Chassis

The chassis is probably one of the most interesting parts of the Beta prototype. It is neither a TR3A chassis nor an early TR4 Chassis.

Neil Revington continues: -

I had heard that the thinking behind the Beta was that Triumph, perpetually short of cash,  could not afford the tooling for the new TR4 which was to be mostly based on the Zest prototype styled by Michelotti with a little bit of Zoom thrown in. This much is true but the story at the time suggested that Triumph had already invested in the tooling and production of a quantity of the wider (by 4") early TR4 Chassis. See details of this chassis below, part number 304856. This second part of the folklore is flawed for two reasons. First a gentleman who worked in development at the time at Triumph told me first hand he was tasked with widening a TR3A chassis and making the necessary changes. secondly on close inspection the chassis under this Beta is quite different to both a TR3A chassis and a TR4 chassis in the way that the diagonal strut in the engine bay is attached to the turret.

The box that the diagonal strut attaches to is unique and not found on a production TR chassis.

In addition, the lugs to attach the TR3A front brake hose are present, as are additions ones suggesting the development department were experimenting with different brake set ups. 

The chassis is now fully restored and ready to accept its suspension, brake pipes and petrol pipes ahead of the engine and gearbox being fitted and finally being re-mated with the bodywork.

To enable customers to recreate a Beta, as well as supplying all the necessary body panels, we can supply a new chassis entirely suited to the job. The appropriate chassis is listed below.