Factory-Fresh Dolomite

David Parrott’s Triumph Dolomite 1850 was used by the company to test and develop interior trim proposals in 1972. As an employee, David helped put some of those original test miles on it, and he liked the car so much that he’s owned it ever since.

- Simon Goldsworthy

Triumph’s Dolomite family of small saloons has a famously complex and convoluted history, starting with the FWD 1300 of 1965 and 1500 of 1970, plus the RWD Toledo that also arrived in 1970. We will be looking at the development from 1300FWD to 1500 Dolomite next issue, but this issue we have a real treat in David Parrott’s early and original 1850.

The OHC 1850 slant-four engine was an all-new design when it first appeared in the Saab 99 at 1709cc, Triumph having agreed to supply the Swedish company exclusively from 1968. By the time it appeared in the Triumph Dolomite in 1972, it had grown to 1854cc and, with 91bhp on tap, produced a compact but luxuriously equipped saloon capable of a genuine 100mph. Of course, the engine was also closely related to the Stag’s V8, and was soon turned into an ingenious SOHC 16-valve unit at 1998cc for the Dolomite Sprint, not to mention 8-valve versions at the higher 1998cc capacity for the TR7.

However, this is not the feature to give a detailed model history. Instead it is a chance to admire an early example of the 1850 Dolomite breed, one which is in excellent original condition and even has an unusual twist from its early life on the British Leyland fleet.

It belongs to David Parrott, who joined Pressed Steel at Cowley in 1958 as an apprentice design engineer aged 17. ‘They were a huge company,’ recalls David, ‘and body design for many of the world’s cars was done at Pressed Steel in premises which covered the whole area where BMW now build the MINI.’