The TR Register is excited to learn that Glen Hewett of Protek Engineering in Wallingford, UK has recently acquired the historic Triumph TR2, MVC575 and plans to restore the car to its former glory. The car made history in 1953 during speed trials held on a highway near Jabbeke in Belgium but was dismantled and stored away in 1976 awaiting a restoration that never happened.

Standard Triumph were keen to show the world that their new sports car, the TR2 was faster than its nearest rivals, in particular the Sunbeam Alpine that had completed the run at at Jabbeke in the March of 1953 with 120.135 MPH over a flying mile at the hands of Sheila Van Damm and Sir Stirling Moss.

For Standard Triumph's attempt at the record, Ken Richardson modified the TR2 to reduce drag and included a metal tonneau cover, belly pan and rear wheel spats. Sitting on the floor behind a lightweight plastic windscreen, Richardson achieved only 104.86 mph on his first run on May 20th 1953. However, it was later found that the car had only been running on three cylinders due to a loose spark plug lead! Once that was repaired, the car achieved 124.889 mph for a flying mile - a new top speed record for a two - litre production sports car.

To assist with the renovation TR parts specialist Moss Europe recently announced that they will be supporting the project with a parts sponsorship for Glen, a Moss trade customer for over 30 years.

You can follow the progress of what is set to be a challenging but interesting rebuild over the coming weeks and months through a series of articles in TR Action Magazine 288, with the first instalment released on 16th February 2016.