Billed as the car that was totally equipped to Triumph, the Acclaim was really the marque’s last chance saloon. And in the end, the Acclaim failed to bolster Triumph enough after its launch in 1981 to save it from oblivion. And as Keith Adams explains, it was through no fault of its own. The end [...]

Ladbroke Avon put together an interesting upmarket version of the Acclaim. It was initially only made available through the Henleys franchise, before being offered to a wider audience after the Turbo was launched in 1983. As a result, the Avon Acclaim sold in small numbers – a handful of which, still survive. During 1981, Avon [...]

The Honda Ballade came to BL in the early months of 1980, and the company planned to create a different look for the car. The sketches, penned by the BL Styling Department clearly show that the designers initially worked under the false assumption that they would be able to alter the car’s styling – as [...]

It was a brave new world for BL – a Honda built in the UK, but in many ways, the Triumph Acclaim represented so much more. When launched in 1981, the Acclaim was heralded as the first of a long line of Honda/Rovers, but more importantly than that, it proved once and for all that [...]

THE GUARDIAN COWLEY WIZARD WILL HEAD HONDA TIE UP Mr Andrew Barr. a tough 41-year-old Scot, who ran BL’s Cowley assembly plant while it became one of Leyland’s most successful factories , has landed another important job. He is to be manufacturing director for Rover Triumph. His responsibilities will include the British version of the [...]

DAILY EXPRESS HONDA TAKES THE WHEEL FOR NEW TRIUMPH By David Benson British Leyland and Japan’s Honda motor company are to join forces to produce a new Triumph car, it was disclosed yesterday. Japanese designed, it will have a Honda engine and transmission and be built on licence at Canley, Coventry. But pressings for the [...]