A collab between me and @AndiD
The year was 1962. Jekk Hauk was a prominent man in the racing scene in North Ireland (and to a lesser extent, the rest of the UK). The grandson of a Norweigan imigrant, he helped his father Aksel Hauk run the Haukenhauser Inn in his younger days, now run entirely by his older sister Anna, and now had a job as a car salesman in Belfast. He also helped run a small repair shop near his apartment, owned by his close friend Terry O’Connor. It was in this shop that he built the tube-frame torture chambers that he raced. It was here that he began to think of building cars, not just for himself, but to sell. Other racers nicknamed him “The Ghost” for his unique style, and he wore the name with pride, stiching it on the inside of every jacket and painting it on every race car- but only on the back! When it was finally time to replace his '54 Harris 102, one car caught his eye- a small yellow roadster of a marque he had never heard before. The Mayster Triumf.
A year later, he was “given” an abandoned boat by his crazy uncle, which apart from its Warwick V8, was completely trashed. He did the only logical thing and retrofitted the one-hundred and seven horsepower 3 liter V8 and its 3-speed dogleg manual to his beloved mayster, creating the Haukenhauser Triumf “Mark Zero”
Mk. I
By 1969, Hauk and O’Connor had their hands full. They had started selling small hand-built cars to racing drivers around the UK with anything from 50 to 500 horsepower. They had also started selling a fiberglass kit-car known as the Glass Tourer (think Fiberfab Avenger but a bit bigger and less ungainly)
in 1967 and were working on a road-going Glass Tourer II. They needed a car that could bring them in some money and would be easy and cheap to produce. After considering putting a fiberglass coupe body and twin carbs on the chassis of a British economy car, they realized the answer had been right in front of them the entire time.
The first Haukenhauser Triumfs had no Haukenhauser badges. There was a V8 badge behind the front fender (as well and High Output lettering on the HO version), different wheels, a GT badge on the back (for the GT) and optional fake vents in front of the door. These cars had 115 hoorsepower twin-carb V8s and 4-speed manual transmissions pulled from Warwick sedans with exhaust routed to the sides, and the base model could scoot to 60 in roughly eight and a half seconds. The High Output models gained almost 25 horsepower with mostly the same engine. The rare, top-of-the-line GT variant was sold mostly to racing drivers, and included a bored out 3600cc V8 with 3x2bbl carbs and significant beefing up of the drivetrain pieces and an entirely new drivetrain. With 174 horsepower, 0-60 times were now in the high sixes, with little sacrifice in the way of handling.
Production figures (1969-1971)-
52 Triumfs converted to HH at Belfast shop
47 Triumfs converted to HH HO at Belfast shop
12 Triumfs assembled and converted at Belfast shop
9 Triumfs assembled and converted at Belfast shop (HO)
2 Triumfs assembled and converted at Belfast shop (GT)
7 Triumfs assembled at Belfast shop and converted at Sean O’Connor’s dealership in Dublin
5 Triumfs assembled at Belfast shop and converted at Sean O’Connor’s dealership in Dublin (HO)
22 Triumfs assembled and converted at new, larger Belfast shop “The Ghost Hut”
13 Triumfs assembled and converted at new, larger Belfast shop “The Ghost Hut” (HO)
44 Triumfs converted at new, larger Belfast shop “The Ghost Hut”
76 Triumfs converted at new, larger Belfast shop “The Ghost Hut” (HO)
35 Triumfs converted at new, larger Belfast shop “The Ghost Hut” (GT)
324 total- 137 base, 150 HO, 37 GT
Mk.II
The Mk.II gained many improvements including new seats, bigger custom bumpers, foglights, bumper bars, foglights, and wheels. The biggest and most importand, though, was a new Warwick solid rear axle. While the Mayster IRS was undoubtedly better, the solid was more familliar to both HH themselves and British buyers, as well as likely more reliable. This meant they didn’t have to develop their own LSD or tranmission, as they could just pull one from someone else.
The Mk.II base model came standard with a 5-speed manual transmission and the same 115hp 3-liter V8. The GTHO on the other hand got an LSD, the 174hp six-pack 3600, a unique graphics/paint package, a rear spoiler, and a hood scoop, getting to sixty in a staggering 6.4 seconds. On both models, exhaust was repositioned to the back.
Production figures (1971-1973)-
99 Triumfs converted at Ghost Hut
45 Triumfs converted at Ghost Hut (GTHO)
127 Triumfs converted at Sean O’Connor’s dealership in Dublin
55 Triumfs converted at Sean O’Connor’s dealership in Dublin (GTHO)
326 in total- 226 base model, 100 GTHO. An unknown number of base converted in Dublin were fitted with the 140hp 3-liter HO engine.
Mk.III
The Mk.III became a true Haukenhauser product. It was the first to bare the iconic ghost badge, a symbol of Haukenhauser’s pure lack of sanity. The Haukenhauser Triumf 360GT by Mayster was powered by the tri-carb, 174hp, all-aluminum V8, ready to tear through the atmosphere at unfathomable speeds. Equipped with a 5-speed manual transmission and radial tires, it carves corners like a race car- allways on the edge.
The Mk.III 360SS was the ultimate Mayster- one-hunder and eighty-four horsepower, two-hundred eight pound-feet of torque, magnesium wheels, and a massive functional hood vent. A true monster, the engine had longer headers and quad DCOE carbs. The SS tore through race tracks, getting to 60mph in a monstrous 5.9 seconds. Jekk Hauk, the company’s co-founder, raced a customized Mk.I GT as a promotional vehicle during the Mk.I’s production run, which dominated his class, and the 360GT’s engine was pulled almost directly from that.
The Most common of the Mk.IIIs was the 340C. Powered by a SOHC aluminum-head Onaria inline-six making 135hp, it had more comfortable suspension and an open diff, and was a great starter car for racers and enthusiasts alike.
Production figures (1973-1976)-
147 340Cs converted at Ghost Hut
75 360GTs converted at Ghost Hut
23 360SSs converted at Ghost Hut
185 340Cs converted at Sean O’Connor’s dealership in Dublin
102 360GTs converted at Sean O’Connor’s dealership in Dublin
55 360SSs converted at Sean O’Connor’s dealership in Dublin
587 in total- 332 340Cs, 177 360GT, 78 360SS. An unknown number of 340C converted to V8 power because of the Cs softer suspension in Dublin.
