TriumphTR6

Group 44 Triumph TR6

Bob Tullius's team raced a TR6 for British Leyland from 1969, took it to the London Motor Show in 1972, and in 1975, on carburettors in D Production, won the national championship with John McComb; in 1976 the same car won again, with Paul Newman.

About the pictureA white TR6 in a classic rally of 2021, not Group 44's car

A white Triumph TR6 with start number 12 and a luggage rack, seen from behind on a mountain road during a classic rally.
Stand-in A white TR6 with start number 12 in the 550 Challenge, a classic regularity rally in Mallorca, in October 2021: a car in competition today, standing in for a racing car of the 1970s.Koldo Zuazaga, CC0

Group 44 was Bob Tullius's team, founded in 1965 with Brian Fuerstenau and Dick Gilmartin and based at Falls Church, and later Herndon, in Virginia. From 1969 it raced a TR-6 for British Leyland in the eastern United States, with Quaker State's backing, and Tullius drove it to three national wins in a row in the first spring. It carried No. 44 to 1973 and No. 4 in 1974 and 1975, racingsportscars records, and its entrant changed with its sponsors, from "Quaker State/BLMI" at the 1972 championship race to "Quaker State" at Brainerd in 1975. Its chassis number, whether one car ran from 1969 to 1976, and where it is now, no source read records; its own story, and its results, follow below.⁠1​2​3​4

The show car, 1972

Sources for Group 44 Triumph TR6

Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, October–November 1975, Oct–Nov 1975 (vol. 21 no. 6)⁠5; Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, September–October 1976, Sep–Oct 1976 (vol. 22 no. 5)⁠6; Aaron Severson, "Grandfather's Ax: The Many Evolutions of the Triumph TR4, Part 2: TR5, TR250, and TR6", Ate Up With Motor, 7 Nov 2012⁠7

In October 1972 British Leyland showed the car in London for the 20th anniversary of the TR. The importer's newsletter found it "resplendent in new white paint" on the stand at Earls Court, where Tullius and his "160 mph mount" drew the crowds, and quoted a "fuel-injected 225 bhp engine" when he demonstrated it to the press at Silverstone. Motor Sport noticed the effect on the company's chairman:

Meanwhile Lord Stokes was so impressed with the American Group 44 racing Triumph TR6, on show on one of his stands, that he saw fit to mention it on a late night television show.

Bill Boddy, Motor Sport, November 1972

The champion, 1975–76

The move to D Production made it a winner. With John McComb as British Leyland's Triumph driver it won nine races in 1975: at Nelson Ledges on 26 July it made him champion of the Northeast Division, and at Road Atlanta on 2 November he won the national championship, leading the final from the start.

A year later, at the same circuit, it won the title again, with Paul Newman driving, and a reader told the importer's newsletter that he had seen Newman drive it twice that year. The racing page sets both titles among the TR6's other results.⁠12​5​4​6​13​2

Where it has been

  1. 1975

    Moved to D Production on its standard carburettors

    British Leyland named John McComb of Group 44 its Triumph team driver for 1975, "in a TR-6, which is now in D Production". The importer later explained that for 1975 the TR6 ran "using the standard equipment carburettors, instead of fuel injection as in previous years". Whether this was the same chassis as Group 44's C Production TR-6 of 1969–74, or the car shown at the 1972 London Motor Show, no source says

    Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, February–March 1975, Feb–Mar 1975 (vol. 21 no. 2)⁠12; Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, October–November 1975, Oct–Nov 1975 (vol. 21 no. 6)⁠5

  2. 1975

    Converted back to C Production specification for the Brainerd Trans-Am

    For the Pepsi Trans-Am at Brainerd on 7 September 1975 Group 44 refitted Lucas fuel injection, with a fuel cell and a differential cooler, and kept the 7 in. wheels used in past years; the importer called it "the little white TR-6"

    Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, October–November 1975, Oct–Nov 1975 (vol. 21 no. 6)⁠5; Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, August–September 1975, Aug–Sep 1975 (vol. 21 no. 5)⁠4

  3. 1976

    Raced by Paul Newman

    The importer reported that Newman's 1976 title car was the one John McComb had driven to the title a year before; Severson calls it "an ex-Group 44 car". No source read records who owned or entered it in 1976, or what became of it.

    Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, September–October 1976, Sep–Oct 1976 (vol. 22 no. 5)⁠6; Aaron Severson, "Grandfather's Ax: The Many Evolutions of the Triumph TR4, Part 2: TR5, TR250, and TR6", Ate Up With Motor, 7 Nov 2012⁠7

Results

A yellow year marks a win.

  • 1975

    SCCA race, Nelson Ledges 1975

    26 July 1975, Nelson Ledges, USA. John McComb: 1st in D Production⁠4

  • 1975

    Pepsi Trans-Am, Brainerd 1975

    7 September 1975, Brainerd, USA. No. 4, John McComb: 3rd overall⁠4​5​2

  • 1975

    SCCA Runoffs 1975

    November 1975, Road Atlanta, USA. John McComb: 1st in D Production⁠5​7

  • 1976

    SCCA Runoffs 1976

    31 October 1976, Road Atlanta, USA. Paul Newman: 1st in D Production⁠6​7

Sources

Sources are given as plain text; their addresses are on the sources page.

  • Primarymade at the time, by the maker or by people who were there
  • Referenceserious later work: clubs, specialists, magazines, books
  • Databaseresults and listings, entry by entry
  1. Moss Motoring, "Bob Tullius, Group 44 Inc.", 5 Apr 2009, Group 44: founders, base, the TR6, the move to the Jaguar E-type. Reference
  2. racingsportscars.com, "Triumph TR6 – All Results", Group 44 entries, 1969–75: numbers and entrants; Brainerd 1975. Database
  3. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, June 1969, Jun 1969, Tullius's third straight win. Primary
  4. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, August–September 1975, Aug–Sep 1975 (vol. 21 no. 5), p. 4, Group 44 at Herndon; p. 4, Nelson Ledges; the Brainerd preparation; p. 4. Primary
  5. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, October–November 1975, Oct–Nov 1975 (vol. 21 no. 6), pp. 1–2; pp. 1–2, the carburettors; Brainerd; the Runoffs; nine wins; p. 2. Primary
  6. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, September–October 1976, Sep–Oct 1976 (vol. 22 no. 5), pp. 1–2; pp. 1–3, the 1976 Runoffs; p. 1; pp. 1–3; results p. 3. Primary
  7. Aaron Severson, "Grandfather's Ax: The Many Evolutions of the Triumph TR4, Part 2: TR5, TR250, and TR6", Ate Up With Motor, 7 Nov 2012, TR in twilight. Reference
  8. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November 1972, Nov 1972 (vol. 18 no. 11), "resplendent in new white paint"; "fuel-injected 225 bhp engine"; "160 mph mount"; Silverstone; Tullius's season; "first alternate". Primary
  9. Bill Boddy, "Matters of Moment", Motor Sport, Nov 1972, p. 19, p. 19, "the SCC of America Championship-winning Triumph TR6 …"; Lord Stokes. Primary
  10. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, November–December 1971, Nov–Dec 1971 (vol. 17 nos. 11–12), the 1971 divisional champions. Primary
  11. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, December 1972, Dec 1972 (vol. 18 no. 12), p. 2, the 1972 ARRC. Primary
  12. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, February–March 1975, Feb–Mar 1975 (vol. 21 no. 2), p. 5, McComb, team driver, D Production; p. 5. Primary
  13. Triumph Sports Owners Association, Triumph Sports Owners Association Newsletter, January–February 1977, Jan–Feb 1977, a reader who saw it raced twice in 1976. Primary