Say Hello to the Japanese: Triumph Acclaim
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ark Snowdon, then Head of Product Development at Austin-Morris had started to look at the idea of co-operating with another car company, in order to quickly produce a new middle sized car intended not only to replace the Triumph Dolomite, which was based on the 1965 1300/Toledo, but also to give BL a middle market shot in the arm. The wisdom within the company was that BL were in no position to develop a new car quickly and cheaply enough to get on the market much before the LC10 and LC11 were launched. Also any further new model programmes would be a distraction for the company, who were putting all their efforts into the development of the next generation of mid-sized cars. Snowdon initially looked at the Europeans, but concluded that a Company like Renault, with whom the company had held exploratory discussions, were a much larger company and would soon come to dominate BL in any future joint ventures.

Serious talks with Renault had actually taken place and by 1978, discussions had reached a point where a deal was on the point of being signed – the intention was for Renault to offer BL the upcoming R9 model to produce in return for marketing rights for the Land Rover in Europe and the USA. In fact, speaking in 1978, Michael Edwardes had stated that he would like to increase his co-operative links with Renault, but the deal was never finalized and so, the company embarked on looking elsewhere. After the collapse of the Renault talks, it was always felt that the company would eventually engulf BL, because of their relative sizes – and this was something that no one in the company felt was desirable

A long and exhaustive search into potential suitors then followed and a serious investigation into which suitable competitors would a) BL like to co-operate with, b) not feel engulfed by and c) had a suitable mid-sized car in development. As Ray Horrocks stated, “Chrysler UK was number one and Honda was number two.” Chrysler fell through when the US parent company pulled out of the UK and left the company to be bought by PSA (Peugeot-Citroën) and that left Honda. BL were relieved about Chrysler UK, however, because once PSA started running the company, it became apparent that the Anglo-French operation were actually in worse shape than themselves!

When presented with the idea of a possible collaborative partnership with Honda, management were in agreement that the Japanese company would be a suitable partner. As soon as the BL board gave the go ahead to pursue talks with the company, Michael Edwardes' management team led by Ray Horrocks Jetted off to Japan in Autumn 1978 to begin talks with Honda.

This was a shrewd choice of partners because at the time, Honda were approximately the same size as BL, they were regarded as innovators and were the most “European” of all the Japanese car companies.

The Honda version, the Ballade, demonstrates just how little input British Leyland had in the design of the Triumph Acclaim. As part of the licencing agreement, the Ballade was not marketed in the UK in order to tread on the toes of the British-built car.

Negotiations were long and hard but good progress was made, so that in early 1979, Mike Carver, BL's Head of Business strategy flew out to Japan to bang out more concrete plans with Honda and sound out what products they could offer and see how it would fit into the British Leyland range. Honda showed Carver the prototype of the yet-to-be launched Ballade, a notchback version of the Second generation Civic and the synergy between this car and the future slimmed down BL range was immediately apparent.

The relationship between the two companies' negotiating and engineering teams mirrored that between the Ballade and the BL range. So much so, in fact, that once a rapport was established, the nuts and bolts of the collaborative effort were brought to a satisfactory conclusion at a very rapid pace. Traffic between Birmingham and Tokyo was thick and fast, so much so, that on Boxing Day 1979, Michael Edwardes flew out to Japan to meet Honda President, Kyoshi Kawashima and officially sign the collaborative deal between the Two Companies.

Boxing day, 1979 and the deal is finally done. The implications of this partnership were far ranging, resulting in the wholly Japanese-influenced Rover-badged range of cars, a new factory for Honda in Swindon, UK and the adoption of improved working practices in British Leyland's factories. It all ended in acrimony in February 1994.

Now it was down to the JRT division to tune the Ballade, at this time codenamed Bounty, to appeal to more European tastes – with a view to replacing the Dolomite range. Production was earmarked for the Canley factory, where Dolomites were currently produced, but this coincided with Edwardes' streamlining of British Leyland's factories. The internal re-organization that resulted in JRT being phased out in favour of the Light Medium division meant that the Acclaim would be incorporated into the Austin-Morris-Rover range and be built at the under-utilized Cowley factory in Oxford.

Following initial market research, British Leyland strategists became more bullish about the chances of Project Bounty's success on the British and Continental markets and as a result, upped their production targets for the new car. The view within the company was that the this car, to be marketed as the Triumph Acclaim, was so complimentary, that it would not steal sales from the Metro or the LM10, both hatchbacks and that it could be regarded as much more than the stopgap it initially was intended to be. The Acclaim was marketed as a replacement for the Dolomite, but marketing strategists knew that as the Ital and the Allegro were fading in the market, potential customers would look at the Acclaim as a natural alternative instead of the competition. That was the hope, anyway.

Ray Horrocks already knew that the “discreet collaboration programme” with Honda was going to be more far-ranging than a simple licence deal to build the Ballade in the UK. It was obvious that the car would form part of model range after the launch of the new British middle-weight cars. The production targets for the Acclaim were set at 1,500 per week and it would prove to contribute more to the British economy than people may have initially feared, using 80 per cent British sourced parts, contributing to 70 per cent of the ex-works price being British. Horrocks also dropped hints that although the car’s 1335cc engine was produced in Japan, it could be built in Britain, if the volumes dictated it. A very subtle hint was dropped that it was “conceivable” that the engine could be used in other BL products.

The fact that the Austin Metro would require serious and expensive changes to it’s floorpan in order to accommodate the engine did not stop tentative investigations into this very plan.

