Page 8 - May2022

About t he Triumph St ag, continued from p. 7 A Yellow Cit roen 2CV Sight ing

much like that seen in the much earlier Lynx, a Riley, discussed
The yellow Citroen that appeared in
in Mike Long's "Life with Riley" interview in this issue.
March courtesy of Jeff and Andrea Lane
Had the Triumph version of its code named Lynx been put into of the Lane Motor Museum, while not
production it would have been a fast car with fastback coupe rare, is a rarity on country roads in
body styling. A 3.5 L Rover V8 engine, combined with a gearbox Tennessee. The distinctive shape of the
and rear axle, also borrowed from the Rover SD1, was intended to car some call the snail is clearly visible in
provide the guts. The Lynx came close to becoming a reality the line-up on page 10. The 2CV is also
except the sudden closure of the Triumph factory in Speke, beloved, as this section of a review by
Liverpool shut down the car's launch date of 1978 and the David Holzman of a 1975 2CV in the Truth
program was scrapped. about Cars reveals:

As part of the consolidation of many of Britain's venerable "It was our first drive on the French autoroute.
marques reductions in product lines were made under British The highway, heretofore flat, began to climb, all
Leyland and its new chief executive, Michael Edwardes; with the but imperceptibly. Imperceptibly that is, except
demise of the Lynx idea, memories of the ill-fated Stag began to to the drivers of the Deux Chevaux, cars that
look like old Beetles made of corrugated barn
fade away except among the faithful.
roofing. Suddenly, the Deux Chevaux were
Despite less than glowing reviews for the Stag during its day, moving en masse into the far right lane,
enthusiasm for them has grown over time. Today, club and putt-putting ever more loudly as they struggled
owner fan bases have over 5,000 members. Suppliers of specialty vainly to maintain momentum.
remanufactured parts, remain active. With half a century on the To a kid whose automotive ideal was the ?64
clock the Stag continues to show both its underlying grit as well Impala Super Sport, the Deux Chevaux was a
as the persistence of the owners. piece of crap. Two cylinders, seats of canvas
slung over pipes, weights for shocks. The
In the UK, 8,500 Stags are believed to still survive; in 2020 8,289
Deuches leaned in corners like sail boats tacking
of them were registered as either taxed or under SORN, meaning in the wind. Danielle, our landlady?s young adult
that they were eligible to be driven on UK highways. daughter, claimed to have seen one roll thrice
while rounding the Arc de Triomphe. My
Time magazine rated the Triumph Stag as one of the 50 worst
American friends and I, all seventh graders at
cars ever made, largely because of problems with its Triumph the Lycee de Sevres, would grab the rear
engineered V-8 engine. With 46.51% of the original Stags sold in bumpers and bounce Deux Chevaux. ...Little did
Britain ( many still with original engines) still active on the roads, I know that the Deux Chevaux was an
the Times' claim can be debated. Another 1,100 Stags can still be engineering marvel that had done for France
found in Australia, a high rate of survival considering that only what the Model T did for America, and an icon
whose obituary would grace the front page of the
1,596 were exported there. In the USA, 3,000 Stags were
New York Times ..., after 40 years and nearly 4
delivered but fewer than that were sold here before being pulled,
million vehicles, or that the Deuche would
after disappointing sales, made worse by warranty engine
become a cult object. Every summer, a drove of
replacements, after only three years on the market. The Stag Deux Chevaux congregates in Saratoga Springs.
did, however, get interest from Hollywood.
The simplicity that I had scorned in my youth is
The Stag made it to the films. Dustin Hoffman drove an early one of the Deux Chevaux?s signal virtues. ?Most
pre-production Stag in the 1971 film Straw Dogs. Sean Connery parts are designed to function with the simplest,
most spare design,? says [photographer Jon and
drove a saffron yellow Mk1 Stag in Diamonds are Forever.
owner of a Citroen 2CV] Chomitz. For example,
Several characters drove a 1973 Triumph Stag in the 1985 movie,
the engine is air cooled, the cooling fan and
My Beautiful Launderette, and in 2021, a Stag had a starring role
dynamo are integral with the one-piece
in Modern Love, an Amazon Original Series, in episode 1 of crankshaft, rendering drive belts unnecessary,
Season 2. and the 2CV pioneered the distributorless
ignition system. The Deuche cheats Murphy?s
When you next see the Cardins, be sure to give their Stag the
Law....Quality is equally important. "
round of applause it merits. Rarity makes it a celebrity.
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