The Triumph TR4 was a sports car built in the United Kingdom by the Triumph Motor Company and introduced in 1961. It was was based on the chassis of the previous TR sportscars, but with a modern Michelotti styled body. This new body style did away with the classical cutaway door design of the previous TRs, and the angular rear allowed a boot of considerable capacity.
Advanced features included adjustable fascia vents and the option of a fixed glass rear window with integral rollbar and a detachable, steel centre panel known as a Surrey top. This was the first such roof system on a production car and preceded the Porsche 911/912 Targa, which has become the generic name for these tops, by 5 years.
These features were seen as a necessary step forward to achieve good sales in the important US market. Nevertheless, the TR4 continued the rugged, hairy-chested image that the previous TRs had enjoyed and was a successful rally car in the early sixties.
In 1965, the TR4A with independent rear suspension superseded the TR4, though Triumph hedged their bets, offering the TR4's solid rear axle suspension system as an option on the TR4A for the conservative US market.
