VTR’s 2008 North American Triumph Challenge

Your hosts: The Detroit Triumph Sportscar Club

The Detroit Triumph Sportscar Club (DTSC) is proud to host the North American Triumph Challenge in tribute to when the club last hosted this annual Triumph gathering in 1984. In the club’s nearly 50 years of existence it has hosted this annual gathering of Triumph cars five times (1977, 1979, 1981, 1984 and 2008).

The DTSC is one of the oldest and most active Triumph sportscar clubs in the country. Founded in 1959 the club originally was simply a group of Triumph owners and enthusiasts who frequently spotted each other driving around metropolitan Detroit in their TR2s, TR3s and TR3As. The urge to meet and engage in camaraderie was overwhelming. Their initial meetings were informal chat sessions. More and more Triumphs owners began meeting and eventually someone suggested that a club be formed. In 1960 incorporation was initiated and a final charter was granted by the State of Michigan on March 9, 1961. The Detroit Triumph Sportscar Owners Association (DTSOA) was official.

At about the same time Standard-Triumph opened a regional office in the eastern suburbs of Detroit and the DTSOA members began holding their meetings there. Soon the members began publishing a newsletter (The Roadrunner) which kept the members aware of events that were being scheduled. It’s not surprising the most popular events the club scheduled were road rallies and parking lot autocrosses, known then as gymkhanas. Club road rallies were frequently long, sometimes lasting up to 10 hours of spirited driving.

One rally in particular was noteworthy. In June, 1962, the DTSOA hosted a rally that was sponsored by Standard-Triumph. Local Triumph dealers invited owners of newly purchased Triumphs to participate. More than 50 entrants participated in a touring rally that concluded at Waterford Hills, a road racing course located near Pontiac, Michigan. The membership numbers were on the rise.

Also in 1962 the club changed their name to Detroit Triumph Club (DTC). They also moved their meeting location from the Standard-Triumph offices to a local restaurant.

Today the club has changed their name once again and is now known as the Detroit Triumph Sportcar Club (DTSC) and boasts 170 members. The club members own 270 sports and foreign cars. Most are British and many are Triumphs. Over the years the club has attracted members who own a variety of sports and foreign cars and even some motorcycles. Appropriately the Detroit Triumph Sportscar Club has, since 1982, hosted an annual event entitled Battle of the Brits. It has grown to be one of the largest one-day British car and motorcycle displays in the Midwest frequently attracting more than 400 mostly British cars and nearly as many British motorcycles.