Watch: Vintage Triumph family car barn find comes up for auction

The luxury small car might be thought of as a modern phenomenon but back in 1949 Sir John Black introduced the Triumph Mayflower in a bid to prove that you didn’t have to buy a large car to enjoy a spot of luxury.

When Triumph went bust in 1939 it was bought up by Thomas Ward Limited which then sold it on to Standard chief Sir John Black, who amalgamated the two companies to become Standard-Triumph.

His plan was to take on Jaguar at its own game, by offering luxurious cars at an affordable price, typified by the Razoredge saloons of 1946 and the Mayflower of 1949.

The plan was to export the Mayflower to America, where it would be lapped up by consumers but the plan failed, however it did prove more popular in Australia, New Zealand, Canada but only 16,395 Mayflowers were sold in the UK and few remain.

But now a barn find of a 1953 example of a Triumph Mayflower which comes with the original V5 document, service instruction manual and instruction book after being stored for approximately 30 to 40 years is up for auction.

Thainstone Specialist Auctions will host their live online vehicle sale which is set to take place on Thursday, April 22 and for one night only the sale will feature a classic car section.

Full details can be found at https://www.tsaauctions.co.uk/event-details.cfm/eID/3188

The Triumph Mayflower did not see any updates other than a better rated heater and a change in door handles during its production run so all models were 1247cc, four-cylinder engines producing 38bhp @ 4200rpm with a top speed of 65mph from a three-speed manual gearbox.

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