Who knows this car?

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1970 240Z

That would be a Triumph TR4 Dove.
Colin
the older one

Absolutely correct. (I expected nothing less from you).

Post-war MGTDs and TFs had been a hit with US servicemen returning from the war in Europe. They flooded the American streets for almost a decade before Triumph caught their attention with an outstanding, swoopy little roadster called the TR-2 and later TR-3. Real fenders, solid wheels (or spokes) and unique low-cut doors made the TRs the cars to own from the mid-'50s into the early '60s. Lighter than the Healeys, faster than the TDs or TFs, the perfectly-balanced little pucker-mouth TR2 was a winner. Cheaper than the MGA, the following TR-3 became "everybody's sportscar", with more power and even better handling. And you could still drag your knuckles on the ground at speed, thanks to those unique doors. Some of the series had quirks, such as a unique T-handled wrench needed to open the DZeus fasteners on the hood. I never understood why they did that.

When MG introduced it's wonderful MGB in 1962(?), the rest of the sportscar world suffered. The "B" was taking sales from the likes of Austin Healey, Triumph, ALFA Romeo, Rover, and all the rest of the mid-priced two seaters. In order to catch up, each company introduced somewhat remarkable improvements to their product line. Some of them worked for awhile, altho they never completely stopped the hemorrhage of sales going over to MG.

But three years later (1965?), when MG introduced their fabulous little MGBGT, the world caved in on the other marques. It sounded like a death knell. Nobody seemed to want to buy their cars anymore. In a desperate attempt to remain solvent, some of them tried some rather radical new designs. The Triumph Dove GT was one of them.

The Triumph TR-4 "Dove GT" was a 2+sometimes2 hatchback hardtop GT car. Two tiny jumpseats made the car listable as a 2+2, but you had to be a contortionist on a starvation diet to get into/out of the rear seats. Even extending the roofline to allow real people to sit upright didn't help, and killed the aerodynamic look of the Dove.

Fewer than 45 Doves were ever made, all RHD, and none were imported to the US of A. Due to the extra weight, they added a few more horsepower, which made these cars targets for racers (they competed at LeMans with some success). But overall, they failed to meet homologation requirements in most race classes and died a quiet death.

Triumph tried hard to overcome the MGB blight by introducing the Spitfire and other models. MG simply added a 6-cylinder to their BGT (MGC) and killed everyone again. Unable to keep up, Austin Healy simply went out of business in 1967. Triumph held on with their fast TR-6 until 1970, when Datsun introduced a terribly fast 2-dr hatchback coupe with an OHC six cylinder and low sticker price which Triumph couldn't match. Bob Tullius tried hard to catch Bob Sharp on the racetracks, but usually ended up killing his TR-6 in the attempt. In the end, MGB weakened Triumph, and Datsun killed them.

As with any 48 year old car which only had 43 completed production units made, and which was targeted for road racing by the 1960s crowd, extremely few Doves remain today.

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1970 240Z