Sangster formed
Triumph Engineering and
utilising their designer,
Edward Turner, set about
building one of the most
iconic motorcycles of
the mid 20th century
The Great Depression saw the company
selling off assets to survive, including
its bicycle arm to the famous Raleigh
Company. In 1936 Jack Sangster, who
owned the Ariel company, took over the
motorcycle operation, and by 1939 the
ever-struggling car division had been sold to
Standard Motors. Sangster formed Triumph
Engineering and utilising their designer,
Edward Turner, set about building one of
the most iconic motorcycles of the mid 20th
century.
The 500cc 5T Triumph Speed Twin was the
progenitor of all Triumph twins until the
1980s. In the second world war, Coventry,
and the factory, were virtually destroyed
by the Blit , and given Britain’s massive
repayments for the war effort, 0 of
manufacturing was sent offshore to the S.
The 500cc TR5 Trophy Twin was introduced
at the 1948 Motor Cycle Show it won the
International Six Day Trial, and a modified
version, the 650, was the bike ridden by
Brando in the 1950 movie, The Wild One.
1954 saw the advent of the swinging arm
frame, and an advanced aluminium alloy
head for the 650 Tiger.
And then in 1959 the first T120 rolled off
the line and became the Bonneville’,
perhaps the most famous name in
motorcycling after Harley Davidson.
To combat the extraordinary success of
the Bonneville Harley introduced their first
Sportster’ but that scrap was well and truly
won by Triumph.
The 1969 Triumph Bonneville has been
proclaimed as the best Triumph ever,
winning the Isle of Man at an average speed
of 99.99mph, and in that year over half of
the entire S over-500cc market was owned
by Triumph.
But the British leader took their eye off a
rising threat in Japan, who were delivering
bikes that didn’t vibrate, suffer oil leaks, and
were much more reliable.
KIWI RIDER 51