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Triumph Dolomite Sprint – Dolly in a Dolly.

The Dolomite Sprint was named after a pre-war sporting Triumph; it arrived on the scene in 1973 when 250 models were rattled off the British Leyland assembly line each week.

The sprint filled a gap in the market for a compact British high-performance saloon capable of competing with the BMW 2002 Tii and Alfa Romeo’s 2000GTV. It was similar in cost and performance to the Ford RS1600 or Capri 3000 GT, but the Dolomite was spacious, highly equipped and practical with four doors.

Sadly, despite winning awards for the first multi-valve mass produced car, the world never took the Triumph Sprint seriously, not helped of course by the breakdown in factory management, worker strikes and subsequent closure of Liverpool’s Speke assembly plant in 1978.

Earlier this year, I was offered the chance to co-drive a few races in a 1973 Dolomite Sprint, in the Motor Racing Legends Historic Touring Car Challenge. This ex-works racer with its retro BUTCH livery was originally driven by two ladies in the Spa 24 Hour race in 1974, so it was fitting to have a girl back in the driving seat.

The first race was Donington Historic Festival, and my co-driver was Octane editor David Lillywhite. We both got a few laps at Silverstone Classic media day prior to our race, to get to grips with the handling. The Dolomite runs to period Group 1 specification to be eligible for the Tony Dron Trophy, and with 200 horsepower and rear-wheel drive, it takes a few laps to learn how to maximise the performance. Our expert on hand was Ken Clarke whose words of advice were, “If you’re not going sideways you’re not going quick enough.”

No surprise then the car is pretty lively at the back, and if you have ever driven a go-kart in the rain on slick tyres, this is a pretty similar experience. It feels slightly disconnected to the front even with a limited slip differential.

On race day, I let David start the race, and he did a cracking job keeping out of trouble in the No. 58 car strong grid and put up a great fight with John Edwards in a similar Sprint. When it came to swapping drivers, the black clouds descended, and I got 30 minutes of torrential rain to contend with. It was all very exciting, with poor visibility and some hairy sideways moments all while shouting yea haw! The hero of the Triumph Dolomite Touring car era was the namesake of this series Tony Dron himself, who was on hand at Donington to hand out the prizes. His advice to us pre-race was, “It’s flat out everywhere, and when you feel the back end go, you keep your foot in.” All good advice but easier said than done!

All in all, what a great fun car, the revy engine feels completely rock solid with loads of torque. The period brakes feel hard and ineffective by modern car standards, but they work when you need them! What a shame Triumph failed at delivering what should have been the sporty Escort of its time, but union strikes and the launch of the troublesome TR7 all brought a swift end to the Triumph name under new British Leyland management.

Thanks to specialist classic insurers Adrian Flux Insurance who sponsored this race and Motor Racing Legends who loaned the car.

For more information on racing Group 1 specification cars or the Tony Dron Trophy, please visit: http://www.motorracinglegends.com/ 

Photos by Andy Young

Source : This article first appeared on Lovecars.com

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