Here's my 2 cents to add to the common stock of knowledge about these
companies...
These names weren't just made up to name the Triumph carburetors; Stromberg
and Zenith are OLD carburetor names. Stromberg carbs were used in the US
since the '30's or before; old hotrodders may remember Stromberg 97's which
were THE THING on flathead Fords, etc... Zenith was around since at least
the late 1920's, and was the carburetor used on the Ford Model "A" in
1928-31. That carb was a really SIMPLE design -- 2 iron castings held
together by one big bolt.
Stromberg produced aircraft carburetors as well; these were used on the
majority of small aircraft engines in the decades before and after WWII.
Stromberg's aircraft division (at least) at some time became part of Bendix
Corp. and survives today as the Fuel Systems Division (or something like
that) of Bendix, in South Bend, Indiana.
I don't know anything about a merger... Possibly the European or British
divisions of these companies got together in some way to collaborate on
these, or maybe Stromberg bought Zenith...
-Karl
|