A Triumph automobile that was more than five years ahead of the future
When we hear Triumph as a car brand, we probably first think of sporty two-seaters with attractive bodies and relatively traditional drive technology. But Triumph could also do things differently.
In the second half of the 1960s, the company no longer wanted to lag behind the Americans and their dream cars, so it designed its own future-oriented passenger car and used the result in its advertising.
But let's read how the Automobil Revue described Triumph's car of the future in issue 23/1967 :
"Today, the development of "dream cars" is no longer a privilege of the big American automobile companies. With the "XL 90", the English company Triumph is now also taking a look into the distant future.
Designed by the young stylist Eddie Pepall, the four-door vehicle of the future with a low waistline, very high glass surfaces, wheels positioned in the outermost corners of the body, a strongly curved windshield and an almost vertical rear end features some quite remarkable ideas, the realization of which, however, is reserved for future generations,
Radar-controlled
To ensure a high level of driving safety even in dense fog, the XL 90 can be equipped with a radar system for an extra charge. Electromagnetic impulses emitted by the guide cable in the roadbed reach the specially designed steering system, which is operated manually via two small rotary handles.
After setting a specific driving speed using the automatic "Speed Pilot", the driver does not have to press the accelerator pedal or make any course changes to the steering. In addition, the radar system scans the distance to the vehicle in front and, if necessary, automatically initiates deceleration.
Another special feature is the speed light on the roof of the car, which is permanently lit at normal speed and starts to flash at higher speeds, e.g. from 120 km/h upwards. Instead of conventional windshield wipers, ultrasonic waves are used, which cause an invisible vibration of the windshield and "shake off" impurities.
Sealed engine
The engine is a two-liter six-cylinder unit that accelerates the XL 90 from a standstill to 96 km/h (60 miles) in 6 seconds. This engine no longer requires any maintenance work in the usual sense. Checks on the engine transmission unit are only necessary every 80,000 km, while the oil only needs to be changed at intervals of 16,000 km."
That was the original text at the time. To this day, some of the ideas have actually been put into practice, but it didn't take five years, as the advertising at the time claimed, but 30, 40 and more years before distance radar or the self-driving car became feasible. After all, changing the oil every 16,000 km is no longer the stuff of science fiction. However, we are still waiting for the windshield cleaned by ultrasonic waves.
Oh yes, and for those who have already forgotten, you could also buy the sealed engine, albeit not from Triumph but from TVR in the Tuscan model ...
