An Alfa Romeo-Conrero
Born in Turin, Italy in the last year of World War I, Virgilio Conrero served as a mechanic in the Regia Aeronautica during the next global conflict. He established the Autotecnica Conrero in 1951 and was one of the most successful Alfa Romeo and Lancia tuners (though often overshadowed by the work of Abarth) and produced a small number of Conrero-Alfas that are prized today for the performance and good looks.
Aerodynamic body and 165bhp could have produced the fastest Works Triumph ever
His reputation led Standard-Triumph to commission his assistance to produce a four car team for the 1961 24 Hours of Le Mans. Unfortunately, only one car was produced and that single unit was not finished until 1962. With a tubular spaceframe and aerodynamic bodywork, the Triumph Conrero took full advantage of the tuned Sabrina engine – that made a reported 165bhp with a surfeit of torque – to reach almost 150 mph on the M1 motorway in England.
As so often happens with the history of Triumph, the Leyland takeover scuttled what could have been a class winning effort at Le Mans in 1962. The car, however, survives and represents another chapter in the Book of What If for British sports cars.
'Profile – Triumph Conrero' have 5 comments
July 10, 2015 @ 11:18 pm Mike Outen, Sr
What a beautiful car. in all of my years (60) as a Triumph fan I had never encountered this one.
February 6, 2018 @ 3:04 am G.Crispin
I understand the Conrero is undergoing refurbishment right now and might be completed later this year
January 13, 2016 @ 9:41 am kelvin.smith14@btinternet.com
All very interesting !
Where did the figure of 150mph on the M1come from ?
Also where did the 165 bhp come from ?–was it from Virgilio Conrero who tuned the engine and had a an engine test bed in his workshop in Turin
March 14, 2019 @ 10:23 pm Robert Davis
Having owned 2 TRS’s & the Conrero the only
difference is the TRS’s had SU’s & the Conrero
Had Weber’s
December 6, 2019 @ 11:36 am kelvin smith
were the webers on the corner 42 doe or 45dcoe
did you purchase the cars from Charlie Colb [kemo motors] in Florida ? back in the 1960,s ?