The Triumph Lynx would form the basis of another sad BL story. It was a victim of lack of funds, but also the ongoing battle between Michael Edwardes and the unions.
The car had promise – and the market anticipated a flagship Triumph that worked, unlike the Stag which preceded it. It had Rover V8 power, four seats and ample performance.
Lynx: the Capri fighter that never was…
The ideology behind the Triumph Lynx was straightforward enough – and the fact that strategists identified the need for the company to produce to a sports coupé proved that they were doing their job correctly. In 1972, the Lynx project was resurrected from an earlier sports car project with the same name designed by Michelotti.
The second-generation car emerged as a wholly predictable extension of the TR7 platform, although it wasn’t as stylish as the original Triumph Lynx. Maybe that was because its front-end styling was retained almost unmodified, but from the scuttle line back, the car was almost entirely new. The Lynx was central to the planned expansion of Rover-Triumph announced by Lord Stokes in May 1973.
Developing the new Triumph coupe
The TR7 platform had its wheelbase extended by 12 inches and longer passenger doors were incorporated in order to balance the side view of the car and improve access to the rear seats. The rear end of the car looked vastly different to the donor car and was somewhat unhappy in its detailing – losing the Harris Mann tapering belt line in the process.
The intention was that the car would also incorporate a hatchback, like the MGB GT, in order to offer a practical, as well as stylish package.
Development of the Lynx was stepped up following commencement of TR7 production in September 1974 and, again, extensive use of the BL part bin was made. The gearbox would be the LT77 five-speed unit planned for the TR7 V8 rally car and Rover SD1. There would be two versions of the Lynx – the MG version was to be powered by the O-Series engine and supercede the MGB GT, while the Triumph would get the Rover V8, pitching it as a Stag replacement.
What happened to the Triumph Lynx?
The rear suspension of the Lynx would also be shared with the Rover SD1 – a solid rear axle with intelligent location and damping. The package looked very viable and, once it became clear that Speke would have the excess capacity to produce it, the BL Board gave it the go ahead for production.
The problem was that the time that the tooling was ready to be installed into the Speke factory coincided with industrial relations problems of biblical proportions between the workforce of the Liverpool factory and the company’s management.
In 1978, the TR7 assembly plant in Speke was closed after the long, much-publicised strike that broke out on the day Michael Edwardes became Chairman of British Leyland (1 November 1977). Along with Speke went the Triumph Lynx. By closing Speke Number Two, Michael Edwardes dealt a blow to the jobs-for-life culture that permeated BL.
Keith Adams
Is the Editor of the Parkers website and price guide, formerly editor of Classic Car Weekly, and launch editor/creator of Modern Classics magazine. Has contributed to various motoring titles including Octane, Practical Classics, Evo, Honest John, CAR magazine, Autocar, Pistonheads, Diesel Car, Practical Performance Car, Performance French Car, Car Mechanics, Jaguar World Monthly, MG Enthusiast, Modern MINI, Practical Classics, Fifth Gear Website, Radio 4, and the the Motoring Independent...
Likes 'conditionally challenged' motors and taking them on unfeasible adventures all across Europe.
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Looks like an abortion on wheels.
How it can be said that the rear of the Lynx is arguably its best angle is beyond me with its
ridiculously oversized lights & bumpers. The lack of an opening metal section to the tailgate doesn’t look right either.
The rest of the car has grown on me over the years
Bumpers presumably for the US market?
What I don’t understand is that this car was dropped because Speke closed, but the tooling had been made and paid for, as well as development costs. Wouldn’t it been better to find room in one of the underused plants elsewhere and get some money back on this investment?
I believe it’s right to say that the principal reason Lynx was dropped was opposition to it from the American management of BL … Mike Dale / Bruce McWilliams. They just didn’t want it. They ran a customer clinic on the west coast and got very bad results and concluded it would be unsellable in the USA. If they had expressed enthusiasm for Lynx it’s very likely it would have been built at Canley (and/or Solihull) along with TR7/8, after Speke closed (and TR7 tooling was transferred) – but without any enthusiasm from the US the car was dead (as BL were very weak in continental Europe so North America would have been the principal market beyond the UK).
Surprising, seeing that plenty of 240Zs, Celicas etc were sold in the US.
