| H.R.G. Airline Coupe | |
| Manufacturer: | HRG Engineering Company |
| Production: | 1 |
| Model Years: | 1938 |
| Class: | sports car |
| Body Style: | 2 door |
| Layout: | front engine rear wheel drive |
| Engine: | 1,496 CC OHV Inline 4-Cylinder Engine with dual SU Carburetors |
| Transmission: | 4 speed manual |
| Designer: | Maj. Ted Halford |
| Sp: | us |
The 1938 HRG Airline Coupe is a one-off British sports car powered by a 1500cc Triumph Gloria engine and gearbox. It was made by HRG Engineering Company (which produced cars between 1935 and 1956) with a body by Crofts Coachbuilding.
The HRG Engineering Company (cars were known as "Hurgs" to fans)[1] was founded in 1936 by Henry Ronald Godfrey, Major Edward Halford, and Guy Robins. HRG stood for Halford, Robins and Godfrey ... NOT "Henry Ronald Godfrey". All of the 241 cars made by HRG between 1935 and 1956 were roadsters with the exception of the one of a kind HRG Airline Coupe. It is also the only HRG with a Triumph engine and transmission. The Airline Coupe was the idea of Maj. Ted Halford (the H in HRG). At Brooklands Race Track in 1938, the car made its debut. The plan was to show this model at the 1939 Earls Court Motor Show and watch the orders pile up. With the outbreak of World War II and Edward Halford leaving the company, the remaining partners scrapped the project.[2]
The frame was the widened chassis of the Halford-Cross Rotary Special racing car which was such a failure it was broken up by the Works, it was painted green and re-numbered as Chassis WT-68. The rear section of the car was a second series of the distinctive MG Airline coupe with a sliding sunroof and an enclosed rear spare manufactured by Carbodies, later known as London Taxis International, a company owned by Manganese Bronze Holdings (Now owned by Geely and trading as the London Electric Vehicle Company). The wings and bonnet were unique to the HRG and were formed by Alban Crofts' Crofts Coachbuilding firm which also assembled the body.[3] Brakes are 4 wheel cable-operated drums, suspension is by quarter-elliptic leaves up front on a tubular axle beam, with semi-elliptical leaf springs on an ENV axle at the rear.The stiff body on a flexible frame made for problems with doors opening ...
Under the bonnet is a Triumph 1496cc engine (producing 55HP) with twin SU side-draft carburetors, the same engine as used in the contemporary Triumph Dolomite and Triumph Gloria.
Bought by Bob Affleck in 1965, the car was disassembled and brought to the United States and was in pieces until 1985. It underwent a thorough restoration in 2010 and participated in "British Car Day" at the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix driving under its own power for the first time in over 45 years.
The Coupe was sold at the Gooding & Co. Auction at Amelia Island in March 2013 for $253,000.[4] Which was the main aim of this "puff".