On Tue, 25 Mar 1997, Tom Tweed wrote:
> This got me wondering -- is there a connection somewhere in the
> industrial history of Triumph cars and bikes ? ISTR that the original
> Triumph company was bombed into oblivion in WWII, but that someone,
> maybe Sir John Black, bought the rights to the name...but Triumph bikes
> were in full production by the late '40s , how did he launch the car
> name in '52 or '53 and keep it separate from the bikes ?
Easy. The motorcycle arm was sold off in 1936. Three years later, what
was left of the car manufacturing went into receivership, then to Thomas
Ward & Co. Sir John and the Standard Motor Company did indeed purchase
little more than the Triumph name in late 1944. So cars and bikes were
well separate by the end of WWII.
> The `new' Triumph bikes are made in Hinckley, Leicestershire. Is this
> the same location as in the '70s ? Just curious.
Don't know, Tom. The only Triumph bike ever in my family (my sister's
bike, actually) had a three-speed Sturmey-Archer thumb shift. ;-)
--Andy
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