The Triumph Acclaim was a compact front wheel drive automobile made by BL Ltd., the successor to British Leyland, from 1981 to 1984. It was based on the Honda Ballade and used a Honda-designed engine, but met UK content requirements.
The Acclaim was significant as it was the first Japanese car to be built within the European Economic Community to bypass Japan's voluntary limit of 11 per cent market of the total number of European sales. The Acclaim was also a major turnaround point for BL itself, the car sporting good reliability and build quality from the outset. It paved the way for the Honda-based Rover badged range of cars which BL (and its antecedents) would develop throughout the 1980s and 1990s. It is a testament to the build quality of these cars that there are plenty of surviving examples that are virtually rust-free and mechanically sound.
The most notable outward change was the appearance of a central badge on the grille. At the time, the Japanese model had 'Honda' to the right-hand side of the grille. Other changes included twin Keihin carburettors, (the Ballade only had a single carburettor) the mirrors were situated on the doors, the independent front and rear Macpherson strut suspension was tweaked for the UK market and the seats were based on Ford Cortina frames. The brakes were disc at the front and drum at the rear.
All Acclaims were powered by the all alloy, overhead cam 1335 cc engine found in the Honda Civic and the interior was nearly identical (except for the seats). The usual Austin Rover trim levels were offered: L, HL, HLS and CD (which had electric windows and optional air conditioning). The car remained largely the same throughout the production. The only changes were the door handles, a restyled steering wheel, a restyled gear knob and the heater recirculation control was moved.
There was a limited-edition Avon Acclaim which had leather seats, wooden dashboard, wooden door cappings, two-tone paint and optional turbo-charging. There are only 3 Avon Turbos known to have survived.
The Acclaim replaced the Triumph Dolomite of the 1970s and was succeeded by the first Rover 200-series, based on the Honda Civic. It was the last car to wear the Triumph badge. The last Acclaim off the production line is now in the Heritage Motor Centre
A total of 133,626 Acclaims were produced.
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