Triumph Mayflower

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Triumph launched its curious Mayflower in 1949 in an ultimately misguided attempt to crack the all-important American market.

Billed as being an upmarket car at an economy price, the body was designed by Leslie Moore, chief stylist at Mulliner, and used the same fashionable ‘razor-edge’ styling as Mulliner employed on some contemporary Bentley and Rolls-Royce models. The imposing radiator also had upscale pretensions as did the protruding rear luggage compartment. But while these styling cues worked well on big limousines they looked faintly ridiculous on a compact saloon.

Powered by an updated Standard 10 engine with a new alloy head and a Solex carburettor, the driver had 38bhp at his disposal and could just about crack the magic 60mph marker although it took over half-a-minute to get there. Modern features included hydraulic brakes and independent front suspension, while the well-appointed interior continued the upmarket image.

While we wouldn’t agree with Top Gear’s James May, who called the Mayflower ‘the ugliest car of all time’, it was certainly something of an acquired taste and only 200 were sold in its intended American market although it did find 34,000 buyers elsewhere before production came to an end in 1953.

As the accompanying Heritage Certificate confirms, MDF 641 was built towards the end of production in April 1953 and was supplied new through Westgate Motors of Gloucester. Clearly a much-cherished machine, it comes with a fair amount of history back to the mid-1970s including many old MOT certificates which chart the gentle accumulation of mileage from 59,279 in 1975 to 64,577 in 2012, this being the last time it was tested.

Most importantly it also comes with bills for a full engine rebuild with new pistons and bearings etc. in the summer of 2011, since when it has only covered some 600 miles. The vendor acquired the car about two years ago with the intention of turning it into a historic rally car (!) but due to a change of plans (attack of good sense?) and far too many other projects on the go, he has now decided that he can make better use of the space that it occupies.

Only a handful of these quirky mini limos still survive and, although it does look rather hearse-like from the side, this well-cared-for example deserves to be kept on the road – if only to annoy James May.