Middlezoy. The sleepy village plays host to an idyllic range of houses, village shop a local pub and the occasional roar of a Triumph straight six.

On the edge of the village lies Revington TR. The Triumph specialists have been there some years and are gradually expanding, taking over more and more outbuildings in their quest to become the finest Triumph specialists around.

As well as the numerous garages housing remnants of old cars, body panels, suspension, wheels etc, Revington TR boasts a modern paint and body shop producing some fine work (on Triumphs and more modern exotica).

Project TRS

Owner Neil Revington gave me the guided tour and led me from the workshop where his team is restoring and repairing fully prepped rally cars to the garage housing his new project car - the TRS.

Revington looked some way back to seek inspiration for the TRS. Not surprisingly for a petrol head, he was attracted to the era when Triumph competed at Le Mans in the late 50s and early 60's. Triumph entered teams at Le Mans using TR2's, 3s, 3As and then the glass fibre bodied TR3S. The body shape of the TR3S being similar to the TR3A

The 1959 team comprised of three TR3S's. The 3S featured a longer chassis than the standard car and more importantly disc brakes. Only 3 cars were built. For the 1960 and ‘61 seasons the bodies were removed and the chassis and running gear used under a new style body. An additional car was constructed making a total of 4 and these cars were known as the TRS. Whilst Triumph had much success with their production car entries in previous years,  1961 saw their first success with a team of TRS's finishing and winning Triumph the team prize. All four cars still exist today in the hands of collectors.

Styling of Triumphs at the time was done using the traditional coach building method of giving a chassis to a stylist who would then design a body to sit atop. In the early 60's Triumph were using renowned Italian stylist Michelotti. He was responsible for projects Zoom and Zest which dictated the styling for Triumphs of the era.

Neil Revington has wanted for some time to recreate a Triumph from that era but incorporating much of what he's learned in recent years about making Triumphs handle.

Making it Happen

With a colleague he's spent two years fulfilling that dream. The Revington TRS uses a body comprising elements of both the landmark Zoom prototype and the original TRS sitting on a lengthened version of a TR4 chassis.

Under the bonnet sits a rebuilt Triumph 4 pot of 2188cc complete with twin DCOE carbs.

 

The bodywork surprisingly is aluminium and has been the most time consuming part of the development. Although the cars on which the TRS has been based were glass fibre bodied, Revington felt that aluminium would provide better quality and be received better by potential purchasers. A full size wooden buck has been created by an ex Aston Martin tool maker, over which Revington's bodywork specialists have spent many, many hours producing the panels.

The result is a real gem. It truly is a modern interpretation of a 40-year-old car. The finish is exemplary and could teach a few modern manufacturers about build quality. Yet the simplicity of the car immediately takes you back to a bygone era.

Off for a Blast

Neil Revington took me out for a high-speed ride and was keen to demonstrate exactly what the car is capable of. The first thing you don't notice is the creaks and rattles you'd expect from a car like this. It's screwed together so tightly; the only noise is from the rorty, screaming motor up front - and the wind noise.

Winding the TRS up, Neil blasted out of Middlezoy village at pace. The open seating position and pure simplicity of the car had me feeling quite vulnerable although the full harness helped relieve some of my concerns. With the wind blasting by and Neil winding up the revs, we shot out of the picturesque village at great pace. I feared I was starring in an episode of Heartbeat but knew the pace was too quick.

 

Hurtling around the country lanes, the TRS dealt with the undulations like a modern car. Although the suspension design remains very crude on these cars, Revington's experiences with rallying them has given him a unique insight into what's needed to make them handle.

Anomoly

The project has a number of goals but shining through is a Neil Revington's passion for Triumphs and his desire to introduce them to a new set of fans who might have simply considered them ancient relics.

The TRS project is likely to remain something of an anomaly to most except for the lucky few that get to sample it at first hand. It's a pretty mad idea and not a cheap one, but it does appeal in these days of mass production and dulled driver appeal. The TRS has a sharpness of character and a level of involvement not seen for decades.

 

Currently these cars are available from Revington TR for around £35K depending on specification with either the Triumph TR four or six cylinder engines.

Next on the agenda is a modern engine to really bring things to life and the Alfa Twin Spark has been earmarked. Total cost of an Alfa engined TRS would be around £40K.

For a handbuilt car with such individuality and heritage you'd be hard pressed to find anything as unique. A great project which we will watch with interest.

