John Macartney wrote:
> Leon Guyot wrote:
> My friends, you may think that this story doesn't perhaps impact on you and
> your Triumph cars, but don't you believe it. The name Triumph, your spare
> parts, and the licence to produce them, is wholly owned by messrs BMW...
>
> Leon, for as long as BMW holds the purse strings, I would agree. What many
>fail to realise
> is that all former trademarks (and these are still registered and as current
>in terms of
> authorised for commercial use or violation as that of IBM or McDonalds) would
>eventually
> revert back to BMIHT if BMW pulled out altogether. If that does happen, and
>the world will
> know tomorrow, those trademarks revert back to BMIHT. When the Trust was
>formed in 1975
> which is personified in the existence of Gaydon and everything within it,
>that means
> trademarks, vehicles and the archive in its many forms are inviolate. Under
>British Law,
> these belong to everyone and no-one at the same time. This means that BMW can
>never claim
> their absolute ownership. What's more, all 25 million engineering drawings in
>the archive
> at Gaydon remain BMIHT property in perpetuity. Gaydon and the Trust which
>administers it
> is part of the "accompanied luggage" that comes with Rover. It was precisely
>with this
> eventuality in mind that Leyland Cars set up British Motor Heritage Limited,
>together with
> the Trust and the Charity within it, when the collection was first formed in
>1975.
>
> Jonmac
To All Those Who Actually Remember the Name "Triumph"
It will be very interesting to see what happens with the relationship between
Gaydon and the
new owners of Rover. There is another aspect of the situation which concerns us.
The New York Times today has remarkably complete coverage of BMW's sale of The
Rover Group
cars operation to The Alchemy Group of investors and the planned sale of
Land-Rover to Ford.
The articles go into detail about how Alchemy plans to re-introduce Rover
products as MG cars
and how they have also acquired many other famous car names in the purchase.
The list includes
long-gone and little-recognized names like Riley and Wolseley but nowhere in
either article
does the name Triumph appear!
Having worked for both Triumph and British Leyland, I am especially
sensitive to the media
and public recognition of MG and Jaguar but not Triumph, a marque which
virtualy equalled MG
in sales in this country and far outsold Jaguar.
Now maybe it isn't all that important if those of us who love Triumph know
about it and
can exchange communications about TRs with our friends. And, I would agree that
if they want
to return to the North American market they should begin with MG - that's
simply being
practical.
But, I sure would like to see some TR badges back on the road on new
millennium cars. What
do you think?
Mike Cook
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