Page 7 - May2022

First Drive of the Season, continued from page 6

Was t hat a Triumph St ag t hat t urned out for t he Harry Webster, the director of engineering at
March drive? It was. Owned by Matt and Kerry Triumph at the time, was that if Webster liked the
Cardin, this nice example is also a relative rarity, not design, Triumph would use the prototype as the
often seen in the United States. starting point for a new model of its own.
Webster brought the design to England where a
Produced from 1970-1979, only 25,939 Stags were
two- door drop head that didn't resemble the
built. Triumph's original intent was for the Stag ( the
original saloon idea but did retain the design's
only Triumph to take its development code name into
suspension and drive line was mocked up.
production) to be a luxury sports car eyeing as its
However, the initial design didn't totally
competition the Mercedes Benz SL models. Because
disappear as the styling lines of what became the
of American rollover standards of the time, like the
Stag were also melded into the new T2000/T2500
Porsche Targa, the Stag was built with a B-Pillar 'roll
saloon and estate models also built in the 1970s.
bar" hoop connected to the frame by a T-bar, while
the car itself was a four- seater convertible. A When production ceased, the Stag was never
removable hardtop was a popular factory option. directly replaced, although British Leyland floated
a derivative of it for the TR7, which it code
The Stag had continental underpinnings. It began as
named the Lynx. Triumph's engineers added 12
an experimental shaping from a 1963-64
inches to the chassis to accommodate a bench
pre-production car, styled by Giovanni Michelotti and
style rear seat, continues on page 8
intended as a saloon car. An agreement made with
7