PetrolTed

Link : www.revingtontr.com

Author
Discussion

goo-goo-gjoob

Original Poster:

811 posts

254 months

Monday 24th May 2004
quotequote all
looks nice. I think they should angle the exhaust pipe more towards the side though, it's sticking out way too far

burriana500

16,556 posts

253 months

Monday 24th May 2004
quotequote all
Be interesting to know the performance figures for both Triumph engines.

Can't imagine the Alfa Twin Spark sounding quite right somehow.

Lovely looking car.

sagalout

17,661 posts

281 months

Monday 24th May 2004
quotequote all
Rather have a decent 4/4A/5 thank you.

chickensoup

469 posts

254 months

Monday 24th May 2004
quotequote all
Strange idea to lose authenticity / add cost by using ali over GRP.

Still miss my old TR6

dinkel

26,886 posts

257 months

Monday 24th May 2004
quotequote all
Lovely thingy. Nice engine pic. Exhaust is not good but fits the non-power-looks of the T.
Why Alfa? and not a Duratech or a K?

bilko

1,693 posts

231 months

Monday 24th May 2004
quotequote all
well i think it looks great! Could enthasize the haunches at the back a little to make it more aggresive but then i spose it wouldn't look so authentic. Also i know this may sound daft but if they swap the engine will all those lumps and openings on the bonnet still be functional? Oh and some wire wheels or more sporty alloys imho.

>> Edited by bilko on Monday 24th May 21:03

PetrolTed

34,424 posts

302 months

Monday 24th May 2004
quotequote all
The thing that is so difficult to convey is the character that the car has. Really well put together yet smelling/feeling/sounding like a classic.

Meant to take video but battery was flat

spartacus

2,878 posts

269 months

Monday 24th May 2004
quotequote all
Nice article Ted, re-creating the TRS with its Le Mans history can only be a good thing keeping & generating interest in the Truimph make. Think the six cylinder engine would be the best option - I am of course biased as I own a TR6.

yertis

18,016 posts

265 months

Tuesday 25th May 2004
quotequote all
PetrolTed said:
The thing that is so difficult to convey is the character that the car has. Really well put together yet smelling/feeling/sounding like a classic.

Meant to take video but battery was flat


Did the man not let you take the wheel? Revington prepared cars handle exceptionally well, and although I don't doubt Neil drove with his usual verve you need to drive the car to really appreciate it. Better still drive a standard TR, then drive one of his.

ultimasimon

9,641 posts

257 months

Wednesday 26th May 2004
quotequote all
Looks great. Why don't they do a 'Tiger' version with a large V8 in it?

I want one

blueyes

4,799 posts

251 months

Friday 28th May 2004
quotequote all
QUOTE:The open seating position and pure simplicity of the car had me feeling quite vulnerable although the full harness helped relieve some of my concerns.UNQUOTE

Full harness and NO cage/rollbar? Isn't that a bit dangerous if you flip it or is the screen strong enough?

Guillotine

5,516 posts

263 months

Saturday 29th May 2004
quotequote all
a lovely looking car and a continuation of the "specialist" breed. Trever did the same once (TVR) so its good to see the grassroots still growing.

main problem will be the price ofcourse, with a reasonable TR6 at £8k and a very nice Healey at around £18k, its difficult to see where the market is at £35k.

hope he finds one...very pretty.

Donn Engler

1 posts

282 months

Thursday 10th June 2004
quotequote all
The obvious reason for suggesting the Alfa Romeo engine is that the TRS originally used a DOHC aluminium 4-cyl engine by the name of "Sabrina". So named for the two round protruding covers over the fronts of the camshafts. The engine was a "sandwich" construction, being built up in layers similarly to the Lotus-engined Corvette from the 80's

I think they have done a supurb job of reconstructing such a well-known but rare car. To even hear the name TRS implies, to me, the mystique of the Le-Mans races of the early 60's, a time gone by. The name has been almost lost in the multitude of "sports" cars, famous or not, produced since then. This was not in the least contributed to by the factory itself. At the time, they would rather promote their street cars than show their glorious and proven race cars. That didn't happen again until the 70's when they became internationally famous for their sponsorship of the private Group 44 Racing.

Yes, it's true that most newer family sedans can out-perform most of the average race cars from that time, but nothing can replace the thrills of the Triumph race cars, weather produced by the factory of private racers. This TRS replica and its brother the replica Italia, are definately on my Christmas list.

DE