I have been buying Triumph related books since1980 so I have accumulated quite a lot! They are in published date order.
THE TRIUMPH COMPANION
Kenneth Ullyett
Stanley Paul 1962
This book was recommended by Colin Lindsay in his book “Triumph Herald”
Illustrated Car Servicing Series for Owner-Drivers: TRIUMPH HERALD
T. P. Postlethwaite
Newnes Books 1965
My Second book, a companion to my second car – a 1962 Triumph Herald 1200 Coupé.
TRIUMPH GT6/VITESSE 2 Litre WORKSHOP MANUAL
Standard-Triumph 1966
Essential!
TRIUMPH GT6 SPORTS CAR SPARE PARTS CATALOGUE
Standard-Triumph 1966
Equally essential (many of the diagrams are used by the main suppliers of parts)
Handbook for the
STANDARD EIGHT and TEN
Piet Olyslager MSIA MSAE
Nelson 1966
My first book, a companion to my first car – a 1956 Standard ‘Family’ Eight. Some good illustrations.
The Book of the Triumph Sports Cars
Staton Abbey
Pitman Publishing 1971
One of my first books, “Do-it-yourself Servicing and Maintenance in the Home Garage”.
50 YEARS ON
A special tribute to half a century
of Triumph cars
A MOTOR Special 1973
“In the following pages we look back at some earlier memorable Triumphs, and at their competition successes: we try a contemporary Triumph and find that it’s almost the ideal long-distance touring car; and we look into the future of the company with its managing director, Bill Davis”
TRIUMPH GT6 & VITESSE
Owners Workshop Manual
J H Haynes & J L S Maclay
Haynes Publishing 1974
“These authentic manuals are actually written from practical experience” (Car Mechanics)
TRIUMPH SPORTS
54 Competitive years
An Autocar SPECIAL 1978
Articles from ‘Autocar’ including ‘1966 GT6 Described’ (Published 1978).
Triumph Cars – The Complete 75 Year History
Richard Langworth & Graham Robson
Motor Racing Publications 1979
A comprehensive and very readable book!
Triumph Spitfire & GT6
Graham Robson
Osprey Classic Library 1982
A good book written by one of the insiders.
COMPETITION PREPARATION MANUAL
R.W. Kas Kastner
British Leyland 1992
Manual for the GT6, GT6+ & 2000 written by the former Triumph Competitions Manager. Contains “the accumulated experience of competition engineers on both sides of the Atlantic”
TRIUMPH GT6 Gold Portfolio 1966-1974
Brooklands Books 1992
A Portfolio of Road & Comparison Tests, Technical & Performance Data, etc.
Triumph Spitfire & GT6 – A Guide to Originality
John Thomason
The Crowood Press 1995
An essential guide to the important details when restoring a Spitfire or GT6
John Kipping’s Catalogue
3rd Edition 1997
This is an absolute mine of information on all the small-chassis Triumphs. John set up his parts operation on the back of the TSSC of which he was the spare parts secretary. It expanded from his front room (and garden!) which I visited in the early 1980s to a warehouse and workshop employing several people. Unfortunately (for us) he emigrated to South Africa and his legacy is Canley Classics run by David Pearson. Also Mike Papworth took over the transmission building.
practical CLASSICS Guide to the
TRIUMPH SPIRFIRE & GT6
Danny Hopkins et al 1998
“Collector’s Edition” with articles on Driving, Buying and Restoring
Classic & Sportscar
TRIUMPH: Celebrating 75 years
A C&SC SPECIAL 1998
Includes article ‘King of the Swingers’ about the first family of starter classics (Published 1998)
Triumph Spitfire & GT6 – A Collectors Guide
Graham Robson
Motor Racing Publications 2000
Another good book written by one of the insiders.
Triumph Spitfire and GT6 The Complete Story
James Taylor
The Crowood Press 2000
Another book from John Nikas’s bibliography. To quote Amazon ” This in-depth volume presents the full story, including background to the company, design and development of both the Spitfire and the GT6, plus full specifications for all five models of Spitfire and three models of GT6. Superbly illustrated”.
Triumph, Spitfire, GT6, Vitesse and Herald Restoration Manual
Lindsay Porter & Peter Williams
MBI Publishing 2002
A comprehensive book covering all Triumph Spitfire, GT6, Vitesse & Herald models with over 9000 illustrations.
Triumph Sport and Elegance
Bill Piggott
Haynes Publishing 2005
Here, from a celebrated Triumph expert, is the inside story of a popular make that has always had a special place in the hearts of sports car enthusiasts. The varied content includes technical information, driving impressions and buying hints.
The Book of The Standard Motor Company
Graham Robson
Veloce Publishing 2011
A superb book about the forerunners to the Spitfire & GT6
THE WORKS SPITFIRES “A Technical Analysis”
Fabrizio Comi
(published by the author in 2013)
A publication that speaks of the Triumph Spitfire seen from the technical and historical viewpoint. A great collection of pictures and testimonials on Comi’s racing history on road and track, and a complete technical analysis related to racing by Triumph’s “Competition Department” in the years 1964-1965.
