Triang all over the world

TRIANG : ALL OVER THE WORLD

Pieter van den Berg - South Africa

Pieter is the editor of the "South African Pedal Car Register"

Of all the pedal car makers, Triang is probably the only one I will truly call international. Ok, so let me explain myself. Although you will find Steelcraft's in Europe, they were built in the USA . And the Eureka ’s in the USA were built in France , as was the Giordani’s built in Italy . However, you could find Triangs built in Canada under the name Thistle, Triang's built in the UK as Triang's, in South Africa as Triang's and in Australia under the name Cyclops. Triang started life as Lines Bros., and pre-war cars are known under this name.

After the war Lines Bros produced their cars under the Triang name, except as previously mentioned in Australia and Canada , where a licensing agreement meant Cyclops and Thistle could build the identical cars for their own markets. Because of the practice of building cars in various locations, there are some differences between the cars, and a Duke car from Canada is not the same as one built in South Africa . The Triang Florida built in the UK is identical to the Tornado sold in South Africa, and we believe the cars were either pressed in the UK and painted /assembled in the various countries of destination, or imported as complete units.

The Duke cars differed mostly in the grille area, where the UK / Australian / Canadian cars used the same grilles, and the South African cars used a wider pressed grille. Some metal presses for the South African cars have been preserved, and the grille press states “ Austin type grille for Duke car – June 1950”. See the figures 1-4 for the grille differences. Most common are the round nosed models, but now and then you could come across the flat grilled version.

South Africa also had a slightly bigger car based on the Duke, known as the Commander, Captain and Sandtipper. The cars used identical bodies, with the bottom of the range Commander, the mid range Captain with chromed grille and wire-frame windshield, and the Sandtipper using the Commander body with a tip load box at the back (see fig 5). As mentioned the car was bigger around the hood, but the real difference was the treatment around the seat-back, being higher than the smaller car known as the Springbok.

In the Canadian/ UK / Australian markets the cars were marketed under the name Prince, Royal Prince, Comet and Duke. Of particular interest is that the earlier cars from the fifties had a Z-shape rear axle, while the later fifties and sixties cars used the double-U crank style axle. Earlier cars also used the solid wheel/ large hubcap combination, while later cars had smaller hubcaps.

Another car from Triang that differed was the Jeep. The UK built Jeep used a very similar body as the Canadian Thistle and the Australian Cyclops, but the Cyclops used different wheels. The South African were lucky, being offered two different Jeeps known as the Junior Jeep and the Major Jeep. The main difference between the SA Jeeps and the others is that the hood extends past the headlamps, while the other Jeeps stops short. The Junior Jeep had rear fenders, and this is not found on the Major Jeep or the other Triang Jeeps. Wheels on the Junior was the same as the Duke cars, and the Major Jeep used similar large balloon metal pressed rims similar to the UK jeeps.

The Australians and South Africans were never lucky enough to get the Triang (Mercedes) Racer or the North Star cars, and you’d be lucky to find the later E-Type Jaguar.

The odd one out Triangs are the French built cars. From here you would still find the Triang North Star, the Thirty and Sixty models as in the UK, and even the Jeep and Duke (which was the same design as the UK cars) , but in addition to the usual models you also found the “Simca Aronde” and “Renault Dauphine”, and similar cars. The Simca and Renault was not offered for sale outside of Europe, and we believe that the Jeeps, Dukes, Thirties, Sixties and the Florida models were built in the UK and exported as complete units, while the Simca and Renault were built in France.

Triangs were also sold in Germany , but due to the proximity of the UK the cars were probably imported as complete units, and we are not aware of “special” cars from Germany such as the Simca/Renault in France .

Although I am unable to confirm this, one of the cars in my collection is a Bulletnose Studebaker that is definitely not a Giordani, and I believe this could be a Triang. I have heard stories that Triang did market a Bulletnose Stud, but I have never seen one in a catalog for comparison.

If one has to list all the cars built by Triang worldwide, you would be surprised at the variety of cars and the length of the list. Whilst most of the cars can be identified using GG Weiner’s book, there are exceptions, and the only way is to research the cars thoroughly. We’ve only just touched on the more common cars, but if you have a more unusual car you believe could be a Triang, we’d be glad to hear from you. pietervdb@absa.co.za

A Triang Duke Pedal Car - Click on the pictures for a larger view.

A Thistle. The grille is the same as the Cyclops, although Cyclops also used a different grille with the pattern the same as this one but only half the height.

A South African Triang Springbok

A Triang with a very unusual grill, the headlights and Jerry Can are non original

A Variation on the theme. A Triang Comet with the wider hood and flat grille

A Triang / Thistle / Cyclops jeep.

A South African Triang Major Jeep.

A South African Triang Sandtipper. Slightly bigger than the Duke, with different treatment around the seat.

A South African Junior Jeep, around two thirds the size of the Major Jeep. This originally sold for the equivalent of $1-30.

Back to Articles main listing