What is VTR?

Club History

As late as 1970, despite a long and prestigious history of automobile production dating to 1923, and a corporate history reaching back to the 1880’s, there was no American organization dedicated to the history, preservation, and enjoyment of Triumph automobiles. Aware that a large percentage of Triumphs built since World War II had been sold in the USA and Canada, a dedicated group of Triumph owners, enthusiasts, and historians in 1973 planted the early seeds of what would become the Vintage Triumph Register. In 1974 the organization began to take shape, and by January, 1975, the club’s first professionally edited and printed magazine appeared. At last there was a club for all Triumph owners; and growth of the club since has been steady, with more than 2,600 members!

Milestones along the way have included:

• adoption of color covers on The Vintage Triumph
• reprinting of valuable Triumph manuals
• efforts to save obsolete Triumph spares from destruction
• a concerted effort to encourage quality reproduction of needed spares
• the establishment of a VTR archival collection
• the introduction of VTR judging standards
• the creation of a discount Triumph book service
• absorption of the Triumph Sports Owners Association (TSOA), the factory-sponsored owners’ club for 26 years from 1955 to 1981.

An important annual event is the VTR Convention. Called the North American Triumph Challenge, it is held in a different state each year. Every convention includes a fun-filled activity schedule with rallies, autocross, a judged concours d’elegance and participant’s choice car show, autojumble, parts vendor sales, and much, much more. VTR’s national gatherings are always exciting, rewarding and over the years have introduced many, many Triumph owners to one another and produced fond memories. We hope you’ll join VTR and one of our over 70 local VTR Chapters, as we pursue a bright and promising future for the ownership, operation, and preservation of Triumph automobiles.