In , Triumph began building motorcycles based on its own designs and in debuted its first completely in-house designed motorcycle. By the end of that year, the company had produced more than of that design. Triumph reincorporated as Triumph Engineering Co.
By then production had doubled, and in , after the company opened a larger plant, production doubled once again to 1, bikes. Triumph had also launched a second, lower-end brand, Gloria, produced in the company's original plant. By , production of the Triumph brand had topped 3, per year, and the company added new, updated designs, including the popular Roadster model. The outbreak of World War I proved a boost of sorts for the company as production was switched to support the Allied war effort.
More than 30, motorcycles--among them the Model H Roadster, often cited as the first modern motorcycle--were supplied to the Allies. The Roadster's nickname, the "Trusty Triumph," provided an early promotional push for the company. Following the war, Bettmann and Schulte fell out over a disagreement, with Schulte wishing to replace bicycle production with a move into the automobile market.
Schulte was replaced by Col. Claude Holbrook--who, in fact, agreed with Schulte. Triumph continued to manufacture bicycles, however. By the mids, Triumph had grown into one of Britain's leading motorcycle makers, with a ,square-foot plant capable of producing up to 30, motorcycles each year.
With its models winning top honors at many of the races held during the period, Triumph also found its bikes in high demand overseas, and export sales became a primary source of the company's revenues, although for the United States, Triumph models were manufactured under license. The company found its first automotive success with the debut of the Super Seven car in When the Great Depression hit in , Triumph spun off its German subsidiary as a separate, independently owned company.
The Nuremberg firm continued to manufacture motorcycles under the Triumph brand until In , Triumph sold off another part of the company, its bicycle manufacturing facility. By then, Triumph had been struggling financially, and Bettmann had been forced out of the chairman's spot. In , Bettmann retired from the company. Renamed Triumph Co. In , however, the company's two components became separate companies--the Triumph automobile operation went bankrupt in and was acquired by the Standard Motor Company.
The motorcycle operation fared better, having been acquired in by John Sangster, who also owned the rival Ariel motorcycle company. That same year, the company began its first imports into the United States, which quickly grew into the company's single most important market.
Production of civil models came to a halt once again as Triumph converted to wartime production at the beginning of World War II. The company supplied more than 50, motorcycles to the Allied forces despite a bombing raid on Coventry that had destroyed the company's manufacturing facility in Production was moved to a new site in Meriden, which was to remain the company's base until the s.
The company also began producing lightweight generator motors for Britain's Royal Air Force. Triumph returned to civilian production in , although military production of its motorcycles continued for some time as well. The company was to base its newest models on the generator motor design, which led to the development of the acclaimed Thunderbird. Launched in , the Thunderbird was hailed as the world's first "superbike," capable of reaching speeds of mph and also inspiring the development of the Ford Thunderbird automobile.
In addition, the company introduced at this time the first of its three-cylinder engines most motorcycles had either two or four cylinders , which became a company hallmark.
Known as TriCor, the subsidiary helped nearly triple U. With the success of the film The Wild One, which featured Marlon Brando riding a clearly identified Thunderbird, Triumph became one of the hottest-selling motorcycle brands in the United States. While continuing to roll out successful motorcycle models in the mids, Triumph extended its production into a line of scooters. In , however, Triumph unveiled a new model, the Bonneville, named after the track where the model had set a new speed record.
The Bonneville, which inspired the Pontiac Bonneville car model, was to become regarded as one of the greatest motorcycles ever built. After a devastating wartime bombing in Coventry in , the Triumph factory was destroyed. Two years later, the company began producing motorcycles again, in Meriden, England. Production of Triumphs continued at this site until With World War II taking place at the time, the motorcycles produced at the Meriden facility until were made for military use.
Approximately 40, Triumph cycles were produced for military use during the war, and many of these bikes were repainted and put into civilian use when the war ended.
During World War II, Triumph also produced various products for the war effort, including stretcher carriers, steering housings, generators and aircraft components. When the production of civilian model Triumphs resumed in , the company focused on producing the Speed Twin, as well as the cc 3T touring bike, and the Tiger By , Triumph was producing 12, motorcycles per year, with more than half that number being exported. The cc Trophy TR5 model, which was the first trail bike made by Triumph, was introduced in Both of these models were very popular with American riders, with beefed-up versions of the TR5 becoming favorite models for racing until the late s.
The Triumph Owners Motorcycle Club was also founded in In , the U. Beginning in the early s, more Triumphs are sold in America than any other country. Also in the early s, some of the World War II veterans who became familiar with Triumphs and other types of motorcycles during the war, started riding motorcycles in civilian life.
Sometimes, these machines were outfitted with custom and high performance parts, giving the cycles an unusual appearance.
In late , an action-adventure motion picture named "The Wild One" is released. In this movie, lead actor Marlon Brando plays the leader of a motorcycle club that wreaks havoc on a small California town during a scheduled motorcycle race.
The type of motorcycle that Brando rides in the movie is a Triumph cc Thunderbird 6T. In , a streamliner racer powered by a cc Triumph engine is clocked at mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats. For almost the next 15 consecutive years, Triumph holds the world motorcycle land speed records. The Stream liner was The most well-known and best-selling model of Triumph motorcycles is the Bonneville. Produced from through , this sporty and powerful bike fairly defines the British motorcycle. When the first model of the Bonneville twin was introduced in , it was equipped with mudguards and a nacelle.
The motorcycling public showed little enthusiasm for this model. With the growing fascination with motorcycles in popular culture, Triumph motorcycles in particular, experienced a huge surge in popularity during the s. Siegfried Bettmann started an import and export business in London in the late nineteenth century, rebranding products under his own brand, Triumph. He had immigrated from Nuremburg in and along with another German immigrant Mauritz Schulte moved into their own premises in Coventry in The first model in used a Belgian sourced 2.
That first engine displaced cc and was enlarged to cc in and cc seven years later. Triumph Motorcycles had already been established for five years by the time the inaugural races were run on the Isle of Man in and for many years the histories of the two motorcycling institutions were inseparably intertwined.
The British manufacturer has a long and illustrious record at the TT. At that very first meeting, over a century ago, Triumph marked itself as a top class racing marque when Jack Marshall and Frank Hulbert brought their single-cylinder machines home in second and third place. In Marshall rode his three-and-a-half horsepower, single-speed machine to first place and overall honours as well as posting the fastest lap Of the ten single-cylinder bikes that finished the race that year, six were Triumphs.
This emphatic result signalled the start of a period during which Triumphs remained the dominant single-cylinder machines on the Island. As is the way in racing, there followed a period of readjustment, development, bizarre restrictions and rule changes during which Triumph remained a prominent force at the TT through factory efforts and hundreds of faithful privateers.
Two years later the company was split into separate car and motorcycle divisions. Again, it was called upon to support the war effort and much of their manufacturing capacity switched to the production of military equipment. Too often however production was interrupted by the infamous blitz of Coventry bombings but the industrious Triumph workforce battled against all odds to pump out 50, motorcycles during the course of the war.
The outbreak of World War II in effectively put a stop to racing activities when riders and factory employees who were often one and the same signed up to fight for their country. In the TT became the first event on the world championship calendar and Triumph was well represented with 15 GP bikes lining up on the Manx grid. New Zealander Sid Jensen scored an impressive result with fifth place in the TT that marked the first ever Grand Prix Motorcycle World Championship event but the Clubmans TT was where machines such as the Tiger 70 and would shine by achieving numerous victories.
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