Surely UK sales would have reasonably important too, seeing how well the Capri sold in the 70s
Yeah though of course the Capri in the seventies was selling in substantial volumes in the UK, continental Europe and North America (where imported from Germany and sold as the Mercury Capri). Without US sales volumes the Lynx would have been largely confined to the UK (as BL were weak in Europe) and thus would have been unlikely to deliver a return on investment. It’s been reported the US management were really hoping for a replacement for the MGBGT rather than a four-seater (and maybe were thus “set against” Lynx from the start – and had invited the “wrong sort of people” to their US styling clinic). The appearance of the Lynx was disliked (and of course in the Coupe market styling is crucial) but there were perhaps other factors (I am speculating a little here) – Dealers would remember the disaster of the Stag in the USA during 1971-73 and be wary of a vehicle aimed at the same segment, and some US Triumph dealers remained “dualled” with competing brands which already offered such a coupe. (This was much less of an issue for the traditional sports cars). The decision to drop Lynx was apparently taken during 1978 (in a meeting at Longbridge attended by US management). If it had been given the green light that would have implied a US launch more or less on top of TR8 (and Rover 3500) – and TR8 would have been seen as offering more potential (so better to concentrate on the marketing of that) …. I regret they didn’t persevere with Lynx but of course the coupe market is notoriously fickle and has been the scene of many expensive disasters (eg Renault Fuego) so I suppose in the tight financial climate then prevailing, and with the Americans not keen, it was bound to get chopped.
Well I think the Lynx was a pretty good looking car that would have appealed to those wanting a decent 2 litre coupe or a powerful V8 (funds permitting). It would have been a viable competitor to the Capri and at that time the Cavalier/Manta Sportshatch. It’s a shame as Dave says, that this car wasn’t built at another Leyland plant as development was advanced.
If I turned back the clock to 1978, I would have added the Lynx to my wish list! The green one looks good
Liking the style of this car. It’s a real shame how the selfish, lefty militant issues killed off great concepts like this and ultimately the Brit owned motor companies. Would’ve been a very nice MG and Triumph for the 1980s – stylish and great driving dynamics. Can’t help but feel the Honda Integra took some ‘inspiration’ from this car. Would’ve had a certain amount of access with the Austin and Triumph tie-ups of the time…
The Lynx also bears a slight similarity to the early 1980’s Toyota Celica & Supra in profile, which also had pop up headlamps. I agree the car would have suited coloured bumpers but they didn’t come into fashion till the 80s
Interested to know more about the pre-TR7 Michelotti-styled Triumph Lynx project, am assuming it was connected to the Bobcat and Puma projects likely derived from the former. Perhaps Lynx and the related Bullet can be best described as sporting versions of Bobcat?
As for the TR7-derived Triumph Lynx, while largely biased against pop-up headlights having integrated body coloured bumpers at both ends would have certainly helped to improve the styling as featured on RT061.
Have previously mentioned the Lynx and related TR7-based models featuring Grinnall TR8 styling at the front, though thinking about it further a face-lifted version with Roverized front styling similar to the Rover CCV would have been more suitable.
While understanding the O-Series was more cost effective compared to the Triumph Slant-4 and was capable of being tuned to produce roughly the same 127 hp as the Dolomite (and prototype TR7) Sprint, could the engine have been a significant improvement even with turbocharged O-Series variants?
The MG version could feature both regular and turbocharged O-Series engines, yet the Triumph deserves an entry-level 6-cylinder variant below the Rover V8 or even a reduced displacement version of the latter.
The slant 4 was a better engine than the O Series – SAAB showed that it was a very strong durable unit when given a slight redesign and manufactured properly – in fact during the 80s SAAB 900s were more desirable than the equivalent BMWs and Mercedes amongst the trendy set. As I said earlier it was a shame that BL did not have the right people at the top.
It is indeed a shame yet the fact is the Slant-4 was not properly developed and unlike the O-Series, could not be counted on to be mass produced for more mainstream cars within the range due to cost and limited production capacity.
In order for the Slant-4 to be produced at greater numbers as a more mainstream engine and with further collaboration (or even later acquisition of) SAAB, it would likely require BL not being formed to begin with.
I’ve always liked the Michelotti Lynx and Bullet from the early 70s, both are great looking and fit better into the Triumph range of the time.
Agree
The fact is that the styling of the TR7 and TR7-derived variants originate with the MG ADO21, so it would have been fascinating to see how Triumph’s design language would evolve without such influence. With the MG ADO21 / Triumph TR7 styling language instead being adopted by MG for its Midget and B replacements.
Actually think this would have been perfect for the market and in particular for the US.
I worked on Lynx and would say it was clearly a Capri killer (UK & Europe)and a great companion to the about to be launched TR8 convertible for US consumers. To say that it would have been unlikely to deliver a return on investment is bemusing as the tooling investment, by far the greatest, had already been committed. The very 1st picture in this post shows it in the Canley d&d workshop and with lowered suspension compared to the “production” green photo show Lynx at its best. I think this would have been perfect for the market and in particular for the US.
I tried to do a modern update of the Lynx and failed miserably! There used to be a few people on here that were really good at that stuff, does anyone fancy a go?