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MAN AND MACHINE PRINCE FREDERICK
Getting better with age
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Designed to resemble the Austin 7,the Triumph Super 7 was not as popular. But today, it is
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VINTAGE DRIVE Chandra Sankar is happy that she can finally drive this 1929 Triumph Super Seven TOUR
The chairman of Sanmar Group, N. Sankar must have discovered by now that owning a Triumph Super Seven is like owning an Austin Seven. It is easy to mistake the Super 7 for the more successful Austin 7.
Goaded by the popularity of the Austin 7, the Triumph Motor Company commissioned Arthur Skyes in 1925 to design a small car along the same lines. Skyes cobbled together a team which included Stanley Edge, the man credited with providing the design drawings for Austin 7. The Super 7 was longer and wider, but there was still a resemblance between the two cars that was too strong to ignore.
Its likeness to the Austin 7 did not, however, do much for the Super 7. In the seven years (1927-34) the model lasted, only 17,000 cars were sold. In contrast, with 2,90,000 cars sold between 1922 and 1939, the Austin 7 became one of the greatest success stories in automotive history.
Yes, the Super 7 was nowhere near as popular as the machine it had been patterned on. But now, it is.
Today, over 70 years removed from its time, the Triumph Super 7 is clearly a more valuable vehicle, especially in India. Rarely seen, a Super 7 would be precious to any serious collector. With almost everyone in his family charmed by vintage and classic cars and possessing a sound knowledge about them, Sankar knew he had to have this 1929 Triumph Super 7 tourer restored.
When C.S. Ananth received the car for restoration, the engine was not firing and there was no action in the brakes. And the seats and the woodwork did not pass muster. Luckily, all the important parts were intact. Significantly, the Super 7’s 832cc, four-cylinder, side-valve engine and the gearbox had not been replaced.
Ananth introduced a self-starter to make things easy for those using the car. “I did not want to leave them to the mercy of a crank-start. They needed a easier way of starting the vehicle.”
When the Super 7 was delivered a month back at 9, Cathedral Road, where the corporate office of the Sanmar Group is located, Sankar and his family received a car that any of them could drive.
The chairman’s wife, Chandra Sankar has decided that starting from this week, she will practise driving the Triumph Super 7.
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