he Triumph Stag is a British car that was sold between 1970 and 1978 by the Triumph Motor Company styled by the Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti.Envisioned as a luxury sports car, the Triumph Stag was designed to compete directly with the Mercedes-Benz SL class models. All Stags were four-seater convertible coupés, but for structural rigidity – and to meet new American rollover standards at the time – the Stag required a B-pillar “roll bar” hoop connected to the windscreen frame by a T-bar. A removable hardtop was a popular factory option for the early Stags, and was later supplied as a standard fitment.The car started as a styling experiment cut and shaped from a 1963-4 Triumph 2000 pre-production saloon, which had also been styled by Michelotti, and loaned to him by Harry Webster, Director of Engineering at Triumph from the early to late 1960s. Their agreement was that if Webster liked the design, Triumph could use the prototype as the basis of a new Triumph model. Harry Webster, who was a long time friend of Giovanni Michelotti, who he called “Micho”, absolutely loved the design and spirited the prototype back to England. The end result, a two door drop head (convertible) had little in common with the styling of its progenitor 2000, but retained the suspension and drive line. Triumph liked the Michelotti design so much that they propagated the styling lines of the Stag into the new T2000/T2500 saloon and estate model lines of the 1970s.It has been alleged that internal politics meant that Triumph intended, but were unable, to use the proven but old technology Buick designed all aluminium Rover V8. As we know today, the no-fit story is probably a myth as Rover, also owned by British Leyland, simply could not supply the numbers of V8 engines to match the anticipated production of the Stag. “Brand loyalty” between Triumph and Rover was high as they were former rivals. Triumph engineers preferred their new design as it was lighter using aluminium cylinder heads and the superior overhead cam design.
Triumph Stag