Triumph Spitfire & GT6 – The Complete Story
Richard Dredge
The Crowood Press 2014
A different style to Graham Robson, but well written and informative.
practical CLASSICS Guide to the
TRIUMPH SPIRFIRE & GT6
Danny Hopkins et al
Bauer Consumer Media 2014
“Collector’s Edition” with articles on Driving, Buying and Restoring
Kas Kastner’s Historical & Technical Guide for Triumph Cars
R.W. Kas Kastner (e-Book) 2014
This book was on John Nikas’s bibliography, so I bought the eBook version directly from Kas Kastner’s website. To buy a copy click here. According to The Roadster Factory “This second book updates Mr. Kastner’s first book by detailing current preparation of the cars for vintage racing. Kas also went around to racers’ shops and to businesses which cater to racers, companies like Carillo, which makes fantastic steel connecting rods. Many racing parts are profiled, and many Triumph racing secrets are shared”.
Coventry and Warwickshire 1914-1919 Local Aspects of the Great War Vol 2
Ed. by Chris Holland
Warwickshire Great War Publications 2014
I bought this book direct from the author because I became interested in the founder of Triumph, Siegfried Bettmann. Apparantly he wrote an unpublished memoir of his life (which was remarkable) and in this volume is a chapter about him written by somebody who had access to this.
Works Triumph in Detail
Graham Robson
Herridge & Sons 2015
Standard-Triumph’s works competition entrants, car-by-car.
Everyday Modifications for your Triumph Spitfire, Herald, Vitesse and GT6
Iain Ayre
The Crowood Press 2016
Very informative and extremely well-written book from freelance contributor to Triumph World, Classic Cars et al.
Trauma at Triumph
www.triumphherald.com 2016
“A month-by-month timeline of events from the initial concept of the Triumph Herald, codenamed: Zobo. The book covers the design by Michelotti, the prototype testing through Spain, Portugal and Africa, leading into full scale production and right up to the Leyland Motos takeover in 1961.”
The Illustrated History of Triumph Sports and Racing Cars
G William Krause
CarTech 2017
Triumph historian G. William Krause reviews every model in the sports car lineup. He covers the history, design evolution, and performance specifications from the first sports cars in the 1930s through the final cars built in 1981. Throughout Triumph’s history a number of pivotal moments could have significantly changed the company’s fortunes. This book also looks at the “what if” cars that never made it into production, including photos.
The Classic Car Adventure:
Driving Through History on The Road to Nostalgia
Lance Cole
Pen & Sword 2017
This is a superb book which I really enjoyed, helped (a little) by Lance waxing lyrically about the GT6 and Giovanni Michelotti – see the quotation on my Home page. I met him at the 2019 Classic & Motor Show, and he is urging me to write a GT6 book (although it may end up as Triumph GT6 & Spitfire!)
Triumph Sports Cars
Graham Robson
Shire Publications 2017
Triumph Spitfire & GT6: Setting The Small Sportscar Standard
John Nikas / Marc Vorgers
Amberley Publishing 2019
More of the same, really. Not worth buying if you already have Robsons and Dredges books. Good bibliography, though. I always fancied John Nikas’s book “Rule Britannia – When British Sports Cars Saved A Nation” but wasn’t prepared to pay the £85 asking price.
Triumph Spitfire and GT6: The Essential Buyer’s Guide
Iain Ayre
Veloce Publishing 2019
A good book with lots of useful advice on buying the Triumph Spitfire or GT6. Information on what to look for, what to pay, buying from Auctions, etc. from the author of “Everyday Modifications for your Triumph Spitfire, Herald, Vitesse and GT6”.
Giovanni Michelotti – A Free Stylist
Edgardo Michelotti & Giancarlo Cavallini
Fondazione Negri 2019
The book was published by Fondazione Negri of Brescia, Italy. It is a 288-page, hardbound volume with slipcase, presenting 200-plus photos, plans, and drawings of vehicles. It is written by Edgardo, Giovannis son who joined the ‘family business’ and Giancarlo Cavallini, an expert on design and the history of the automotive industry. Covers the Spitfire & GT6 in some detai
British Leyland: From Triumph to Tragedy, Petrol, Politics and Power
Lance Cole
Pen & Sword 2020
Another well researched tome which Lance told me about, when I met him at the Classic Car Show at the NEC in 2019. It’s very political, and although I don’t agree with everything he says, I must concur that unfortunately the British motor industry was adversly affected by the political decisions of the day. A good read!
BRITISH ICONS
The Definite Guide to
TRIUMPH SPITFIRE / GT6
Kelsey Media 2023
One of a series produced by the publishers of Triumph World.
Triumph Herald
Colin Lindsay
Amberley Publishing 2025
A very detailed and well written new book on the Triumph Herald and its dirivatives
Kas Kastner’s Triumphs, Race Cars, Street Cars and Special Cars
A main feature of this book is the building of a GT-6 racer from scratch. Choosing the best of three junkers, the racer is built up over a period of 20 months and described in detail; suspension, drive line, body additions and fixing, making lexan windows, the engine dyno run, roll cage building, painting, chassis work, engine building… all done right in the home garage of Chuck Gee, 2007 winner of the Kastner Cup. Detailed views of the engine building and preparation which produced 204 bhp at 8000 rpm will help you build any engine.
The author is currently writing this book using material from this website. Watch this space!!!
