17 Facts About Triumph Engineering

Triumph Engineering Co Ltd was a British motorcycle manufacturing company, based originally in Coventry and then in Meriden.

Triumph Engineering began producing the first Triumph-branded bicycles in 1889.

In 1898 Triumph Engineering decided to extend production at Coventry to include motorcycles, and by 1902 the company had produced its first motorcycle—a bicycle fitted with a Belgian Minerva engine.

In 1903, after selling more than 500 motorcycles, Triumph Engineering began motorcycle production at the Nuremberg factory.

Triumph Engineering had initiated a lower-end brand, Gloria, manufactured in the company's original plant.

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Confusion between motorcycles produced by the Coventry and Nuremberg Triumph Engineering companies resulted in the latter's products being renamed Orial for certain export markets.

Schulte ended his association with the company, but during the 1920s Triumph Engineering purchased the former Hillman company car factory in Coventry and produced a saloon car in 1923 under the name of the Triumph Engineering Motor Company.

Triumph Engineering found its bicycles demanded overseas, and export sales became a primary source of the company's revenues, although for the United States, Triumph Engineering models were manufactured by licence.

In 1932, Triumph Engineering sold another part of the company, its bicycle manufacturing facility to Raleigh Bicycle Company.

Triumph Engineering always struggled to make a profit from cars, and after becoming bankrupt in 1939 was acquired by the Standard Motor Company.

Triumph Engineering brand received considerable publicity in the United States when Marlon Brando rode a 1950 Thunderbird 6T in the 1953 film, The Wild One.

In 1962, the last year of the "pre-unit" models, Triumph Engineering used a frame with twin front down-tubes, but returned to a traditional Triumph Engineering single front downtube for the unit construction models that ensued.

Triumph Engineering was still making motorcycles, but they no longer looked like the motorcycles Triumph Engineering fans expected.

Triumph Engineering was sold to Manganese Bronze Holdings, which owned Norton, AJS, Matchless, Francis-Barnett, James-Velocette and Villiers.

When Triumph Engineering went into receivership in 1983, John Bloor, a former plasterer who acquired his wealth from building and property development, became interested in keeping the brand alive, and bought the name and manufacturing rights from the Official Receiver.

The new company, initially Bonneville Coventry Ltd, ensured that Triumph Engineering has produced motorcycles since 1902, winning it the title of the world's second longest continuous production motorcycle manufacturer, one year behind Royal Enfield.

Triumph Engineering now makes a range of motorcycles reviving model names of the past, including a newly designed Bonneville twin.