1984 Triumph Acclaim

Triumph Acclaim (Saloon), 1981-1984

The Triumph Acclaim was in production from 1981 until 1984. Styled in house, it is a front-engine, front wheel drive saloon range seating four adults.

The Acclaim was pitched as a replacement for the sixteen year old Triumph Dolomite range, and as a more modern placeholder within the company's middle lines until the Maestro and Montego models were ready for production. BL's range in the early 1980s consisted of designs from the first half of the previous decade, and fleet ground in particular was being lost to Ford and Vauxhall. Honda and BL had sought a joint venture to develop future models, and it was felt that a small saloon would be the most profitable initial venture for both companies. Effectively, an Acclaim is a Honda Ballade adapted for European tastes, including the fitment of seats based around Cortina seat frames sized for European posteriors.

With 133626 made over the course of just three years, the Acclaim showed BL that the Honda tie up could produce popular models and offered people a chance to buy British where the Ital and Allegro were seen as outdated and disappointing. Unfortunately, with no other Triumph models on sale by 1984, BL saw fit to retire the name, rebrand the whole company under two umbrella marques and realign the next generation of the car under the brand of Triumph's once arch rival Rover. The Rover 213 was the first stage in a process which would also kill off Austin and leave all models under a single family brand.

In house, the Austin Allegro and Morris Ital offered competition of a sort, though the Acclaim was a vastly superior product. Away from BL, the car competed with the Vauxhall Astra and Ford Escort, as well as the Renault 9, entry level Peugeot 305 and Volkswagen Jetta models. The Volvo 340's similar position as a small upmarket car saw it appeal to many of the same people who had taken the Acclaim to their hearts. Japanese alternatives such as the Datsun Sunny, while perhaps not as image conscious as the Triumph, offered a similar level of Japanese sturdiness.