History
The Dolomite was the final addition to Triumph's complex small-car range (codenamed "Project Ajax"), which had started in 1965 with the Triumph 1300. Designed to be a replacement for the rear-wheel drive Triumph Herald, the 1300 was originally fitted with a 1,296 cc (79 cu in) engine and front-wheel drive. The later model, introduced in September 1970 as the Triumph 1500, featured a remodelled front and rear, styled by Michelotti, and a larger 1,493 cc (91 cu in) engine.
Triumph were however dissatisfied with the market performance of the 1300; although successful, the higher price and greater complexity meant sales never reached the levels of its predecessor, the simpler and cheaper Herald. To this end the car was comprehensively re-engineered to be cheaper and simpler to build and maintain; launched in September 1970, was the Triumph Toledo, a cheaper and more basic variant with conventional rear-wheel drive. This was assembled alongside the now larger-engined front-wheel drive version. It was launched at the same time as the 1500, adding further complexity to the model range.
Read more about this topic: Triumph Dolomite
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“All things are moral. That soul, which within us is a sentiment, outside of us is a law. We feel its inspiration; out there in history we can see its fatal strength.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The true theater of history is therefore the temperate zone.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“Like their personal lives, women’s history is fragmented, interrupted; a shadow history of human beings whose existence has been shaped by the efforts and the demands of others.”
—Elizabeth Janeway (b. 1913)