Politically, the Acclaim was a very interesting proposition. During the 1970s, the European car makers had looked upon the inexorable march of the Japanese with great suspicion and once BL's collaborative plans entered the public domain, the French and the Italian governments, in particular, began to raise concerns that Project Bounty was, in fact a Japanese “Trojan Horse”, a way the they could circumvent the import quotas set by the Europeans. In a strongly worded letter to the Times just One week before the official launch of the Acclaim, Sir Michael Edwards defended his product in the strongest terms.

“The Launch of the Triumph Acclaim, which results from a unique piece of collaboration between BL and Honda, will not go without significant debate. Some people will see the project as a realistic response to the rapidly changing nature of the world automotive business, being fully in line with BL's business and market requirements. Others will find it unacceptable and, to put it crudely, describe it as prejudicial to the Triumph name, a ‘sell-out’ to the Japanese and in conflict with BL's opposition to the import of Japanese cars into Britain”.

What Edwardes was saying in emotive terms was that the Acclaim was a “proper” British car in as much as that it was directly responsible for saving 2000 jobs at the Cowley factory and helped maintain countless jobs in the UK component industry. Yes, this is undoubtedly true, but in 1981 inter-manufacturer collaboration on this scale was yet to become fashionable, so competitors and commentators remained unconvinced.

So politically, the Acclaim may have been a hot potato, but what about the car itself? Well, British Leyland engineers at the newly opened Gaydon facility had worked feverishly on the Acclaim during its gestation period in order to tune the car into the tastes of the intended customer base. Mechanically, the Acclaim was pure Civic/Ballade with the same 1335cc engine, end-on gearbox and independent suspension, front and rear by MacPherson struts.

As with the Honda Ballade, the body was light, the Engine was willing and excellent performance with what BL referred to as “Triumph virtues”. It is fair to say that the Acclaim was an eager car to drive, but it did fall short of British Leyland principles of space efficiency.

It had a 91-inch wheelbase, barely longer than the Metro's, and low roofline, which meant that whichever way you cut it, the Acclaim was a cramped car inside. British Leyland's contribution to the car were the re-designed seats (that were actually very good) and “Europeanisation” of the interior trim and colours. The seats were smaller than the original Honda items, but did not free up enough space from a car that had none.

The “Edwardes letter” aside, the lead-up to the Acclaim's launch was very quiet and it failed to grab the public's attention in the way that the Metros had. The public perceived it as the re-badged Japanese car that it was, but didn't condemn the car for that, reasoning that if it was built in Britain, it was as British as the (German Built) Ford Cortina, if not more so. Triumph traditionalists may have looked on aghast, but many of the Dolomite's customers did return and buy an Acclaim when it came to trade-in time.

The road testers found that they had a further British Leyland product that they could test and not be embarrassed by the fact that there was so little to be excited by (like the Ital). It was praised for good performance, excellent economy, high levels of build quality and an appealing, engaging nature. Betraying its Japanese origins, it also had an excellent level of equipment – things that road testers and customers alike looked upon in a positive light. British Leyland had swallowed some pride and learned some lessons from the Japanese.

In their road test of the Acclaim against established rivals, What Car Magazine summed the car up very favourably. “The new Triumph Acclaim is a good new car and it displays all the qualities needed for success in this section of the market; refined engine and transmission, fine crisp handling, creditable comfort and a good economy potential. Perhaps just why the Acclaim was not voted top by either (customer clinic) panel or ourselves could therefore be a subjective matter concerning it’s image – the car is clearly just a Japanese design dressed up very thinly by the odd plastic Triumph badge, and so BL are really due little credit in engineering though they may be in production if they continue to match Honda’s high standard. The Acclaim’s market appeal does seem to be rather questionable in view of the fact that one associates Triumphs as traditionally British cars, but of course that is something for buyers to judge.”

Clearly, the magazine’s road test staff could not come to terms with a “British” car being so oriental, but it did not stop them being impressed with the way the car performed. “…the Acclaim’s engine is already a known quantity, and a smooth and responsive unit it is too. There is never a hint of harshness at any point in the rev-range; the Triumph eagerly accelerates to 60 mph in 12.7 seconds and the rev counter needle easily flicks round to its 6000 rpm red line.” Also, “the gearchange itself is very light and direct with well chosen ratios, although fifth is a pure overdrive of little use at any other time apart from cruising – top speed in fourth is actually one mile per hour faster, at 90 mph.”

Nevertheless, the Acclaim did prove popular, reaching a best of 2.71% market share in 1982, slightly shy of BL's bullish predictions of 3% once it became a fully-fledged Austin-Morris product. In line with BL's private proclamations, it did feed off the Allegro and Ital to a degree, but also helped restore some pride in the products of the beleaguered company.

The car suffered from no reliability issues (as the trade would often say “It's a Honda, innit”) and secured itself a niche in the market, being beloved of those sometimes referred to as the “Eastbourne set”. Examples of this car can still be seen driving around today with nary a trace of rust on them, the engines in rude health, thus proving that the Acclaim was indeed an amalgamation of the good points of Japanese Engineering and British Assembly work.

Whatever, both BL and Honda were pleased with what they had produced with the Triumph Acclaim and as things proved, it was the precursor of more, much more, to come. This car may have only had a Three year production run (1981-1984), it may have been the last Triumph badged car, it may also have been the product of a marriage of convenience, but it led directly to the range of Eighties and Nineties Rovers and a partnership that resulted in Hondas being built in Longbridge, Rovers being built in Japan and Honda setting up a production plant in Swindon.

It all makes one wonder, in retrospect, why Rover would let themselves be seduced by a Bavarian called Bernd Pischetsrieder.

Copyright © 2002 Keith Adams